TIG Post

Author: Chris Kodo

  • Northern Regional Minister launches Ayalolo in Tamale

    The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, has launched the Rapid Bus Transit Services (Ayalolo), a state initiated public transport, to formally begin operations in the Region.

    The move is to help reduce public transportation challenges facing residents of the Tamale Metropolis.

    There are five 40-seater buses, and the pickup points for the buses will be beneath the Tamale Overhead to T-Poly, Point 7 to Vittin and Anbariya Senior High School, PK Gombillah to Savelugu, Quality First to UDS Tamale Campus and from Aboabo Commercial Bank to Nyankpala.

    Northern Regional Minister launches Ayalolo in Tamale 

    The operations will be piloted for three days before full commercial services will begin on Friday, October 14, 2022.

    Alhaji Saibu, speaking at a brief ceremony to launch the service in Tamale on Monday, said it formed part of the Government’s commitment to improve the transportation system in the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

    He said it was to also ensure that the safety of the people was not compromised whilst enhancing productivity.

    Northern Regional Minister launches Ayalolo in Tamale 

    Mr Sanusi Aleim Charles Kayode, Northern Regional Coordinator of Ayalolo, assured residents of Tamale to deliver effective transportation system for the benefit of all.

    Mr Ivan Yartey, Assistant Planning Manager at the Northern Regional office of the National Road Safety Authority, emphasized the need for professionalism and regular maintenance of the buses.

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    Source: Myjoyonline

  • Group mounts pressure on government to scrap 20% tax on menstrual products

    The government has been urged to remove the 20% tax on menstrual products as soon as possible by the Developing Women for Skills and Opportunities Initiative (DWoSO), a non-governmental organization with the mission of achieving a just world for women and girls.

    On October 11, 2022, a call was issued in observance of the International Day of the Girl Child, which is observed all around the world.

    The 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl Child is being celebrated this year under the banner “Our time is now—our rights, our future.”

    The statement signed by Vivian Adu, the Communication Officer for the group noted that one basic human right for girls is the right to education and many girls in rural and some urban areas stay out of school because they are unable to afford menstrual products.

    According to the statement, although menstruation is a natural phenomenon occurring in females, it has become an inconvenience due to the high cost of menstrual products.

    This situation, according to the statement, further deepens gender inequality and again promotes period poverty.

    The group has since called on the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP), the Parliament of Ghana, and all well-meaning Ghanaians who are committed to the cause of gender equality to add their voices to the fight to end taxation of menstrual products in Ghana.

    “More so, the high cost of menstrual products has a negative economic impact on the majority of women in Ghana whose financial capacity is already not in good standing.

    “We, therefore, call on the government to remove the nuisance taxes on menstrual products which make them too costly for many girls. The removal of the taxes will promote the accessibility of the products to girls in Ghana,” the statement said.

    It added that “This will reduce the stress associated with menstruation and its other health and socioeconomic burdens.”

    It noted that making menstrual products accessible and less costly will also ensure that Ghana’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 5 which is Gender Equality can be partly achieved.

    To address period poverty and work towards achieving gender equality, the NGO further called on the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP), the Parliament of Ghana, and all well-meaning Ghanaians who are committed to the cause of gender equality to add their voices to put an end to taxing menstrual products.

  • ‘Stay strong’ – French Ambassador consoles KiDi

    Former French Ambassador, Anne Sophie Ave, has advised Ghanaian singer KiDi to remain resolute in the midst of the many adversities he has encountered lately.

    KiDi has faced numerous backlashes ever since some old inappropriate tweets he made about certain personalities resurfaced on Twitter.

    KiDi earlier disclosed on a number of media platforms how this particular incident had sunk him into depression.

    He also opened up about how his entire family has since been receiving threats.

     

    Basking in his sorrows on Twitter, the Lynx Entertainment signee, in a recent post, has reiterated how the past few weeks have been really stressful for him.

    ‘Down spirited’ KiDi shared snippets of him performing his ‘Blessed’ song with the caption;

    ‘The past couple of weeks have been a rough and tough one. I woke up this morning with this song making more and more sense. I am blessed beyond every and any human imagination IJN #BLESSED.”

    Shortly after, the former French Ambassador took to the comment section of his post to console him.

