Chinese National En Huang, popularly known in Ghana as Aisha Huang who is standing trial for engaging in galamsey, and her four accomplices will continue to be in custody after the trial judge, Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo, refused a bail application made by the lawyers for the accused.
Aisha Huang, Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng were remanded into the custody of the National Investigation Bureau pending the final determination of their case on November 24, 2022.
In court on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, when Aisha Huang’s lawyer who is also a one-time Presidential candidate for the governing NPP, Captain Nkrabea Effah Dartey, rose to move an application for bail, the trial judge quickly stopped him and indicated that she will still refuse the application for bail.
“My mind has not changed; you can make the application and I’ll still refuse you,” Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo told Nkrabea Effah Dartey.
Also, the judge refused a similar application made on behalf of the four others who are now being represented by a former NPP National Chairman, Freddie Blay.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, said she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices in the persons of Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.
“These people are foreigners, we do not have sufficient financial or social ties within the jurisdiction of this court and as we know, in this country people usually do not need any passport to exit if they are minded to leave and considering the severity of the punishment the accused persons will suffer if found guilty. I have a sufficient belief that when granted bail, they will not appear before the court to stand trial,” Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo stressed.
The plea of three of the accused persons has been taken with that of the last deferred due to the unavailability of a Vietnamese translator.
Meanwhile, Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney-General, indicated to the court the state’s readiness to expeditiously dispose off the case and will be willing to try the case on a day-after-day basis.
He observed that the judge superintending over the case has “also indicated his inclination to conduct the case in that manner.”
“In respect of Aisha Huang, we have filed most of the documents to be relied on, we have filed witness statements of four witnesses. We only need to fill about four more,” Dame added.
Founder and Leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Akwasi Addai Odike, has announced his intention to petition the IMF regarding the illegal mining crisis, also known as the “galamsey”, plaguing the nation.
He proposed that the Bretton Woods institution make combating galamsey a condition for granting Ghana the aid it seeks.
“We (UPP) want this to be part of the conditions attached to the bailout. I am imploring the IMF to bring galamsey issues as part of the conditionalities to secure this bailout.
“This will push the government harder to take decisive decisions to mitigate this menace. The United Nations Security Council too must come in,” he said.
Despite efforts to curtail the menace, galamsey continues to be a major challenge in the country. Although various task forces, including ‘Operation Halt’, have been introduced to keep it under check, some officials under the current administration have been accused of heavily partaking in the menace.
On Monday, October 10, 2022, the Chief of Dompim-Pepesa, Nana Nyonwah Panyin IV, alleged that the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Deputy Lands Minister George Mireku Duker, and the Tarkwa- Nsuaem Chief Executive, Benjamin Kessie, are engaged in galamsey.
Although there is little proof to support the claim, Bernard Antwi- Boasiako, the NPP’s Ashanti Regional Chairman, has recently appeared on lists of well-known people who are involved in galamsey.
It is impossible to overstate the effects of illegal mining on Ghana’s water bodies and forest cover. According to data from COCOBOD, the country lost about 19,000 acres of cocoa farmland to galamsey between 2019 and 2020.
Therefore, Akwasi Addai Odike noted that President Akufo-Addo should step down as it appears that the current administration has failed in its attempt to address the threat.
About 80,000 Ghanaian females between the ages of 12 and 17 are married or living with a man, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has disclosed.
This is according to data from the 2021 Population and Housing Census.
The GSS released this information to commemorate the 10th anniversary of International Day of the Girl Child.
25,999 of these girls are between the ages of 12 and 14 years old and are still in the Junior High School (J.H.S).
The regions with the highest percentage of married girls are the North East (13.0%), Savannah (10.9%) and Northern (10.6%), all with rates more than twice the national average (4.0%).
The GSS also released data on the number of girls who have ever been to school and those who are engaged in some form of economic activity.
It reports that almost a quarter of a million girls (244,731) in Ghana between the ages of 6 and 14 have never been to school at all.
99,150 girls under 15 years are engaged in economic activity, with half of them (49.7%) also out of school.
Half of these girls are situated in the Northern, Oti, and North East regions.
The GSS released these statistics to highlight challenges preventing young girls from reaching their full potential, such as early marriage and a lack of access to educational and other opportunities.
Child marriage
According to UNICEF, “child marriage” refers to any formal or informal marriage or union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child.
It is one of the many constant issues facing many communities in the country, particularly rural areas.
Often, these young girls end up being deprived of achieving their full objectives and potential in life since they are betrothed at an early age.
Also, this practice of early marriage is not a healthy practice, since some girls who conceive after marriage risk having health complications during labour. Common health complications include Obstetric fistula.
According to reports, children at such an age do not have the strong pelvic capacity to hold a baby of average size(19-20) inches.
Hence, during obstructive labour, the tissues that are between the baby and urine or faeces get torn.
Some of the factors that have been attributed to child marriage are; poverty, customs, and traditions and lack of formal education With the continuous surge in child marriage cases, President Akufo-Addo has called for a collective commitment of all major stakeholders to put in place measures that would protect the girl child.
“Women and girls account for 51% of the population of Ghana, the majority, and that is the same everywhere on the continent. So, empowering them is critical to speeding up Africa’s progress.”
The Ministry of Education, MoE, has refuted claims that schools in parts of the country are suffering from food shortages.
An October 11, 2022 press release signed by Kwasi Kwarteng, the Ministry’s spokesperson said there had been adequate food supplies to schools including the St. Paul SHS and Minor Seminary in the Volta Region.
GhanaWeb had carried a report of a viral video shared by blogger Kobby Kyei, in which a group of 10 students of St Paul’s are seen purportedly sharing one fish during dining.
The video, having gone viral, particularly on Twitter, triggered condemnation of the feeding situation in schools.
In the said video, a student with a spoon is seen carefully dividing the fish in what looks like palm nut soup into several pieces to share with other students seated around the table who had been served rice.
But the MoE statement titled: ‘MINISTRY OF EDUCATION REFUTES ALLEGATIONS OF FOOD SHORTAGE IN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS,’ read in part: “The Ministry of Education has noted with surprise news publications and media discussions which purport an imminent closure of some Senior High Schools due to shortage of food. Specific references were made to some schools in the Volta Region.
It continued: “The Ministry wishes to place on record that our checks reveal adequate supplies of food items have been made to the schools in question. The Ministry however takes cognizance of recent disruptions within the food supply chain but assures parents and guardians that they have been addressed. Consequently, all Senior High Schools in the Country have received an adequate supply of food items.
“The Ministry wishes to assure the public of its commitment and willingness in providing quality and timely supply of food to all Senior High Schools. We entreat the Public to disregard such reports,” it concluded.
In May this year, some Senior High Schools reported food shortages while threatening to close down if nothing was done about the situation.
The Regional Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) in the Northern, Eastern, Central and Volta regions were worst affected by the crisis and demanded that either student are made to feed themselves, or the schools shut down.
However, the government intervened and had supplies delivered to the various schools to avert their closure.
The headmistress of Avatime Senior High School, Rebecca Mawusi Veny, wrote to the Volta Regional Director of Education to request permission for the students to begin feeding themselves as the school was running out of stock.
Similarly, the headmaster of Alavanyo Senior High Technical, Rev Samuel Pius Elewokor, wrote to the Volta Regional Free SHS Secretariat for urgent supply as they have resorted to feeding their students twice daily.
Ghana has the highest food inflation ratein sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Bank’s October 2022 Africa Pulse report.
According to the report, food prices in Ghana increased by 122% between January and October of this year.
The rate presented by the Bretton Wood institution, although alarming, comes as no surprise.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) recently revealed that food inflation is one of the factors exacerbating the national inflation rate, which currently stands at 33.9%.
Food inflationhas been on the rise since January 2022 (13.7%). In February, the figure rose to 17.4%, 22.4% in March and then 26.6% in April.
May recorded a 30.1% food inflation rate, indicating a 3.5% hike within a month. In June, it rose to 30.7%. And then in July and August, it climbed up to 32.3% and 34.4%, respectively.
The second country in sub- Saharan Africa where food prices are exponentially rising is Senegal.
Senegal has recorded a food inflation rate of 110% between January and October 2022, followed by Uganda with 107%, Nigeria with 106.5%, Kenya with 104%, South Africa with 102%, Angola with 101.5%, Mozambique with 101%, Zambia with 100.5%, and Congo with 100%.
According to the World Bank’s report, rising global food prices, which were already observed in the pre-pandemic period, “have accelerated since the onset of the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine and the lockdowns due to the zero-COVID-19 policy followed by China amid new COVID-19 outbreaks.”
Food inflation has therefore become inevitable, as “many countries in Africa are dependent on food and fuel imports.”
The report further explained that the reason the impact of COVID-19 and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is distinct with every country mentioned “can be attributed to differences in the economic structure and coping policies to deal with food and fuel prices.”
Former NBA player Ben Gordon was arrested at LaGuardia airport on Monday for allegedly punching his 10-year-old son in the head, TMZ reports.
The alleged abuse took place at around 8:45 p.m while Gordon and his son were waiting to board a flight to Chicago. According to law enforcement, Gordon shouldn’t have been with his son in the first place, as the child had an active restraining order against his father during the incident.
Port Authority police prevented Gordon from boarding the plane and arrested him. The former NBA guard allegedly resisted arrest, with a pair of officers suffering minor injuries. The New York Post notes “charges against him are pending.” Gordon’s son was transported to Long Island Jewish Children’s Hospital for evaluation by his aunt.
A native of Mount Vernon, New York, Gordon, 39, won the NCAA Championship with UConn in 2004, en route to being drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the third overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. In his first season in the NBA, Gordon became the first rookie to win the Sixth Man of the Year Award, averaging 15.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
The 6-foot-1 shooting guard spent 11 years in the NBA with the Bulls (2004-09), Detroit Pistons (2009-12), Charlotte Bobcats (2012-14), and Orlando Magic (2014-15). Shortly after retiring from the NBA in 2017, Gordon was arrested on robbery and assault charges.
“Stonebwoy plays free shows outside Ghana’ but he just rewarded himself with a customised Bentley Flying Spur worth $230,000 which is equivalent to Ghc 2,429,568.20 over 24 billion old Ghana cedis
The narrative that the Afrodancehall maestro is a ‘cheap’ artiste should be trashed once and for all because splashing such a huge amount of money on a single purchase speaks about his heavy financial muscles
In a video that surfaced on social media yesterday, Stonebwoy showed off the black-coloured car in a video on social media.
In the video which has been widely shared on Instagram blogs, Stonebwoy is seen seated in the car which’s number plate was customised with the Gidigba singer’s moniker, 1GAD.
Alot of congratulatory messages took over the comments section of the video because the musician is now enjoying the fruits of his hard labour.
Nigerian artiste Davido, who has featured Stonebowy on a number of songs and vice versa has taken to his IG story to congratulate his colleague.
Sharing a clear picture of Stonebwoy’s new toy, Davido captioned it as; “Congrats @Stonebwoy”
We must appreciate Stonebwoy’s hard work and the possibility of him being able to afford that expensive ride.
Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has observed a close relationship between illegal small-scale mining kingpin, Aisha Huang and lawyers belonging to the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP.
Ablakwa, while commenting on the recent disclosure that four accomplices standing trial with Ms. Huang in a case before the Accra Circuit Court, were represented by immediate past NPP National Chairman, Freddie Blay; said he wasn’t in the least surprised.
He revealed that as far back as 2017, when Huang got entangled in legal issues, her first two lawyers were affiliated with the NPP but the government pushed for a change in lawyers for Huang.
“After her first arrest, Aisha Huang’s earlier lawyers of choice were Mr. Bernard Owiredu Donkor and Mr. Ellis Owusu-Fordwouh,” Ablakwa said in a post dated October 12.
The former he noted went on to become the NPP’s Parliamentary Candidate for Akwatia in the 2020 General Elections.
Aisha Huang’scurrent lawyer is a former Berekum MP, Nkrabeah Effah Dartey, who has been her representative since 2018.
It emerged only yesterday that Freddie Blay was the main lawyer for Huang’s four co-accused in a case related to galamsey.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, said she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices in the persons of Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.
The plea of three of the accused persons has been taken with that of the last deferred due to the unavailability of a Vietnamese translator.
Meanwhile, Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney-General, indicated to the court the state’s readiness to expeditiously dispose of the case and will be willing to try the case on a day-after-day basis.
He observed that the judge superintending over the case has “also indicated his inclination to conduct the case in that manner.”
“In respect of Aisha Huang, we have filed most of the documents to be relied on, we have filed witness statements of four witnesses. We only need to fill about four more,” Dame added.
Charleston White has challenged T.I. to a UFC fight after the Atlanta artist blasted the YouTube personality for starting beef with his son.
White kicked off the feud last week by throwing shade at T.I.’s 18-year-old child King Harris, as well as Boosie Badazz’s son Tootie Raww.
“Boosie, your boy don’t know how to fight,” White said in an Instagram video. “Neither do that T.I. little yellow motherfucker, long-haired freak. That little motherfucker don’t know how to fight either. N***a, y’all babies is rapper n***a babies.”
King Harris responded to White with a video in which he called him “bitch” and threatened to “whoop [Charleston’s] ass.”
“Charleston White, you’s a bitch, boy,” King said. “We was ’bout to whoop your ass when you come back down here from telling. I can see you had a soft upbringing.”
After White blasted King for threatening him, even claiming he told the Atlanta Police Department and Fulton County District Attorney on the teen, T.I. decided to get involved.
On Monday, the Grand Hustle MC hopped on social media to call out White for threatening his son.
“Come deal with the daddy,” T.I. said in a clip posted on IG. “If you don’t want no trouble, what you keep kicking up dust for? If you scared to show up somewhere, that’s fear. I don’t operate in fear. I don’t need no security around me.”
Of course, T.I.’s participation in the beef appears to be merely the beginning, as White returned to social media to detail a phone call he had with the Trap Muzik rapper, which apparently didn’t solve anything.
“Just got off the phone with T.I. bitch ass,” White said. “You don’t get to dictate anything. Deal with me like I ain’t a comedian. I’m the big dog talking. You ain’t never won a fight.”
The YouTuber didn’t stop there. On Monday, he returned to Instagram to challenge T.I. to a UFC fight. “We really can get in that ring for some money, n***a, since you running your mouth,” Charleston said.
White also suggested his son can fight King as well.
Unaired footage from Kanye West’s recent interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson surfaced on Tuesday, as Vice’s Motherboard obtained several unedited clips that see the artist making more controversial statements about a variety of topics, including more antisemitic comments in line with what he’s shared over social media in recent days.
In the clip up top, West shared his thoughts on Planned Parenthood, which he claims was created with the KKK in order to “control the Jew population.”
“When I say Jew, I mean the 12 lost tribes of Judah, the blood of Christ, who the people known as the race Black really are,” West said. “This is who our people are. The blood of Christ. This, as a Christian, is my belief.”
In another clip, he mentioned Jewish people again while opining that Black people are too quick to judge each other.
“Think about us judging each other on how white we could talk would be like, you know, a Jewish person judging another Jewish person on how good they danced or something,” he said. “I mean, that’s probably like a bad example and people are going to get mad at that shit.” A moment later, he added, “I probably want to edit that out.”
He also said he prefers to work with Hispanic people and seemingly stopped himself before offering additional antisemitism. “I just, I trust Latinos when I, you know, when I work with them. I trust them more than…” he told Carlson, pausing. “I’ll be safe: certain other businessmen, you know.” Elsewhere he bemoaned his kids learning about Kwanzaa at school. “I prefer my kids knew Hanukkah than Kwanzaa. At least it would come with some financial engineering,” he said.
Kanye alleged that “fake children” were placed in his home to manipulate his kids, as well.
“I mean, like actors, professional actors, placed into my house to sexualize my kids,” he said. “Everyone saw in broad daylight these public figures kidnap my Black child on her birthday. I did not know the location of the birthday party and Travis Scott had to give me the address. When I showed up, they were so frazzled. If that’s not the most Karen-level thing, to feel like you can take a Black child and not give the father the address. This is the way people are treated when they get out of prison when they go to prison. And 100 percent, I am in a glass prison, or else I’d be the one with the say-so over where my children go to school.
Former NHL player and current chair of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, Akim Aliu, responded to Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons after Simmons compared Aliu’s career with that of another black NHL player, Wayne Simmonds.
“No one wants to say this because of the politically correct police and all, but those who coached Akim Aliu must cringe every time they see him in a news report or a commercial talking about what’s wrong with hockey,” Simmons wrote in his column.
Shortly after the article was released, Aliu responded with a video on Twitter, addressing Simmons’ comments.
“People like Steve are what’s wrong with society […]” Aliu said. “You have absolutely no clue, Steve, what I and my family have been through both physically and emotionally since I started playing hockey and the scars it has left. When I showed this to my dad, he literally broke out in tears.”
Aliu also asked Simmons if he truly believes there’s no racism in the league.
“The real question here is are you saying there’s no racism in the game with everything that’s gone on? What are you actually trying to do by comparing myself to Wayne, who is actually an incredible leader in this space and is promoting the same message as I? What coaches are you referring to? Guys like Bill Peters? Are you saying I didn’t get called a n— and get sent down to the East Coast [Hockey] League when I was actually leading my AHL team in scoring in my first professional season? Are you saying I wasn’t hazed in my rookie year in the OHL? Made to strip naked in a bathroom with five other men and afterwards got my teeth cross-checked out for not wanting to do it again and then subsequently get blackballed by all of Hockey Canada as I watch my stock drop? Are you saying I didn’t have a trainer walk into a team party with my jersey in blackface?”
Toronto Maple Leafs player Wayne Simmonds also responded to Simmons’ “asinine” column in a tweet.
Aliu has been vocal about racism in the league. In 2019, he alleged that Bill Peters, a former NHL coach, called him racial slurs when we has a part of the Rockford Ice Hogs in the AHL during the 2009-10 season.
The management of the Ghana Revenue Authority has scheduled a meeting with owners of businesses in the Ashanti Region’s CBDs.
On Tuesday, October 11, 2022, at 8:00 am, the meeting was set at the request of the GRA management.
Due to the double payment of Value Added Tax (VAT) on goods supplied in the Kumasi metropolis, business owners are on a sit-down strike.
The move by the GRA to send tax officers to the offices of the business operators to ensure tax compliance and the payment of the VAT, among other things, has also drawn criticism from the business operators.
The President of the Ashanti Regional Chapter of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Tony Oppong, speaking in an interview with the host of the Ghana Yensom morning show, Emmanuel Quarshie, on Accra 100.5 said the sit-down strike will continue until the issues are addressed by the relevant authorities.
He said the crux of the matter is the duplicate payment of the VAT.
According to him, when their products are imported VAT payments are made at the ports and when it is delivered to them they again pay VAT for the buyers to also pay.
He said these duplicate payments have led to skyrocketing prices in the CBDs.
He explained that business operators who are not VAT registered sell at a low price for VAT registered business operators to sell at a high price because of the tax components on the products.
He warned if they have to work and suffer they shall close the shops and stay home.
“We cannot be working to be making losses at the end of the day,” Mr Oppong said.
He called on business operators to rally behind leadership to push for some reforms on the tax components of their businesses.
Aspiring General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), ElvisAfriyie Ankrah, has asserted that the party cannot be placed on the same pedestal as the New Patriotic Party when it comes to combating illegal small-scale mining (galamsey).
In his view, the governing party has failed in its quest to eliminate the illicit activities which has rendered negatively impacted on farmlands and water bodies.
Speaking to Accra-based Citi TV on October 11, the current Director of Elections of the NDC said the NPP instead of fighting galamsey was rather using it as an avenue to raise money to buy their way in elections.
He said the NPP’s failure in fighting galamsey was a reflection of how it has failed to manage everything in the country, ranging from the economy to environmental issues.
“You look at the status of the waterbodies, just basic. When we were in office…when we were leaving and you look at the aerial photography. This is practical, look at the aerial photographs when this government took office and what it is today.
“It is a complete failure and the reason is that the NPP as a party has seen the galamsey as part of a way to raise money for their party. You have heard audios. People were captured on audio and video saying ‘party no hia sika’ [the party needs money].
“It is the kingpins of the party. Hanson Mining who does it belong to? Or their party women’s organizer and all those people and even now the biggest deception is that they went and brought equipment which they call mercury-free equipment to solve the galamsey problem.
“Who are the people they distributed that equipment to? Their party apparatchiks. So it is a party problem. The NPP is using that to raise money with the deluded notion that once they have enough money, they can buy their way through any election.
“The people of Ghana are waiting for them. The failure of the fight against the galamsey is a microcosm of the failure of the government to manage anything. This government is an utter failure, the biggest failure in the history of this country,” Elvis Afriyie Ankrah said.
Akufo-Addo courts House of Chiefs support anti-galamsey fight
President Akufo-Addo in an address to the National House of Chiefs expressed concerns over galamsey activities which he admits has been a lost battle over the years.
He said even though he put his presidency on the line to combat the menace in 2017, it results has not been what he expected.
The president said he paid an electoral price for his fight as he lost votes and, in some cases, NPP MPs in the 7th Parliament lost their reelection bid in mining communities.
He stated that the fight against illegal mining can only be won with the support of chiefs as well as stamping out politics from it.
“It can only succeed if it is a truly national battle that no one seeks to exploit for political gain, as we saw in the last election. The progress of our country depends on all of us, all citizens of Ghana, all Fellow Ghanaians, pulling together to defeat this existential threat to our future,” President Akufo-Addo said.
Ghana has been waging war on the activities of illegal miners however it is widely believed that the fight has not yielded the desired results.
The general environmental degradation has been cited as a sign of the failed fight.
Elsie Addo Awadzi, the second deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), has given Ghana Reinsurance (Ghana Re) PLC the responsibility of investing in data, technology, and human resources to give the company a competitive edge across the globe.
At Ghana Re’s 50th Anniversary Dinner and 13th Cedants Awards Night on Friday in Accra, she made the following statement in a speech that was read on her behalf: “We will ensure efficiency and productivity at Ghana Re by leveraging modern technology, quality data, and developing the skills of employees.”
“In order to maintain their status as one of the best on the continent in terms of productivity and business efficiency, it is important to prioritise quality data, invest in its people and utilise modern technology to reduce budgetary allocation,” she stated.