    “You are blessed indeed, but you worked hard for it. Tough times make us tougher. And it only shows you are human. That’s why people love you. Stay strong, stay human, stay blessed. And thank you for your presence in a moment that was tough for me. You are formidable,” she wrote.

    Source: Ghanaweb

     

     

  • Cedi Rates: Bureaus sell $1 at GH¢11.23, BoG GH¢9.72 as at October 12

    Our forex bureau rates are provided by Afriswap Bureau De Change in Osu, Accra.

     

    On the Interbank forex rates from the Bank of Ghana on, October 12, 2022, the Ghana Cedi is trading against the dollar at a buying price of 9.7176 and a selling price of 9.7274.

    As compared to yesterday’s trading of a buying price of 9.6427 and a selling price of 9.6523. At a forex bureau in Accra, the dollar is being bought at a rate of 11.03 and sold at a rate of 11.23.

    Against the Pound Sterling, the Cedi is trading at a buying price of 10.7807 and a selling price of 10.7935 as compared to yesterday’s trading of a buying price of 10.6465 and a selling price of 10.6581.

    At a forex bureau in Accra, the pound sterling is being bought at a rate of 11.98 and sold at a rate of 12.28.

    The Euro is trading at a buying price of 9.4435 and a selling price of 9.4530 as compared to yesterday’s trading of a buying price of 9.3489 and a selling price of 9.3582.

    At a forex bureau in Accra, Euro is being bought at a rate of 10.52 and sold at a rate of 10.77.

    The South African Rand is trading at a buying price of 0.5372 and a selling price of 0.5374 compared to yesterday’s trading of a buying price of 0.5318 and a selling price of 0.5321.

    At a forex bureau in Accra, South African Rand is being bought at a rate of 0.45 and sold at a rate of 0.80.

    The Nigerian Naira is trading at a buying price of 45.0656 and a selling price of 45.1827 as compared to yesterday’s trading of a buying price of 45.0656 and a selling price of 45.1827.

    At a forex bureau in Accra, Nigerian Naira is being bought at a rate of 13.00 Naira for every 1 Cedi and sold at a rate of 15.50.

  • Snail pace of IMF negotiation fueling panic among investors – Dr. John Kwakye

    Investors are reportedly in a panic due to the speed at which the Government of Ghana and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are negotiating a US$3 billion program, according to Dr. John Kwakye, Senior Economist and Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).

    He claims that the Ghana cedi has been more negatively impacted by this investor panic than the US dollar.

    He bemoaned in a series of tweets that rather than responding to it, economic managers are sitting aloof and acting as if nothing is occurring.

    This, behaviour, Dr Kwakye added, is unacceptable.

    “The IMF is moving at a snail’s pace in negotiating Ghana’s program, as if nothing is at stake. The delay and uncertainty are fueling speculation and panic in the investor community, causing continued damage to the cedi. Yet our economic managers stand aloof. This is unacceptable!” Dr. Kwakye tweeted.

    He further observed that the government of Ghana at the moment does not have enough money to meet its economic obligations which have exacerbated its inflation growth.

    “Sadly, the economy is being run aground. Gov’t doesn’t have money to meet its obligations. Ghana has one of the highest inflations in the world. The cedi is one of the worst-performing currencies. Our debt is rising to pre-HIPC levels. And yet our economic managers stand aloof,” Dr. Kwakye tweeted further.

  • Businesses closed down will reopen after connecting to E-VAT system – GRA officer

    The Ghana Revenue Authority Enforcement Manager in Accra Central, Joseph Annan, says locked-up businesses will be reopened once they connect to the authority’s E-VAT Invoicing system.

    “All we need is to get their system hooked up to ours so that we can get real-time recording of their sales at our end. That is all we are asking for.”

    “Once they do that, we will open up for them because, after all, we need revenue and that is what we are seeking to achieve,” Mr. Annan said on Eyewitness News.

    Fifty companies were selected to be linked to this electric system that will certify all invoices and give real-time reporting of sales.

    The deadline for this process was October 1.

    While Mr. Annan said these companies had some concerns, he noted that “those concerns have been addressed.”

    Thus, he said the companies were deliberately avoiding the GRA system.