Data strategy she said, must be incorporated into the entire business growth strategy of the company as it would go a long way to move the company to greater heights in terms of generating profit on yearly basis.
“They must also identify appropriate technological tools which will go a long way to help the company boost productivity and provide Ghana Re with the required market advantage,” she stressed.
“Companies like Ghana Re has promoted financial stability and protected the insurance industry by ensuring safety with regards to the businesses,” she added.
She urged management of Ghana Re to continue working hard to grow the company by continuously delivering customer satisfaction.
The Managing Director for Ghana Re, Mr George Y. Mensah said the company since its establishment had contributed significantly to the socio-economic development of the country and remained committed to the course.
Going forward, he said, Ghana Re would seek to move from being among the top 20 to the top 10 reinsurers in Africa.
To achieve that, he said, the management of Ghana Re had taken steps to provide not only additional capacity to its clients but looking ahead to making the company more relevant as an African reinsurer and put the company on a higher business pedestal.
“Management is implementing strategies to further strengthen business operations which includes expanding into new market and products and enhance operational excellence through the introduction of appropriate technology for ease of business operations and to improve customer experience,” he stated.
Fat Joe is slated to sit down with ESPN First Take host Stephen A. Smith for what’s being touted as an “unguarded conversation” next month.
The event, formally billed as The Apollo Presents In Conversation: Fat Joe, will take place on Nov. 15 and is part of the larger rollout behind The Book of Jose. Joe’s memoir, penned with Shaheem Reid, is being released through the Random House imprint Roc Lit 101. As previously reported, the imprint was launched back in 2020 and was at the time said to also have a “fantasy fiction” project on the way from Lil Uzi Vert.
Tickets for the conversation at Apollo’s Historic Theater are currently on sale and start at $40.
Image via Publicist
When announcing his new book back in April, Fat Joe said readers could expect him to go deep on some of the “darkest moments” from his life and career in The Book of Jose.
“It explores the darkest moments of my life—brushes with death, being locked up, losing friends, and dealing with depression—that shaped me as a man,” he said at the time. “I overcame significant adversity but I’m excited to be in a position to share my story and inspire others through my journey.”
Last month, Fat Joe served as the host of the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards.
The governing NewPatrioticParty, NPP, is of the view that justice will be served in the matter involving the state versus Aisha Huang and four others in a case involving illegal small-scale mining activities.
This according to the party is despite the fact that lawyers affiliated with it are representing the accused persons.
Speaking on Accra-based Joy FM, the party’s Director of Communications, Richard Ahiagbah maintained that the court will at all times deal with evidence put before it by parties to the case.
He contended further that it was within the right of an accused person to get legal representation in court and consequently it was also right for the NPP-affiliated lawyers to render professional services to such persons.
“If it is a matter of conscience then we should say that there shouldn’t be legal representation for criminals or for somebody who has killed somebody or is alleged to have killed somebody. As conscience will dictate, we should all abhor such behavior and therefore no lawyer as matter of conscience should want to defend any such act
“I don’t think there will be any miscarriage of justice because the lawyers in the case are NPP related or have affiliations with the New Patriotic Party. The idea is that every client deserves a representation.
“Our laws allows for that, so the client have exercised their right to have legal representation and those happens to be people affiliated with the NPP. I don’t think that necessarily changes the rules of the court which is evidence,” Ahiagbah said.
It emerged that former NPP Chairman, Freddie Blay, is the main lawyer for Aisha Huang’s accomplices namely Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng, in the prosecution.
Aisha Huang together with her four other accomplices made a court appearance yesterday October 11 for the state to continue with their prosecution.
Private attorney Lucy Ekeleba Blay said in court that she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices. Another NPP affiliated lawyer, Nkrabea Effah Darteh is representing Aisha Huang.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Godfred Dame has indicated his readiness to fast-track the prosecution of Aisha Huang for her past and previous crimes.
Ms. Huang and her accomplices have been remanded into custody until November 24, 2022 following the judge’s refusal to grant them bail.
Ghana midfielder Mohammed Kudus has lifted the lid on his goal against Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League after the strike was voted the club’s goal of the month.
The 22-year-old continued his impressive goal scoring form at Anfield, however it was not enough as Joel Matip’s late header against the Dutch champions gave the Reds their first win in the competition.
Liverpool created plenty of openings and deservedly went ahead when Mohamed Salah swept home Diogo Jota’s pass. Kudus’ searing shot went in off the underside of the bar to level but Matip’s 89th minute header won it.
“It was a collective goal, we played like 25 passes and everyone touched the ball and it was a very nice team goal,” Kudus told Ajax TV after receiving the award.
“It feels good to win the award and it keeps motivating me to keep doing more and keep assisting my team.
“It was special to score at Anfield because the goal brought us on level terms, I was in a different world when the ball went in and you could see from my reaction, a lot of energy and I really wanted to go to our fans to celebrate but they were the other side so it was difficult.
“It could have been a better feeling if the goal gave us a win, I watch the goal every day, it was a hell of a strike.”
Th goal was Kudus’ 5th goal in four matches for Ajax. In total, he has scored eight goals and provided one assist in 13 appearances across all the competitions.
Bernard Mensah Adelashie, the Products Executive of Dophil Roofing Systems, has emphasized the significance of implementing green technology practices in Ghana’s building industry.
He asserts that the building sector would benefit greatly from adopting items created specifically from plastic waste materials in terms of cost and energy.
Bernard Adelashie said employing tiles, especially ones manufactured from plastic waste, would lessen the negative effects that some real estate developments have on the environment while preserving natural resources in an interview with GhanaWeb on the sidelines of the Ghana Green Building Summit in Accra.
“We have identified that plastic is a menace in Ghana and a high quantity of our plastic waste goes down the drains or even into the water bodies and as a company with innovation, we decided that we want to transform this to provide one of the best roofing systems for homes, companies, individuals and organisations,” he noted.
“There are many benefits of using modern technology to enhance Ghana’s construction sector. For instance, the roofing tiles developed are eco-friendly and have strong water resistant because, in Ghana, we have very harsh weather conditions,” Mr Adelashie said.
The annual Green Building Summit focuses on engaging stakeholders to deliberate opportunities, challenges, and solutions for Ghana’s green-built environment.
The aim of the summit is to reduce the negative impact of real estate projects on the environment, while conserving natural resources.
Energy transition must not be at the expense of economic growth – Harriet Thompson
With news of Nike Korea cracking down on resellers making the rounds in recent weeks, the brand has made similar updates to its e-commerce terms of sale stateside.
First spotted by The Wall Street Journal, Nike’s new terms of sale include updated language pertaining to resale and bot use. The policies, which have been in place for years, were revised this month to include harsher penalties for those the brand determines purchased items with the intention of reselling.
Nike now reserves the right to charge restocking fees, impose purchase quantity limits, flat out refuse returns, and deny access to any of its stores. Previous sanctions that remain in place include the brand’s ability to restrict sales, cancel orders, and suspend or close accounts of suspected resellers.
The updated terms also extend Nike’s right to reject or cancel orders. Previous iterations of the terms included a clause pertaining to unusual or potentially fraudulent orders, but the new document specifically states that Nike can cancel those that are placed with bots. It also adds that orders can be canceled if an account has an excessive amount of returns or exceeds product purchase limits.
The Deputy Lands Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, responsible for Lands Forestry Hon. Benito Owusu-Bio has sounded a clear warning to illegal miners to stay off forest reserves as he stressed that regardless of positions, they will be driven out and sanctioned.” No matter who you are, we don’t care, if you enter the forest reserves we will drive you out and sanction you as well”
He intimated that the forest reserves are not for mining but was quick to add that unless for exceptional cases like that of Chirano mines and Newmontwho have been granted legal licences to operate “but that doesn’t mean that anyone can just jump into the forest to mine and if we find you like that, we will deal with you”
The Deputy Ministersaid this when he paid a working visit to Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve to ascertain the veracity of news of Akonta Mining Company still operating in the forest even after the directive by the Lands Minister to the Forestry Commission to halt the company’s operations in the Forest through a Press Release on 30th September, 2022.
It will be recalled that the Ministry’s Press statement pointed out that “while Akonta Mining Limited has a mining lease to undertake mining operations in some parts of Somreboi, outside the Forest Reserve, the company has no mineral rights to undertake mining operations in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve.
After an aerial view of the entire forest, Hon. Benito Owusu-Bio and his team spotted about three site in the forests with some equipment but no operations and immediately charged the forestry officers to burn and decommission everything on the site upon arrival.
The team also discovered a different group of illegal miners, working along the banks and edges of the river and a few in the forest. Per the map guiding that aerial view 98% of the miners were outside the restricted area, which are the banks and edges while the remaining 2% worked in the Forest reserves itself. It could however not be determined which mining company these miners belong to.
Addressing the issue of this new group of illegal miners found mining on the river he said “these are not small scale miners, these are obviously people who are just burnt on destroying our forests, waterbodies and the entire environment but I cannot tell wether that is Akonta or any other company because this is not organised so I can say it’s purely illegal mining that is going on there!”
He assured the media that as a matter of urgency the Ministry will unleash Operations halt II to the area who with speed boats and the right equipment will bring a halt to all activities ongoing in the river. “With what we have seen here, I will report to the Minister and we would immediately see how we can strategize and bring the operationas to a halt with the speed boats recently pocured to chase them out”
He also noted that together with the Forestry Commission and Samartex, a timber company in the enclave they will soon beef up the number of forest guards who patrol the 300sq kilometer forest with support from the military.
The Deputy Lands Minister warned that with the help of the military, the Ministry and the Forestry Commission will embark on similar operations in all forest reserves across the country to ensure they rid all forests of illegalities of any sort. “This will not stop here, we know this is not the only forest reserves under attack and so we will continue to ensure all forest with any illegal activity is brought under scrutiny”
Hon. Benito called on the community members and traditional leaders of the Amenfi West Municipality of the Western Region to join in the fight against illegal mining for their own sake and for the betterment of the environment and the country.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Mr. John Allotey on his part gave details to the extent of the devastation saying out of a total area of 205sq kilometer, close to about 0.12sq kilometer of the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve has been impacted upon by the illegal activities.
He noted that since August when the Commission started having the challenge of groups trooping into the forest to mine, the Commission have sent out the military to the area about 8 times all in efforts to keep them out of the forest.
He assured that heeding to the directives of the Hon. Minister, the Commission is committed to ensuring that all those found culpable to this matter will be dealt with in accordance with the Law.
On October 11, 2022, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) closed four Palace mall locations in Accra. The Atomic roundabout, Labone, Spintex, and Weija branches were shut down for failing to use GRA’s E-VAT invoicing system.
According to GRA, some stores have not electronically generated VAT bills when clients make purchases.
Joseph Annan, the area manager of the GRA’s central office in Accra, urged the affected shop owners not to tamper with the GRA’s seal that was used to lock up their stores in a media interview.
Tampering of the seal, Mr Annan said, would worsen their plight.
“GRA has decided that compliance enforcement is the way to go. What we are doing now is that for those taxpayers who we have engaged, and are not hooked up unto the system, our compliance team will close down their shops. We are going to ensure that they are not restored until they comply,” he stated.
Hearts of Oak legend, Ishmael Addo says it’s painful to watch the club endure failure during their campaign in Africa.
The Ghana Premier League powerhouse having dominated the African continent in the late 2000s winning the Champions League and the Confederations Cup have failed to perform in recent times.
Hearts of Oak last season were booted out of the Champions League following a 6-2 aggregate loss to Wydad Casablanca.
In the Confederations Cup, the Phobians suffered a disappointing 4-2 aggregate defeat to JS Saoura.
In the second round of the first leg of the preliminary games of the 2022/23 CAF Confederations Cup, Hearts of Oak suffered a 3-0 defeat to Real Bamako over the weekend.
Addo, who was the top scorer in the Ghana Premier League three times with Hearts, isn’t happy with how his former club has regressed.
“It’s painful to watch Hearts of Oak play in Africa these days,” the retired striker said in an interview with Joy Sports.
“It’s really painful because you sit back after putting the team up there. You left with the idea that they would be better than where you actually put the team but you realize that the team keeps coming down and dropping.
“Even though we had our time and left, we still have something towards the team, we still have this passion, we still want the team to achieve better than what we achieved but now they are taking a step backwards.”
Addo was part of the last Hearts side to dominate the continent, having won the treble of Ghana Premier League, FA Cup, and CAF Champions League in 2000.
The Accra-based side also won the maiden edition of the CAF Confederations Cup in 2004 after beating domestic rivals Asante Kotoko in the final on penalties.
Meanwhile, Hearts of Oak will hope to overturn a three-goal deficit when they host Real Bamako at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday.
Most businesses participate in a variety of events during the yearly customer appreciation week celebration, such as dressing in the customers’ professions, rewarding customers, and creating a friendlier work environment.
However, having such a yearly spectacle without subsequent proper customer service from the establishments, according to Mr. Michael K. Caesar, Chairman of the GNCCI Tema branch, was not the greatest.
Mr Caesar said this during a day’s customer experience workshop organized by the GNCCI Tema branch on the theme: “Customer Experience Aiding the growth of Businesses.”
He noted that the customer week celebration could be used to create awareness while engaging and getting feedback on the company’s activities from the customer for a year under review.
“The customer must live the experience every day, the awareness could be created, and if you want to observe that day, it must be a day of engaging, and getting feedback on what you have been doing over the days, and to help you to notch up what you think you’ve been doing every day, and what you provide your customers,” he added.
He added that businesses must lift their game and ensure that they do not only create awareness of customer service around a week’s celebration but also look at the flaws in their system and improve it by training and retraining their staff to deliver the kind of customer experience needed to get a repeat purchase from customers.
“It is important to monitor and create a customer experience that helps the business provider to know how the customer feels and get to know if they are delighted and satisfied with the way you deal with them,” he said.
Mr Caesar said customer experience was very important as customers had become very sophisticated adding that business owners must not be ignorant about the need to survey their customers and client needs.
Touching on the workshop, he said it was the second session for this year as the first one was held in April on customer service, while the second session was on customer experience to give the staff of member firms back to-back-knowledge of these things to help them improve their businesses.
Mrs Yvonne Ohui MacCarthy, Customer Service Consultant, President of the Institute of Customer Service Professionals, speaking as a resource person said it was important for businesses to change their mindset about their customers as according to her how they describe the customers as the ones they will meet at their establishments.
Mrs MacCarthy advised businesses not to just create change but create a consistent culture, noting that they must start looking at customer service as a culture that must be part of the way they think and sees things.
She said to achieve a customer service culture, an effort must be made to get the staff to understand the culture being created as they were internal customers adding that customers must also be listened to by business operators.
She also asked them to hire right, have a clear customer care service goal or objective, include everybody in the fulfilment of the goal, draws up realistic strategies to help achieve the goal, and commit resources to it.
Draymond Green’s mother, Mary Babers-Green, has never shied away from standing up for her son on social media, so it’s hardly surprising she came to his defense this week following his altercation with Golden State Warriors teammate Jordan Poole.
On Tuesday, Draymond’s mom hopped on Twitter to share her thoughts on the incident. As reported by NBC Sports, Babers-Green shared a few tweets before deactivating her account.
“They can get beyond this. Anything is fixable! Everything ain’t always what you think you see!” she wrote, suggesting that her son and Poole will be able to mend their relationship.
In a subsequent tweet, Babers-Green denied Draymond sucker punched Poole.
“That wasn’t a Sucker punch,” she claimed. “Dray didn’t aggressively go to Poole. His hands were down. Man to Man you go over to talk (to ask what’s up, what you say)! Got shoved and reacted.. End of story!”
Before deleting her Twitter account, Babers-Green said, “Enjoy Twitter- I’ll just leave the chirping for the birds and let ’em tweet! I’m going to deactivate this app so no one can say what I think or believe! I hope it can work itself out for the betterment of the Dubs!”
Footage of the scuffle, which took place last Wednesday, surfaced on Friday, resulting in Draymond announcing plans to step away from the team indefinitely.
In a clip leaked to TMZ, Green and Poole are seen exchanging words before Draymond approaches Jordan, who pushes his teammate away. That leads to Green punching Poole in the face and taking him to the ground. The two are quickly surrounded by teammates and coaches, who break up the fight.
After issuing a public apology to Poole, his family, and the Warriors organization, Draymond announced his plans on Saturday.
“I’m going to continue to stay away, as I’ve been away, and continue to do work on myself, but also just give guys space,” Green, 32, told reporters. “I do want to give my team some space, I want to give Jordan some space, and then also take a few days and continue to work on myself…take some time to let everything breathe.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has shared nuggets that can put Africa on the right footing in seeking to better the lot of people on the continent.
He identified among others absolute accountability of institutions, ethical and moral uprightness and stoic fidelity to the truth as three such values Africa needs.
His views were contained in a Facebook post dated October 9 sharing portions of a speech he delivered at the Liberty University’s convocation event last week in the United States.
“Absolute accountability, not just by government but by the institutions of state in service to the people and not themselves, will go a long way to remedy many of the systemic problems that affect our African people.
“In Africa, we need ethical and moral uprightness as guiding principles, and a stoic fidelity to the truth and to do right by our people above all other considerations,” his post accompanied by photos of his engagement read.
Mahama was a special guest of honour at the 2022 Liberty University Convocation in Lynchburg, Virginia where he delivered a speech to a packed auditorium.
He described Ghana as “an island of religious calmness in a sea of turbulence,” citing how “almost all our surrounding neighbours have in recent times experienced some major form of insurgency, coup d’etats or other conflicts, including religious conflicts.”
He explained the situation in Ghana’s northern neighbours, Burkina Faso and Mali, where insurgents are running roughshod.
The Deputy Minister of Information, Fatimatu Abubakari,has opened up about her childhood, describing how she used to work with her mother in a chop bar as an 8-year-old girl.
She explained that it was from working in such a place at a very young age that she was exposed to human relations and interacting with people from all walks of life.
She added that unbeknownst to her, she was preparing herself for a life in communication and law, which today is her life.
Speaking at the Power of a Girl Conference organized by Power To Girls GH to mark this year’s International Day of the Girl Child, the deputy minister said that she didn’t start out big.
“I was born in Moshi Zongo in Kumasi and I attended Foundation of Jesus Preparatory School in Kumasi, and also Bukrom MA JHS in Kumasi, and then I attended Kumasi Academy, also in Kumasi before I came to University of Ghana for my first degree in psychology and subsequently for my law degree. And then I went to the Ghana School of Law and then I’m back on the road, thinking about my LLM and by the grace of God, hopefully start a PhD program.
“All that I want you to take from all these things I’m mentioning is that I never started big. I didn’t even start as the most intelligent person in my school; I took baby steps, starting with my passion,” she said.
Fatimatu Abubakari added that in the days that she worked in her mother’s chop bar, she endeared the hearts of many people because of how opinionated and knowledgeable she was, even as a little girl.
She added that eventually, she was nicknamed ‘lawyer,’ a tag that has followed her till today and as such, she encouraged parents not to shut up their outspoken and opinionated children because it could just be the thing they need to be properly set up in life.
“… when I was younger, I was a born advocate – I was a talkative. I didn’t know anything about communication but my mom had a chop bar at Kumasi and I started working at the chop bar at age 8.
“So, I talk to everybody and anybody. I was very social growing up so they just gave me a nickname, ‘lawyer,’ because anything you want explanation for, if you called Fati, I have answers for everything and I know there are sisters or daughters here that when they start talking, they will say ‘You, shut up. Everything you have answers to it,’ ‘Ei this girl is a talkative o.’ it’s good to express yourself and maybe, it is even going to lead you to a career,” she explained.
The Deputy Minister of Information also talked about other passions that she developed as a child that have continued to guide her life and provide a source of income for her.
This year’s Power of a Girl Conference was themed: ‘Girl Force, Unscripted and Unstoppable’.
Kanye West was a guest on The Shop, but nobody’s going to see the conversation.
“Yesterday we taped an episode of The Shop with Kanye West,” Maverick Carter, SpringHill Company CEO and LeBron’s co-host of the talk show, told Andscape in a statement. The outlet notes James was “not present at the taping.”
Carter’s statement continues:
“Kanye was booked weeks ago and, after talking to Kanye directly the day before we taped, I believed he was capable of a respectful discussion and he was ready to address all his recent comments. Unfortunately, he used The Shop to reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes.
We have made the decision not to air this episode or any of Kanye’s remarks. While The Shop embraces thoughtful discourse and differing opinions, we have zero tolerance for hate speech of any kind and will never allow our channels to be used to promote hate. I take full responsibility for believing Kanye wanted a different conversation and apologize to our guests and crew. Hate speech should never have an audience.”
Andscape writes that production sources say West “doubled down on his recent anti-Semitic remarks” in the would-be episode, which also featured his “Amazing” collaborator Jeezy and shoe designer Salehe Bembury.
Complex reached out to a Springhill Company rep for further comment and was issued a copy of the above statement.
Over the weekend, West began making comments about Jewish people while slamming Diddy, then broadened his antisemitic remarks on Twitter when Instagram suspended him. A tweet where he declared “when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” was pulled for violating the platform’s rules.
On Tuesday, unaired footage from West’s conversation with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson emerged, depicting further antisemitic remarks.
Jewish advocacy groups have called out the 45-year-old for perpetuating stereotypes and “antisemitic tropes like greed and control.” The American Jewish Committee (AJC) criticized his “incoherent rants laden with racist and antisemitic undertones made on the country’s top cable news program.”
The Shop finished its fourth season on HBO last October, with Jay-Z, Tom Brady, Kid Cudi, Wanda Sykes, and many more stopping by. Season 5 moved to YouTube in March and has aired on a roughly monthly basis, with 2022 guests including Donald Glover, Quinta Brunson, Rick Ross, Idris Elba, Draymond Green, and Drew Barrymore.
The Bank of Ghana has approved the Institute of Economic Affairs’ (IEA) recommendation to curb Government borrowing in an effort to reduce the nation’s debt. The Governor is believed to have stated that he “supports negotiations on capping borrowing” during his news conference on Thursday, October 6, 2022, regarding the Monetary Policy Committee’s conclusion [Business & Financial Times (B&FT), Monday, October 10, 2022].
This is because there are serious worries about Ghana’s public debt after the World Bank reported that the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio could reach 104.6% by the end of the year.