    “We have engaged them for a month, and it is like some of them deliberately do not want to [connect to our system],” Mr. Annan said.

    He was speaking after the Labone, Spintex, Atomic roundabout and Weija branches of Palace Mall were closed.

    Five branches of China Mall were also closed down between Monday and Tuesday.

    Source: Citinews

  • CAF Confederation Cup: Hearts of Oak announce ticket prices for Real Bamako clash

    Hearts of Oak have confirmed the ticket prices for their CAF Confederation Cup second leg encounter against Real Bamako.

    The Phobians will welcome the Malian side to the Accra Sports stadium on Sunday.

    Hearts suffered a humiliating 3-0 loss to AS Real Bamako in the second round of the CAF Confederation Cup qualifiers in Mali last Saturday.

    Ahead of the tough meeting, Hearts of Oak have announced the price of tickets for the game.

     

    According to a post on the Twitter page of the club, the ticket for the Popular stand will be sold at GH₵10 while those for Centre Line will be sold for GH₵20.

    Meanwhile, the ticket for the lower VIP and upper VIP sections will be sold for GH₵50 and GH₵70 respectively.

    The winner of the tie will move to the play-off round where they will face one of the 16 losers from the CAF Champions League second round.

    Hearts of Oak are Ghana’s sole representative in Africa following Asante Kotoko’s early exit from the CAF Champions League.

    Source: Footballghana

  • FLASHBACK: Here are the factories commissioned, revamped under 1D1F in two months

    From the beginning of 2021 to September 2021, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo commissioned some factories under the 1 District 1 Factory program.

    Some of these factories were newly constructed while others were revamped.

    Rubber factory

    Phase 3 KEDA Ceramics Factory

    Rice Factory

    Cassava factory

    Darko Farms

    Garment factory

    Shoe Factory

     

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has commissioned some factories in the past two months under his government’s flagship program, the 1 District 1 factory initiative.

    Some of the factories were built from scratch while others were revived from their almost-dead state.

    GhanaWeb in this article outlines the 7 factories President Akufo-Addo commissioned during his regional tour of the nation beginning September to now.

    Rubber factory

    President Akufo-Addo on September 3, 2021, commissioned a $2.1 million rubber processing plant at Wassa Dompim in the Western region.

    The Ghanaian-owned rubber company, Narubiz Rubber Factory can process 20 tonnes of rubber a day and 6240 tonnes a year.

    The rubber can be exported to foreign countries like Malaysia, Turkey, and Hong Kong.

    The income generated from this export amounts to $9.6 million.

    Phase 3 KEDA Ceramics Factory

    During the president’s tour of the Western region four months ago, he opened Phase 3 of the KEDA ceramics factory.

    The factory has employed 7,000 people both directly and indirectly, according to reports.

    The ceramics factory currently exports 60% of the tiles produced on the West African market.

    Rice Factory

    A 6.7 million rice processing factory was commissioned at Sefwi Akontombra in the Western region on September 5, 2021.

    It produces between 1.5 to 2.8 tonnes of processed rice in one hour.

    Reports say 118 people have been employed so far and over 600 farmers from the Akontombra district have been engaged to supply paddy rice for processing.

    Cassava factory

    CH Global Limited, a cassava and yam processing factory was commissioned by the President on September 9, 2021, at Addo Nkwanta in the Krachi East District of the Oti region.

    The facility is expected to process yams into frozen chips and yam balls.
    The first phase of the project aims at processing 120 yams per hour. This means that 216,000 tubers of yam will be processed for yam chips and yam balls in a year.

    Phase 2 of the project is expected to commence in 2022.

    Darko Farms

    During President Akufo-Addo’s tour of the Ashanti region, he visited the oldest and largest private poultry farm in Ghana, Darko farms.

    The government pumped GH¢18 million into the poultry farm to revamp the almost-dead company.

    The financial support, which was channeled through the Ghana EXIM Bank, followed the inclusion of the company in the 1 District 1 Factory (1D1F) program.

    The company, which faced operational challenges due to financial constraints before the capital injection was due for an additional GH¢4 million, to enable it to expand and produce at maximum capacity.

    Garment factory

    A garment factory located in Koforidua was revamped on October 5, 2021.