As the B&FT correctly reported, the lEA first made the call for the imposition by Parliament of a cap on borrowing (or debt) in the Institute’s Comments on the 2022 Budget in November 2021. The cap, the IEA suggested, could be incorporated into the Parliamentary Appropriations Act, which approves Government’s annual total spending, or introduced as a rule in the Fiscal Responsibility Act in addition to the deficit rule. In making this proposal, the IEA expressed
concern that the borrowing implied by budget deficits seems to be invariably breached with impunity.
Thus, it was necessary to tie the hands of the Finance Minister and insist that, any additional borrowing by him beyond the budget estimates or the new ceiling should be subject to the approval of Parliament just as pertains in the United States. This is the only way to rein in our debt and keep it at a sustainable level on a durable basis so as to avoid debt service, which currently absorbs over 40% of tax revenue, from overwhelming the budget.
Since first making the suggestion in November 2021, the lEA has repeated the call in various subsequent communications. The Institute wishes it to be further known that, as part of the CSO Economic Governance Platform, it has made this suggestion available for consideration by the IMF Team currently negotiating a possible financial programme with the Ghanaian authorities. In that submission, the lEA also called for strict enforcement of both the ceiling of 5% of GDP on the fiscal deficit as well the ceiling of 5% of the previous year’s revenue on
Bank of Ghana’s lending to the Government, both of which have debt implications.
A five-member committee has been established by the government to coordinate discussions on managing Ghana’s debt with participants in the financial sector.
According to a statement released by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday in Accra, the committee established by the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana (BoG) is chaired by Albert Essien, with Simon Dornoo serving as vice chair.
The action is a part of the government’s efforts to maintain control and confidence in its current negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The other members of the Committee are Mr Alex Asiedu, Ms Mabel Nyarkoa Porbley, and Peter Enti.
The statement noted, “The Committee will be consultative and will among other things lead discussions with the financial services industry and other stakeholders to provide industry-wide inputs and transmit industry concerns on debt management strategy to the MoF and BoG.”
The statement reiterated the Government’s commitment to protecting the domestic financial sector, noting that: “The stability of the domestic financial ecosystem is critical to a successful IMF-supported economic programme.”
“The government will take all necessary steps to protect the sector as we have done in the past,” the statement said.
It was noted that the government needed the support and trust of all Ghanaians to ensure that a historic arrangement was reached with the IMF.
“We are confident that such engagement and collaboration will enable us to recover very quickly and strongly from our current macroeconomic challenges,” the statement noted.
It was also stated that a similar engagement would be held with Ghana’s external bondholders.
Ghana is currently engaging with the IMF for a loan facility to support the implementation of its homegrown economic programme to ensure a stable and resilient macroeconomic environment, ensure debt sustainability and maintain social cohesion.
Ghanaian singer-songwriter Mohammed Ismail Sharrif, alias Black Sherif, has revealed how the widely acclaimed 2022 3Music Awards performance of his ‘Kwaku the Traveller’ song was planned.
About seven months after the event, he has shared the details for the very first time with media personality Ebenezer Donkoh, alias NYDJ.
During the awards night in March, while the rapper and singer performed the unknown song live on stage for the very first time, what appeared to be rain or a waterfall started to pour on him alone in the Grand Arena of the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC).
“I had the song already and Mr Sadiq [then-3Music Network CEO) reached out that, ‘Yo! I have this idea for a performance’. He visualised it to me [and said] ‘This is how I want it to go’, and I told him I have the perfect song for this,” he disclosed.
Sadiq did not know the song prior, “No, he just shared the idea with me,” the Ghanaian rapper explained.
He said he told Sadiq “I have this song I’m dropping sometime next two or three weeks so I think it will be better for [this performance],” and when he eventually played the song for the media executive, “He was like, ‘Yo! This is it! A hundred per cent.”
According to Sherif, he sent the song to Sadiq whose team then started work on a live rendition.
While all this happened, Kwaku Killa, as is his nickname, was in Lagos, Nigeria.
He said, when he arrived in Ghana he started doing his rehearsals.
Recalling the actual performance, the Konongo native assessed it thus: “That performance went nuts, bro. Crazy!”
He stated he anticipated the effect the performance had on the song’s success also.
“I won’t lie. I did,” he said noting it far exceeded his expectations, however, and “that’s why I don’t like to set limits or expectations for myself because I don’t want my mind to be blown too much.”
“I knew if this water falls on stage, if I perform this [song] live, while nobody’s heard it before, with the kick [and live instrumentation], it would be spectacular. I just knew it,” Black Sherif commented on the aesthetics of the historical moment.
“The only thing was, it actually went beyond spectacular. People loved it,” he excitedly added.
waku Killa also spoke on the writing process for ‘Kwaku the Traveller’.
“I love to write from a raw place, real place to make the song mean something to me so that when it goes out, everyone that listens to it, it means something to them. That’s what I do every time,” he said.
On promoting the megahit, he commented: “It’s God and schemes.”
“It’s scheme at the backend and God that led to its success. It’s like the time was just right when everything came together,” he added.
The thirteenth song on his 14-track debut album called ‘The Villain I Never Was’, ‘Kwaku the Traveller’ prompted frenzied social media challenges including people performing it under pouring water and repeating a line in the song that evokes the famed Biblical text: “Let he who is without sin be the first to cast the stone.”
A former national chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, says his law firm is ready to defend the four accomplices of Aisha Huang because they are innocent.
He said they have no reason to believe or act otherwise, adding that the four Chinese nationals deserve full legal representation in court.
“They came to instruct us and we as professionals, we have sworn an oath to defend our clients to the best of our knowledge and ability and that is exactly what we are doing in accordance with the Constitution of this country.
“They are not guilty. They’ve been brought before the court, they’ve pleaded not guilty and are being defended,” Mr Blay said in an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday.
According to him, the four accused persons may have a relationship with Aisha Huang because in 2017 they bought a supermarket from her.
That, in any way, does not suggest they are illegal miners and should not have fair legal representation or defence, Mr Blay stressed.
“Our firm is defending these clients; they’ve told us their story. Maybe the prosecution has been told some other story and that is why we are before the court to defend them,” he added.
“We are a firm of lawyers, we take our instructions from our clients based on the story they’ve told us which we have no reason to believe otherwise.”
“I don’t know whether you are saying that at a time like this when people are accused or arraigned before court, they should not be entitled to any defence,” he retorted.
NPP justification
Meanwhile, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has justified the decision by its former national chairman, Freddie Blay, to defend four accomplices of ‘galamsey’ queen Aisha Hunag in court.
According to the Communications Director, Richard Ahiagbah, people’s political affiliations should not deny anyone the right to justice and fair representation in court.
“I don’t think there would be any miscarriage of justice because the lawyers in the case are NPP related or have affiliation with the New Patriotic Party.
The idea is that every client deserves a representation; our laws allow for that so the clients have exercised their right to have a legal representation,” he told JoyNews in an interview.
What happened?
A feeling of surprise erupted in the Criminal Court 5 on Tuesday when it was announced that former NPP National Chairman Freddie Blay will be representing four accomplices of Aisha Huang who are being held by the state for their involvement in illegal mining.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, announced in court that she was holding brief for Freddy Blay in the case of the four accomplices of Aisha Huang namely; Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.
Aisha Huang herself is being represented by NPP stalwart, Nkrabea Effah Dartey.
This move by Mr Blay has sparked discussions among the public as many say it suggests a lack of principles and defeats government’s fight against the canker.
“Those [lawyers] happen to be people affiliated with the NPP; I don’t think that necessarily changes the rules of the court… I think that we should pay attention and see that the due process is occasioned and the outcome is fair to our country,” Richard Ahiagbah noted.
The High Court, on Tuesday, denied two applications for bail by lawyers for the Chinese illegal mining kingpin.
The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Dame, and the Lands Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, were in court to lead government’s efforts in prosecuting Aisha Huang and others being held for illegal mining.
The man of the moment, rapper Black Sherif has disclosed that his maiden album ‘The Villain I Never Was’ is actually an autobiography.
Blacko has explained that none of the songs on his 14-track album was based on fiction but rather careful pieced together events from his life on earth.
The 20-year-old rapper in an interview with Ebenezer Donkor on YFM in Kumasi reiterated that all his songs have a unique inspiration behind them and also a message to the world.
“I have seen a lot, whatever is on my album that you listen to it, I have seen it. That is why I go into detail, it is not fictional. This is my autobiography, the album. That is me from one to the last song,” he noted.
The award-winning rapper has broken a number of records with his monster hit songs. He is currently one of Ghana’s most successful musicians to have broken into the Nigerian market with his tunes.
Grammy award-winning Nigerian act, Burna Boy 2021 featured on the remix of ‘Second Sermon’.
“I am on a journey with the music I do, I am kind of marking memories, telling my stories and the journey as I keep going. Any aspect of my life, my love life, this and that, my hustle and how I motivate myself. I just put them down and share them with the world,” Black Sherif added.
Meanwhile, ‘The Villain I Never Was’ released on October 6, 2022, has debuted in UK’s top ten albums according to Spotify Charts.
The University of Cape Coast (UCC)has been ranked the best university in Ghana, first in West Africa and 4th in Africa in the 2023 Times Higher Education Rankings.
In the 2022 ranking, the university earned the bragging right as the best university in Ghana, the best in West Africa, the 4th best university in Africa and the best university globally for research influence.
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023 include 1,799 universities across 104 countries and regions, making it the largest and most diverse university ranking to date.
The table is based on 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across four areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
This year’s ranking analyzed over 121 million citations across more than 15.5 million research publications and included survey responses from 40,000 scholars globally. Overall, about 680,000 points from more than 2,500 institutions that submitted data were collected.
Trusted worldwide by students, teachers, governments and industry experts, this year’s league table reveals how the global higher education landscape is shifting.
The University of Oxford tops the ranking for the seventh consecutive year. Harvard University remains in second place, but the University of Cambridge jumped from fifth last year to third.
The highest new entry is Italy’s Humanitas University, ranked in the 201-250 bracket.
The US is the most-represented country overall, with 177 institutions, and also the most represented in the top 200 (58).
Mainland China now has the fourth-highest number of institutions in the top 200 (11, compared with 10 last year), having overtaken Australia, which has dropped to fifth (joint with the Netherlands).
Five countries entered the ranking for the first time – all of them in Africa (Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Mauritius).
Harvard topped the teaching pillar, while Oxford leads the research pillar. Atop the international pillar is the Macau University of Science and Technology.
The Black Stars will face Portugal, Uruguay, and South Korea in Group H of the global showpiece.
Ghana, who make a return to the tournament after missing out on the 2018 edition in Russia take on Portugal in their first game in Group H before facing South Korea and Uruguay in a repeat of the 2010 World Cup quarter-final.
“We have a very young team, but with a lot of quality. Most of them play in Europe,” Williams told Spanish outletMarca
“We can do great things in the World Cup. It’s not an easy group, but there is a very powerful team.
“We can surprise anyone. We’re not going favorites and that’s good for us,” he added.
Ghana will take on Switzerland in another preparatory game on November 17, seven days before their opening game at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Portugal.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup takes place between November 21 and December 18, 2022.
Only three sides from the continent have ever progressed to the quarter-finals; Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002, and Ghana in 2010.
The government is spending $740 million on the “water for all” program, which provides access to potable water.
Speaking during the opening of a town water project in Tuna, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia noted that the government’s efforts to provide both rural and urban residents with portable drinking water had been successful in reducing the prevalence of cholera and other diseases linked to poor sanitation.
We are all aware that the sixth Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations is to provide access to clean water and adequate sanitation for all people.
The Akufo-Addo administration has a policy of “water for all” in this regard.
“This water for all policy has resulted in an investment program of about 740 million dollars in terms of investment in water systems in various towns and communities,” he said.
The Vice President intimated that Ghana has over the last five years not recorded a single case of cholera due to the huge investments made to provide clean drinking water and increasing the overall access to water to 87%, 96% for urban access while rural access stands at 74%.
“If you will all avert your mind, Ghana has not had a single case of cholera in the last five years. Not one single case of cholera,” he added.
The Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana (IEAG) has stated that it completely supports the decision made by merchants in the Ashanti region’s Kumasi Metropolis to close their stores due to exorbitant taxes.
“We think the decision by Ashanti Region company owners to close their doors due to a number of problems should serve as a wake-up call for the government and those in charge of the economy.
According to a statement from the Association, “issues of killer taxes, the expense of doing business, and the poor performance of the Ghanaian cedi against the dollar have been one of the key complaints highlighted by the IEAG in recent times.”
The statement added that with majority of the traders being importers and as well members of the IEAG, the association owe it as a duty to ensure their businesses are protected, and it is in this regard “we call on the government to as a matter of urgency put in place measures to address the concerns of these traders.”
The association urged other traders across the country to emulate the action taken by their Kumasi counterparts to pile up more pressure on the economic management team, the GRA, and the finance ministry, to address their concerns.
The IEAG also called on the leadership of the traders’ association to do more in protecting the interest of their members in these challenging times.
Popular Ghanaian actress cum entrepreneur, Victoria Lebene, has joined the tall list of individuals criticizing actor Prince David Osei following his intentions to stage a protest against the current NPP government.
Prince David Osei, who has been actively supporting the NPP, threatened to organize a demonstration in December if the economic situation in the country does not improve.
“I decided to give you and your government the benefit of the doubt. I reckon I was wrong! The youth of this nation are not smiling. It pours, but we are still sweating. If things don’t change by December, we will mobilize the youth of this country and hit the streets irrespective of party affiliations, whether NPP, NDC, CQQ PNC whatever, doesn’t matter now, we are all in this together”, portions of his statement on social media read.
Following his assertions, some critics have recalled a point in time where he asked the Ghanaian youth to fix themselves when they were calling on the government to fix the country.
According to them, the actor is now feeling the pinch of the economy, hence the change in his perspective, in line with that of majority of the youth.
Victoria Lebene, who sides with their assertion, has also taken a dig at the actor.
In response to David Osei’s claim, Lebene asked;
“Look at who campaigned passionately for the reigning party. Are you now regretting?” she posted.
The business community at Adum in the Ashanti Region says it is yet to receive any form of invitation or communication from the government after shutting down shops on Monday.
Over 800 shops have been closed in the Adum enclave as other traders are replicating same action in other areas of the region.
The national representative for the traders, the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), has thrown its weight behind the actions of the business operators in Kumasi.
Speaking to Citi News, the Executive Secretary for the Adum Business Community, Charles Kusi Appiah urged government to consider recommendations presented to it by the traders.
“We want government to be proactive in addressing this issue. We have proffered some recommendations to government including them taking all their levies and taxes at source so that when goods come to the market, there is an even price to sell.”
“Government will optimize on its revenue mobilization and businesses will have that sanity and clear mind to do business and pay our corporate taxes and PAYE. Government will be at the advantage when this recommendation is accepted.”
Charles Kusi Appiah-Kubi, said: “as we indicated yesterday, our businesses are collapsing, and we cannot continue to sit down unconcerned.”
“We are getting the maximum support from them. The commitment is very high. Actually, we were not expecting this kind of support.”
He believes the support from its traders also validates the protest.
“I think the message is clear. Policy is not helping business growth and is collapsing businesses.”
The traders have also been concerned with the strength of the cedi.
The Ghana cedi has depreciated by 37.5% to the US dollar as of the end of September 2022 according to the Bank of Ghana.
Currently, the dollar is trading at a little over GH¢11 to $1.
GUTA has warned of more agitations across the country if the concerns of traders are not addressed.
“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”, says GUTA president, Dr. Joseph Obeng.
It is anticipated that there will be exhibitors at the event representing the thirteen (13) registered countries.
The participating countries are the host county – Ghana, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Iran, Italy, Poland, Spain, Turkey, USA, South Africa, Egypt and Sri Lanka.
The agrofood & plastprintpack West Africa 2022 is a collaboration between fairtrade and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), and Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC).
Addressing a press conference in Accra Tuesday, October 11, 2022, the Managing Director (MD) of fairtrade, organisers of the upcoming event, Paul Marz, announced that the trade fair will focus on agrofoods and plastic products, printing and packaging.
“From November 29 to December 1, 2022, at the Grand Arena of the Accra International Conference Centre, here in Accra, we are going to have exhibitors from 13 countries all over the world, displaying their latest technology, latest products from their respective countries in the entire food and agrofood value chain.
“..From production processing to the final product on the table and everything you need,” he noted.
He added that the products that will be showcased will include food packaging and labelling, plastic printing and packaging materials.
He disclosed that the objective of the fair is to create trade partnerships and value between international and Ghanaian companies within the agrofood and plastic packaging industry.
“…and the second very important objective is to bring production to Ghana to enhance production in Ghana so Ghana becomes less dependent on food imports, and produce more in the country,” he further disclosed.
Elaborating on the plastics printing and packaging, Mr. Marz revealed that exhibitors in this space will display plastics raw materials, machinery for printing and labelling on plastic products.
“We will also have some of the exhibitors exhibit packaging machinery and products,” he mentioned.
According to the MD of fair trade, the international exhibition will be supplemented by a three-day programme that will be laden with presentations and conferences.
Mr. Marz used the opportunity to invite all professionals in the agrofood and plastics packaging sector to endeavour to participate in the event.
In a brief statement, the Director of Plant, Protection and Regulatory Services at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Eric Quaye, commended fairtrade for putting together such exhibition.
He stressed that such events were very crucial to the policies of the ministry, adding that there was the need to produce good quantities of foods that needed to be processed further.
He entreated Ghanaian businesses that will be participating in the event to take full advantage and shore up their businesses.
He pledged MoFA’s support to the fairtrade to ensure that the event becomes successful.
The 6th edition of the agrofood West Africa was held in 2019 which featured 87 exhibitors from 17 countries.
The exhibition presented a platform for the exhibitors to offer solutions to hundreds of trade visitors and buyers from Ghana and neighbouring West African countries.
The exhibitors came Belgium, China, France, Germany, Ghana, India and Italy.
The rest were Jordan, Morocco, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tunisia and Turkey.
About fairtrade
Founded in 1991, fairtrade has long been one of the leading organisers of professional international agrofood and plastprintpack trade fairs in Africa and the Middle East.
Over the decades, more than 36,000 exhibitors and 1.5 million trade visitors have expressed their confidence in fairtrade.
With its international trade shows, they employ innovative ways to connect emerging markets with solution providers from across the globe.
Facilitating valuable business contacts between their exhibitors and trade visitors -that is what fairtrade stands for.
It is managed by its founder, Martin Marz, and his son, Paul Marz, who joined the company in 2006 and builds on a highly motivated team of experienced and young professionals, many of them qualified in-house over three years in partnership with the German Cooperative State University to a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration – Exhibition, Convention & Event Management or Media & Communication Management.
Kanye West is at war. The artist (who these days goes by just Ye) has made his battles increasingly public in recent weeks, using his social media to blast adversaries as diverse as LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, Supreme creative director Tremaine Emory, and Diddy. He’s spurned his apparel partner Gap, cutting short his deal to produce Yeezy clothing with the iconic brand. Ye has also waged this war on Adidas, the brand that makes his massively popular Yeezy footwear.
In Instagram posts, he’s accused Adidas of ripping off his intellectual property and openly mocked its board of directors. In a YouTube video released on Monday, he exposed some of his dealings with the brand, showing snippets of a tense meeting with Adidas execs as part of a 30-minute piece called “Last Week.”
“You guys have done wrong by the company, by the business, and by the partnership,” Ye says in the meeting. At one point, he plays a clip of a porn video, holding his phone up to an Adidas exec’s face and comparing him to an actor in the clip.
Ye’s latest attack is among his most surreal. The video opens with a Grand Theft Auto-looking section where faceless Yeezy Gap-clad characters meander through Tokyo. From there, it cuts to scenes shot by videographer Nico Ballesteros that show Ye embarking on various missions relating to his business.
In the Adidas meeting, the participants are obscured. Ye airs his grievances to blurred-out faces, but the voices and details in the conversation confirm their identities. Who are the other men in the room with him?
To his right is Shervin Pishevar, a venture capitalist who recently partnered with Ye and has been spotted alongside him. Pishevar is not in the sneaker business, but did claim in 2020 that he’d met with Kobe Bryant in 2019 for a pitch about an independent Kobe sneaker brand.
Pishevar mentions Ye terminated his Gap deal the day before the Adidas conversation, a comment that seems to place the meeting on Sept. 16.
Pishevar argues Ye’s points about Adidas stealing his designs, explaining his anger. He admonishes the executives, saying they know they did wrong.
“When someone steals this man’s ideas, his creations, it’s like you’re stealing a child,” Pishevar says in the meeting. “These are all children of his mind, and you’ve kidnapped them. There are Yeezy-inspired derivatives that are making significant revenue because people can’t tell the difference.”
In the middle of the group is former Adidas brand president Eric Liedtke. His position between the two sides in the conversation is appropriate, and in the minutes of it that are shown he acts like a mediator.
“It starts with somebody feeling very highly disrespected,” says Liedtke, referencing Ye’s reaction to the sneakers Adidas has released that look like his. “And there’s grounds for that, in my opinion.”
Liedtke worked closely with Ye at Adidas, helping architect the long-term Yeezy deal the artist signed in 2016. He was a veteran employee, having started at the German sportswear company in the early ‘90s. Liedtke left Adidas in 2019, a departure he makes reference to “Last Week” by saying, “I’ve been removed for three years.”
Liedtke now runs Unless Collective, an eco-friendly streetwear company he co-founded in his post-Adidas life. He shows off its hoodies in a different section of the video, presenting Ye with a piece of Unless clothing while making apparent reference to the contentious relationship with Adidas.
“It’s not going to have your shape,” Liedtke says, “because, you know, we’re not into knocking off your artistry.”
Ye has posted about this meeting before—on Sept. 15, he uploaded a screenshot to his Instagram stories showing a text exchange with Liedtke. In it, Liedtke asks if Ye wants to meet before they meet with Adidas. The timing of the post aligns with the Sept. 16 date suggested by Pishevar’s comments.
Ye is enthusiastic about Unless in the YouTube video and even tells Liedtke he wants to buy the company.