    Maa Grace Company Limited specializes in the production of utility clothing, uniforms for security forces, hospital scrubs, hotels, schools, and standardized uniforms.

    Shoe Factory

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Wednesday, October 6, 2021, commissioned Shoe Fabriek Ltd.

    The GH¢6.2 million shoe manufacturing company operates under Government’s 1D 1F initiative.

    It is producing 800 pairs of high-quality shoes, including security boots, school shoes, and casual shoes for men, women, and children, per day.

    According to the promoters of the project, the siting of the factory in the Akuapem North District is going to create jobs for the residents, which will help reduce rural-urban migration.

    Shoe Fabriek, according to reports, has, so far, created jobs for one hundred and forty-four (144) people in the district.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • It’s always a danger to get new players ahead of World Cup – Ghana coach Otto Addo

    Black Stars head coach Otto Addo admits the danger of integrating a number of new players into the squad ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

    Coach Addo handed debuts to Inaki Williams, Tariq Lamptey and Mohammed Salisu in Ghana’s pre-World Cup friendly defeat to Brazil last month. The Stars last 3-0 in France.

    Williams and Lamptey are among five players who switched allegiance before the global showpiece.

    “It’s always a danger to get new players, especially if the players who are there before achieve something really, really good,” said Addo, who oversaw the World Cup play-off win over Nigeria in March.

    “There’s a group dynamic which I don’t want to break, but I think from what I saw they were welcomed well.

    “They did well in training and get along with each other and it’s not like they were strangers. Before some knew each other from playing in the same league and everything is okay.”

    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.

    Source: Footballghana

  • Transport Ministry backs Airports Company service charge review

    A Deputy Minister of Transport, Hassan Tampuli, has backed the request of the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) to have its user fees and services reviewed upwards to enable them to undertake proper maintenance service in the new airports that are springing up across the country.

    The GACL is pushing for a review of its Airport Passenger Service Charge (APSC) in order to properly maintain and manage effectively the new airports being developed in some of the regions.

    This is coming after the government of Ghana is committed to improving the aviation sector to ensure the country become an aviation hub.

    Speaking to the press on the sidelines of a day’s visit to the Kumasi and Tamale airports by the leadership and members of the Select Committee of Parliament’s Roads and Transport, and officials of GACL, Mr. Tampuli said “now revenue from APSC for Accra is also a subject of a loan facility, so pay more or less go to amortise those loans. So, we need excess funds to be able to maintain these facilities. We need a sustained revenue stream, even”.

    “For us at the ministry, we are excited that leadership and members of the parliamentary select committee on roads and transport appreciate the fact that the ¢5  that we have in the price buildup of domestic air travel are woefully inadequate. So they have asked that we come with a justification paper for us to be able to go through the numbers and see whether there is a justification”, he explained.

    “Maybe, whatever figures that we put across, maybe is inadequate as far as they are concerned, they may give us what we requested for. Seeing, what we have here tells us that there is a bright future as far as our aviation industry is concerned.”

    Transport Ministry backs Airports Company service charge review

    Expected benefits

    Mr. Tampuli also explained that “we have not moved into these facilities yet, in order not to get to a point where it will be difficult to maintain the facility. We need to be proactive and get revenue stream put in the price build-up way before the opening of these airports.

    “We need to be ahead of the curve and get a stable revenue stream and I believe when parliament resumes from recess, these are matters that would be considered in the next meeting”.

    The Chairman of Parliament’s Road and Transport committee, Kennedy Osei Nyarko urged the Ministry of Transport and officials of GACL to submit to the law mandating them to review the user fees and charges to the committee.

    He however expressed concerned about the paltry amount GACL charges domestic passengers.

    “They use to charge ¢5 for all our domestic airports, [Ho, Wa, Tamale]”.

    “All international passengers are charged $200 at Terminal 3, and that is the money they are using to support the domestic airports. I have instructed them to bring back the law. So we will be able to amend it. They should not be charging less than ¢50 to maintain this airport. But we want them to run the numbers with us and justify it”.

    “I can assure you that if we don’t look for revenue stream to maintain it, in less than a year, all these beautiful edifices would go down the drain”, he added.