In the “Last Week” meeting, West says he won’t work with Adidas unless they make Liedtke CEO. Ye has been focused on the chief executive role at Adidas, making outgoing CEO Kasper Rorsted the subject of some of his public ire earlier this year.
The meeting also features Adidas chief creative officer Alasdhair Willis, who sits to the right of Liedtke. Ye posted about Willis on Instagram in September, asking why he’d never been allowed a phone call or meeting with Willis. Hours later, Ye asked his fans not to disseminate memes of Willis as they had with other Adidas leadership, saying he believed him to be a good guy.
Alasdhair Willis was named Adidas’ chief creative officer in March 2022. Image via Adidas
Willis is married to Stella McCartney, who has her own line with Adidas. Pishevar references her in their conversation; Ye references her father, Paul McCartney, and the music they’ve made together.
“We can certainly do a lot better in the way we work with you,” he says to Ye.
The mostly silent man who sits at the left end of the group in the meeting is Torben Schumacher, a senior vice president at Adidas who’s worked for the sneaker maker since 2004. He oversees Adidas’ sport lifestyle business on a global level, which means his purview includes the Yeezy category.
Schumacher is the victim of the meeting’s most bizarre moment. Ye shows the group a porn video on his phone and compares a man in it to Schumacher, noting similarities in their voices. The scene in the porn depicts a man reacting to his partner cheating on him, which Ye likens to Adidas cheating on him and copying his designs. He puts his screen next to Schumacher’s face to drive home his point and calls his videographer over for a tighter shot.
“Come on, man,” Schumacher says before pushing Ye’s arm away.
The parts of the meeting that we’re privy to are, of course, highly edited and presented by Ye. They are filtered through his perspective on the relationship between Adidas and Yeezy. The rebuttals from the Adidas execs present and the context of the conversation’s real back-and-forth are missing. Complex reached out to Liedtke, Schumacher, Willis, and an Adidas spokesperson for comment, but none responded.
Ye has accused Adidas of ripping off his Yeezy Slides. Image via Adidas
Ye recording the encounter and showing it to the world blurs the line between it being a legitimate attempt to reconcile with Adidas and a strategic performance to make the brand look bad. It’s reminiscent of his sustained social media abuse earlier this year of Daniel Cherry, a high-ranking Adidas employee responsible for interfacing with Yeezy.
Ye’s antics have veered into hate speech—his Paris Fashion Week show on Oct. 3 was memorable not for its clothes but its embrace of a white supremacist slogan. This week, West was locked out of his social media accounts after posting antisemitic comments.
The moves read partly as those of a man determined to sabotage his deals by making himself too toxic to touch. He says in the meeting that he is confronting Adidas with its worst nightmare. Though the meeting shown in “Last Week” appears to actually be from last month, Ye’s more recent actions continue to test the limits of his relationship with Adidas.
After Ye showed his “white lives matter” shirt in Paris, Adidas issued a statement that it was placing the Yeezy deal under review, saying that it was important for partnerships to be built on “mutual respect and shared values.” The brand has parted with tenured employees in the past for less inflammatory comments, but it still sells Yeezy sneakers for now.
How much longer it can do so, and how much longer the partnership will be remotely tenable, is unclear. Ye speaks in unequivocal terms in the meeting, assuring the Adidas execs and the viewing public that he is waging a scorched-earth campaign.
“Our army is so prepared,” he says. “You understand? This is a different level of nuclear activity that no one will recover from.”
The United States has returned 23 looted artefacts to Nigeria.
The Benin Bronzes were handed over to a Nigerian delegation at a ceremony on Tuesday in Washington.
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed, who received the artefacts, hailed the US and its institutions for the repatriation of the “highly-cherished” cultural artworks.
“These artefacts are intrinsic to the culture that produced them. A people ought not be denied the works of their forebears. It is in the light of this that we are delighted with today’s repatriation,” he said.
The information ministry said the returned artefacts “comprise 21 from the Smithsonian and one each from the National Gallery of Arts and the Rhode Island School of Design”.
The repatriation is part of a bilateral cultural property agreement to prevent illegal imports into the US of some categories of Nigerian artefacts.
Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian, said the institution was “humbled and honoured to play a small role in transferring ownership of the artworks to Nigeria”, based on ethical consideration.
The items were among thousands of artworks known as the Benin Bronzes stolen from the Benin Kingdom in present-day Nigeria by British colonialists in 1897.
The items were then distributed to various museums and institutions across Europe and the US.
Nigeria is set to receive more such artefacts from The Netherlands, the UK and Germany.
The West African country says it will soon launch an international traveling exhibition with the artefacts ”in a manner that will win more friends and promote greater goodwill for Nigeria and the ethnic groups that produced [them]”.
This came after the EU placed the nation on its blacklist.
Ambassador Diana Acconcia, head of the EU delegation in Ghana, claimed that the country has not implemented the required safeguards to prevent money laundering.
The European Union (EU) says there is no evidence of money laundering in Ghana following the blacklisting of Ghana by the Union in May 2020.
Head of Delegation of the EU to Ghana, Ambassador Diana Acconcia has explained that Ghana has been blacklisted because it failed to put some checks in place to forestall money laundering.
“There is no evidence of money laundering in Ghana,” she told Accra-based Asaase Radio Monday.
Also reacting to reports on the directive by the ING Bank in Belgium for Ghana’s embassy there to close its accounts with the bank, Ambassador Acconcia said “The fact that the account of the Embassy of Ghana in Belgium and the European Union has been closed by a Belgium Bank, that was a business decision taken by the bank. The bank was not at all obliged by the EU to close the account of the Embassy.”
She added: “It was a business decision to apply more checks to the Embassy. The listing does not affect trade, development aid and there will be no problem in paying the budgetary support and the main projects we have in Ghana…. Ghana is doing a lot already because there is the Financial Intelligence Center at the Central Bank among others to check some of these things.”
Background
Ghana’s Embassy in Belgium capital Brussels, has been ordered by its banker to withdraw all its money so that the bank will proceed to close the embassy’s accounts.
The ING Bank has not given basis for the decision but says it is irreversible. The embassy has up to November 12, 2020, to withdraw all its money to another bank.
Ghana’s Mission in Brussels has four accounts with the bank. They are:
1. Main Euro Account, a current account,
2. Main Euro Account, a business account,
3. Special collections account,
4. Retention Fund account, which is used for the internally generated funds of the embassy.
The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has been ranked the best University in Ghana, first in West Africa and 4th in Africa in the 2023 Times Higher Education Rankings.
The announcement was contained in the 2023 Times Higher Education annual rankings.
In the 2022 ranking, the University earned the bragging right as the best university in Ghana, the best in West Africa, the 4th best university in Africa and the best university globally for research influence.
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023 include 1,799 universities across 104 countries and regions, making it the largest and most diverse university ranking to date.
The table is based on 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across four areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
This year’s ranking analyzed over 121 million citations across more than 15.5 million research publications and included survey responses from 40,000 scholars globally. Overall, about 680,000 points from more than 2,500 institutions that submitted data were collected.
Trusted worldwide by students, teachers, governments and industry experts, this year’s league table reveals how the global higher education landscape is shifting.
The University of Oxford tops the ranking for the seventh consecutive year. Harvard University remains in second place, but the University of Cambridge jumped from fifth last year to third.
The highest new entry is Italy’s Humanitas University, ranked in the 201-250 bracket.
The US is the most-represented country overall, with 177 institutions, and also the most represented in the top 200 (58).
Mainland China now has the fourth-highest number of institutions in the top 200 (11, compared with 10 last year), having overtaken Australia, which has dropped to fifth (joint with the Netherlands).
Five countries entered the ranking for the first time – all of them in Africa (Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Mauritius).
Harvard topped the teaching pillar, while Oxford leads the research pillar. Atop the international pillar is the Macau University of Science and Technology.
Overall, 1,799 universities are ranked. A further 526 universities are listed with “reporter” status, meaning that they provided data but did not meet the eligibility criteria to receive a rank, but agreed to be displayed as a reporter in the final table.
A partnership between MANA Mobility Ltd., a Ghanaian manufacturer of reasonably priced e-cars, and Cargo Bikes Africa Ltd., an e-mobility start-up that is upending mobility value chains by offering e-bikes for delivery and commuting, has been signed.
The combined business will go under the name “MANA Mobility” going forward, and it is expected to be valued at $20 million US.
MANA Mobility is a German-Ghanaian company with its headquarters in Ghana that is building an ecosystem for e-mobility solutions in Africa.
An open e-mobility platform that connects drivers, passengers, and goods in a widely accessible, inclusive, transparent, and multimodal way is included in the product portfolio.
MANA Mobility develops electric vehicles, which are affordable, safe, reliable, functional, as well as Ghanaian-designed, engineered and manufactured. Cargo Bikes Africa is an e-mobility start-up innovating mobility processes, boasting partnerships with pan-African e-commerce platforms, supporting to make delivery services more sustainable through the design, local production and subscription of ebikes and e-trikes.
Both entities are tackling major problems of the transport sector in African cities such as congestion, pollution, and unemployment. The deal will combine Cargo Bikes Africa’s expertise in electric bike design, production, and distribution models with MANA Mobility’s experience in manufacturing and global supply chain management and app development.
The combined entity will be able to produce electric vehicles that meet the needs of African roads and customers.
MANA Mobility Germany’s CEO, Peter Schwarzenbauer (a former Member of the Board of BMW AG) said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Cargo Bikes Africa. It is a company that shares our vision of creating a world where everyone can access affordable, clean energy transportation solutions that remove barriers to opportunity and enhance mobility-as-a-service in emerging markets. This deal will enable us take this vision to become reality sooner than previously thought possible.” MANA Mobility is proud to announce the appointment of Valerie Labi as CEO and CoFounder for the joint entity.
Ms. Labi was formerly the co-founder of Cargo Bikes Africa, where she led the company towards a successful exit. Under her leadership, MANA Mobility will now orientate its strategy to establish local manufacturing operations for the local production of 2, 3, and 4-wheeler EVs as well as grow and develop an open-source technology platform providing an ecosystem of EV services, and create a community of e-drivers and e-riders.
William Senyo, Co-Founder of the Impact Hub Accra, and convener of the Net Zero Electric Mobility Advocacy Platform believe that “the coming together of these two companies will not just solidify a major player in the e-mobility sector in Africa, but is also a testimony for the start-up community as a whole.
All too often we see people go it alone when their businesses would be stronger and grow faster if they leveraged comparative advantages. I’m excited to see how they will disrupt the industry together!”
On September 26, EOCO swooped on a location in Accra where the 21 Nigerians were picked up.
The victims who are under the age of 20 years are said to have been brought to Accra by some human traffickers to be trained in cyber fraud activities.
Speaking to journalists, the Deputy Executive Director of EOCO in Charge of Operations, Nana Antwi said seven of the human trafficking suspects were also picked up.
“In conjunction with an NGO and the Nigerian High Commission, efforts have been made to send the 17 victims to their home country, Nigeria.”
“After the screening, it came up that seven persons were actually not victims but managers of the victims,” he added.
The seven were arraigned on October 7 and remanded pending further investigations.
He bemoaned the fact that the typical Ghanaian worker is unable to set aside 30% of their income to pay off mortgage loans.
“When we discuss a credible mortgage regime, we mean one in which the typical worker can allocate 30% of his or her income toward paying off home debt.
Other areas of your life may suffer if you spend more than 30% of your income instead of 30% “explained he.
Minister for Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea has described the current mortgage regime being enforced in the country as lacking credibility.
He lamented that the average Ghanaian worker is unable to use thirty percent (30%) of income earned to settle mortgage debts.
Speaking at the sidelines of the unveiling of Eden Heights Apartments at the Movenpick Hotel in Accra, he postulated that the government is taking steps to affect the pension fund to put a percentage into affordable housing for Ghanaian workers.
“When we talk about a credible mortgage regime, we’re saying that one in which the average worker can use 30% of his income or her income to service mortgage debt. If you do not spend 30 percent of your income and you go beyond it, then other departments of your life can suffer.
“…government is going to affect the pension fund. I am of the view and the legislation I want to push is that tier one, two and three should be affected. The pension fund is the fund of the ordinary people which comes in trickles but is a pool. If you look at it over time, it’s a huge sea of money. That huge sea of money, because it belongs to the very people who have been contributing to it, let’s give a huge chunk for housing,” he noted.
Eden Heights is a luxury residential development located in the heart of West Accra, near the West Hills Mall. The master-planned development, which is about 30 minutes drive from the Airport and a five (5) minute’s walk from the West Hills Mall provides a great vista of the city and offers a seamless living experience with all its wonderful amenities.
Eden Heights offers a unique residential space dedicated to providing residents with the luxury and freedom they deserve, in addition to a perfect collection of facilities and mixed-use services. It offers one (1) to four (4) bedroom apartments and penthouses.
It’s an ultra-modern sports facility that comprises two (2) short-course Olympic-size swimming pools, a football pitch, and athletics and gym facilities together with its proximity to beach resorts along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean (about 10 minutes drive), makes Eden Heights the perfect home.
Soran raises two fingers to his left temple and motions firing a gun. “If you talk, they will put a bullet in your head,” he tells me.
Around us, the Iranian mountains reach skywards. We’re at a bus station in Penjwen, a town in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region that is close to the crossing post on the border with Iran. Cars sporadically pull in and discharge their occupants into the dusty courtyard. Some pause and drink tea, while others climb straight into the small minibuses that’ll take them to the nearby Iraqi city of Sulaimaniya.
Soran uses his hands often when he talks. His feet too, as he kicks out to show me how he was beaten by Iranian security forces.
“It happened a few days ago when I was protesting,” he says. “The regime beat me in the back, they kicked me and used truncheons to hit me. They shot my friend, and others too. All because I took part in the demonstrations.”
Soran is 32 and lives in Saqqez, the home city of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish woman whose death in police custody three weeks ago sparked anti-government protests that have engulfed Iran.
Soran has crossed into Iraqi Kurdistan to work, but he questions whether he’ll return home. The protests are growing, and life is hard. He says there hasn’t been any internet for three weeks now due to restrictions imposed by the Iranian authorities, which have cracked down violently on the protests.
“We used to be afraid of the regime, but now the wall of fear has collapsed. Nobody is frightened anymore.”
But when I asked if this would lead to the collapse of the Islamic Republic, his answer was clear: “No, the regime won’t collapse. It can’t be changed. They are strong and they keep killing people. We will never stop, and so they will keep killing us.”
“It’s crazy, and it’s corrupt. Nobody cares about us. The outside world says it supports Iran, but nobody does. We are being tortured and killed every day.”
People in Iraqi Kurdistan have shown solidarity with the protests in Iran, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini
As a pack of wild dogs sleeps in the shade of a parked lorry, a new group forms at the minibus stop. Crouching in a low circle, they chat as they wait to leave. Most are Iraqi Kurds, but one is Iranian, and he describes his life to the others.
“At least 20 were killed last night,” he tells the the group. “Some say as many as 40. More than 70 were arrested. But we can’t talk about it, because we’ll be killed. Iranian intelligence are always watching, they secretly film. They imprisoned my brother in jail for political reasons.
“These protests are getting bigger, but they won’t bring down the regime. No, it’s strong. Controlling. The Islamic Republic will definitely survive.”
Kurdistan under fire — With #IranProtests2022 entering their 4th week, all eyes have turned to the Kurdish city of Sanandaj (#سنندج), in west Iran, with authorities launching a deadly crackdown on any sign of dissent. #مهسا_امینیpic.twitter.com/LgfWSziHKD
Tuana is next in line for the bus. He’s now based on the Iraqi side of the border, but spent more than 20 years living in Iran. He still returns there three times a week to work.
Wearing a crisp white shirt and sunglasses, he describes some of the changes he’s seen in the last few weeks in western Iran.
“There’s an increase in forces on the border. They don’t look like the military – maybe militias?” he says.
“I’m seeing more vehicles transporting more men. It looks like they’re being brought from other parts of Iran into the Kurdish areas here. Helicopters too. We rarely saw them before, but now they’re always up in the sky.”
Tuana also noticed a difference in the traffic at the Iranian border crossing.
“It’s drastically reduced. People are only really coming now for work, they’re scared that if they leave they will be considered members of the opposition forces, or even a spy.”
“Iranians really need some outside support. But they’re not getting that support.”
There are rumours spreading too of drastic consequences if people join the demonstrations, Tuana says.
“It spreads through conversations. My friends in Karaj [near Tehran] have been hearing these things. That the regime will empty the bank accounts of the participants. Or as winter nears, that their gas will be cut off and they’ll be left freezing.”
An hour before sunset, there’s just a small handful of people still arriving.
Iran’s government says its security forces are confronting “rioters” backed by the country’s enemies
Soroush is studying at Tehran University, and travelling over the border for a job related to his studies. His long beard is streaked with orange and silver, and tells me he speaks English as he collects the money from the other men in the queue to pay for the journey.
“The students in Tehran are protesting, yes, and I am protesting. But 80% of people who live there are still happy with the regime, even though its men walk the streets with guns and kill people.”
“Jin, Jiyan, Azadi,” Soroush smiles, punching the air. It’s the slogan of the protesters, and means “Woman, Life, Freedom”.
It makes me acutely aware that, even though this is a female-led movement, I haven’t managed to hear stories from a single woman at the border. They make up a much smaller percentage of travellers than men. And of the ones I spoke to, each one was warned off from speaking about the demonstrations by their travelling companions.
One older woman greeted me warmly as she climbed from the taxi, and asked how my day had been. When I wondered aloud what her thoughts were on the situation at home, her son cut in sharply. “Don’t say anything.”
She picked up her overstuffed, white cotton bag, smiled, and silently walked away.
Highlife legend, Nana Kwame Ampadu, earned the nickname Odwontofoohene due to his remarkable songwriting skills that gave birth to over 800 songs.
Kwabena Amoah Ampadu, a surviving son of the late music composer, has disclosed that Nana Ampadu wrote over 26 movie scripts and worked with popular movie producer, Kwaku Boakye, of Danfo BA Movie Productions.
“My father was not just a musician. He wrote a lot of stories. He wrote stories for about 26 movies…I can say that my father wrote about 80% of stories for the movies Danfo BA produced,” Kwabena told Citi TV in an interview at his father’s funeral held on October 8 at the State House.
The funeral was graced by top dignitaries, including Ghana’s president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin; the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei Opare; the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings; and personalities in the entertainment industry, who mourned with the bereaved family.
Tributes poured in for the music legend highlighted his role in the local music industry and his support for people who had an encounter with him.
Meanwhile, Kwabena Amoah Ampadu has disclosed that his late father handed over 306 choruses to him before his death. His wish is for him to develop it into great songs.
“He recorded the choruses with his voice. I will have to listen and develop it into a complete song. The band he left behind (African Brothers Band) is very much active,” he said.
A group of international financial institutions and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) have agreed to a US$1.31 billion trade finance facility to fund cocoa purchases for the 2022–2023 cocoa season.
The facility, which carries a 1.75% interest rate, will also be used to pay for operational expenses throughout the crop season.
On August 23, 2022, COCOBOD released the facility to the market with a debut price of US$1 billion, but due to oversubscription, decided to increase the price to US$1.13 billion.
The signing ceremony for this year’s facility took place at the Cocoa House in Accra.
Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, the Chief Executive of COCOBOD, in a virtual welcome address at the signing said despite the challenges facing the cocoa sector, brought on by the global financial difficulties, the sector had once again shown leadership.
“But we went into the international market this year with the best minds. We were able to launch an amount of 1 billion US dollars in August and today we have 1.13 billion US dollars committed for signing,” he stated.
He gave assurance that the funds will be used “effectively and efficiently” to support cocoa farmers and the industry.
“In spite of all the challenges, we also want to assure the sector minister, the minister of finance and the entire country that we will make sure that we improve upon our performance. Already the outlook is good for this crop season…. We will work hard and make sure that we make the whole country proud,” he said.
Mr Peter Mac Manu, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), who also chaired the signing event said he was delighted about the attainment of the facility.
“…From where Ghana is sitting right now, people thought it will be very difficult for us to get the signing ceremony executed. But cocoa is cocoa, and we call it the ‘golden pod’, so it must always shine,” he said.
“We have done this syndication for the past 30 years. I’m happy that it continues to have the confidence of the financiers because we have never defaulted, and we will not default,” he assured.
Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance, who witnessed the signing event expressed gratitude to the board and management of COCOBOD and the financial partners, particularly, the Standard Charted bank for “shepherding” the facility to its success.
He said the signing gives reason for optimism in the Ghanaian economy.
“So, I believe it is time for us to have the kind of optimism that will raise Ghana and a black star up where it should be. Yes there continues to be a great future for our country and I think this will ring around the globe and give impetus to our negotiations [with the International Monetary Fund],” he said.
Similarly, Dr Ernest Addison, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, expressed confidence that the finance facility will help stabilise the economy.
“Every Ghanaian has suffered from the impact of the depreciation of the currency, which has raised the cost of living and we are looking forward to being able to minimise the impact of the depreciation of the currency on the standard of living of Ghanaians, and this particular inflow helps very much in achieving that objective,” he said.
The Standard Chartered Bank, Coöperatieve Rabobank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), MUFG Bank Ltd, Natixis and Ghana International Bank plc were the Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers for the facility.
Bank of China Limited, London branch joined the facility as Senior Mandated Lead Arranger, while DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank, Frankfurt am Main and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (“BADEA”) joined as Mandated Lead Arrangers. Ecobank joined as Arranger. The OPEC Fund, United Bank for Africa PLC, Ahli United Bank B.S.C. and Federated Hermes Inc joined as Lead Managers. AfrAsia Bank Limited, Citibank N.A, Absa Bank Ghana Limited and GCB Bank Plc joined as Managers.
Patrick Nyarko has been chosen by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of Finance and Administration (PHDC).
Mr. Nyarko is a seasoned expert in energy and financial services, with knowledge of managing balance sheets, financial analysis, credit analysis, insurance, analysis of energy policy, and sustainability strategy.
He held the position of first Director for Environment, Health, and Safety at the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation before to his most recent assignment (GIISDEC).
He holds a BSc in Management with Computing from Regent University College, Ghana, an MBA in Oil and Gas Management from Coventry University in the UK and an MSc in Strategy and International Business from Aston University in Birmingham, also in the UK.