    The Managing Director of GACL, Pamela Djamson Tettey indicated that his outfit is resolved to push through with the APSC and thus, “it would work closely with the sector minister to ensure that they meet up with parliament when they resume to attain the objective”.

    Ranking Member of the Parliament’s Select Committee, Kwame Governs Agbodza advised the GACL to be more innovative to raise funds to sustain the domestic airports without recourse to government.

    Both Kumasi and Tamale airports are nearing completion, and is expected to be fully handed over sometime next year, according to the management of GACL.

    Source: Myjoyonline

  • Business confidence falls 4th consecutive time in 2022

    Business confidence has fallen for a fourth straight month, according to the central bank’s most recent confidence survey, as a result of worries about price pressures, currency devaluation, and deteriorating consumer demand.

    This primarily indicates a pessimistic perspective for corporate growth prospects given the current economic climate.

    The most recent central bank poll on business confidence, conducted in August 2022 to measure how optimistic business managers are, showed a decline in business confidence of 15.8 points, as opposed to the 98.4 points seen in the August 2021 survey.

    At the moment, business confidence has returned to pandemic-era levels – reaching its lowest since June 2020.

    Chairman of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and Governor-Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, noted that business sentiments declined on the back of current macroeconomic concerns.

    “Business sentiments softened on the back of concerns about price pressures, currency depreciation and weakening consumer demand,” the Governor said.

    Similarly, the survey findings were broadly in line with an observed downturn in Ghana’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in August 2022 at 45.9.

    According to S&P Global, Ghana’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) posted below the neutral value of 50.0 for the eighth month in succession, indicating a deterioration in business conditions. At 45.6 in September, down from 45.9 in August, the latest reading was the lowest since April 2020.

    Per the S&P Global Ghana PMI, the final month of third-quarter 2022 revealed a solid deterioration in business conditions for Ghana’s private sector. Output fell markedly, and at the quickest rate since start of the pandemic in March and April 2020.

    New orders meanwhile fell precipitously, but more slowly. For the third month in a row, businesses reduced headcount in response to weak market conditions. Despite this, businesses had positive outlooks for longer-term output growth. Inflationary pressures increased once more in September to 33.9 percent, with businesses frequently attributing price increases to unfavourable changes in the dollar’s exchange rate.

    Results from the Bank’s August 2022 confidence surveys also showed further softening of consumer sentiments on account of rising inflation.

    Economic growth

    The most recent high-frequency statistics from the Bank of Ghana indicated some deceleration of economic growth. In July 2022, the Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA) showed annual growth of 0.5 percent, down from 1.6 percent in June and 5.0 percent in December of the previous year. The slowdown was caused by port and construction-related activity.

    In addition, the most recent poll on credit conditions – performed in August 2022 – revealed a net overall tightening of commercial banks’ credit policies toward consumers and corporations. The average lending rates are steadily rising as a result. Due to persistent price pressures, private sector lending expanded… albeit barely to 1.4 percent. In contrast, the same time in 2021 saw a 0.2 percent decrease.

  • 15 injured after road crash at Gomoa Odumase

    15 persons have sustained varying degrees of injuries after a commercial vehicle loaded with passengers burst one of its tyres and crashed into a tree at the Gomoa Odumase in the Central Region.

    Eyewitnesses say, the speeding driver lost grip of the steering wheel and subsequently crashed the vehicle into a tree on the side of the highway.

    The impact of the crash was so severe, as all seats of the vehicle got displaced and the passengers sustained various degrees of injuries.

    The victims are receiving treatment at the St Luke Catholic Hospital in Apam.

    The Apam fire commander, DOI Adolf Ankomah Nuamah, while admonishing drivers to drive with caution, also called on the Highway Authority to put in place speed reduction mechanisms.

    “This is a high-risk accident-prone area, so there should be some form of control because drivers will speed or overtake wrongly in that area. This is the second time in the last few days. On Saturday, there was also an accident at the same place. So we are hoping that the Highway Authority will construct some ramps there to control the speed.”

    Source: Citionline

  • SMEs hold solution to economic recovery, sustainability – GSE

    The Ghanaian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector, according to Abena Amoah, Deputy Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), is the key to the sustainability of the country’s economy.

    Ms. Amoah advocated for the establishment of purposeful measures to assist the sector’s growth, noting that over 90% of enterprises in the nation are SMEs and that they collectively account for at least 70% of the GDP.

    “SMEs are the backbone, the foundation and true engine of growth of the Ghanaian economy…and Ghana will not grow without SMEs growing strongly,” the deputy managing director of the GSE said when speaking at a capacity building workshop for SMEs organised by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in partnership with the Exchange and Development Bank of Ghana (DBG) under the theme ‘Empowering SMEs with key strategies for resilience and business sustainability’.

    “It is against this background that the GSE and DBG want to move beyond the rhetoric and work with your association, AGI, to prepare local businesses through capacity-building programmes to raise the much-needed patient and affordable capital to catapult and accelerate their growth and that of the economy,” she added.

    She said the GSE has set up three markets so far to support the raising of patient capital by SMEs – the Main Market to attract new shareholders for medium to large companies; the Ghana Fixed Income Market to raise long-term patient corporate debt financing; and the Ghana Alternative Market, specifically to provide a platform for SMEs to raise share capital and list their shares for trading on this market.

    On his part, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Development Bank of Ghana (DBG), Michael Mensah-Baah, reiterated the bank’s commitment to supporting transformation and growth of the private sector.

    And for the SMEs to lead the country’s economic recovery amid recent downgrades by Fitch Ratings and Moody’s, he said, DBG will lead the acceleration of inclusive and sustainable economic transformation by fostering a competitive private sector wherein SMEs are the main players.

    “We are not in normal times, and globally all countries are struggling. So anything that we do, there must be a sense of urgency associated with it. We want to be inclusive and the outcome of our interventions must touch everyone,” he remarked during the AGI-led capacity-building workshop.

    He said supporting the growth of SMEs and the private sector to withstand shocks of the current global economic turmoil is critical to the country’s recovery and sustainability.

    “The mindset that long-term funding is all that’s needed for you to grow your businesses is not accurate. You need to have skills that enable you to be sustainable over time. So, DBG provides long-term funding at competitive pricing – but we also believe that it’s important to empower and upscale businesses in a way that makes them sustainable,” Mr. Mensah-Baah said.

    For president of the AGI, Dr. Humphrey Kwesi Ayim-Darke, the collaboration between his outfit, GSE, and DBG will aid SMEs with what he described as “reasonable” medium to long-term funds injected into their businesses, so as to design and manufacture quality products that are exportable to the African region.

    Meanwhile, DBG signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding with the Association of Ghana Industries and Ghana Stock Exchange as part of its mandate of building capacity and empowering banks and entrepreneurs through financial innovation and other advisory services to strengthen the ecosystem in which businesses operate.

    Commenting on the development, Mr. Mensah-Baah intimated that: “A critical role here for DBG is to provide long-term funding to banks and engaging in partnerships with institutions like AGI and GSE to ensure private sector empowerment for growth”.

    This collaboration with partners seeks to fashion innovative solutions which demonstrate that principles and profits are not mutually exclusive.

  • Actress Kaley Cuoco ‘beyond blessed and over the moon’ as she announces she is pregnant with first child

    Actress Kaley Cuoco says she is “beyond blessed and over the moon” after announcing she is pregnant with her first child.

    The Big Bang Theory star, 36, revealed the news that she and partner Tom Pelphrey, 40, are expecting a baby girl next year.

    It comes just over five months after the pair confirmed they were dating in May.

    Cuoco, who played Penny in the hit comedy show, shared the news on Instagram with a series of photos including one in which she held several pregnancy tests.

    Other pictures included the couple holding items of baby clothing and mugs reading “mama bear” and “papa bear.”

    The actress has been married twice, first to American tennis player Ryan Sweeting, whom she divorced in 2016, and then to equestrian star Karl Cook.

    In September 2021, Cuoco and Cook announced they had filed for divorce after three years of marriage.

    In April this year, Cuoco told Glamour US she “will never get married again” but would like to find a “long-lasting relationship or a partnership”.

    Source: SkyNews

     

  • 70% of poultry farms on verge of collapse; as poultry feed rises by 300% in 2 years

    According to Victor Oppong Adjei, head of the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers (GNAPF), over 70 percent of the nation’s poultry farms are in danger of failing due to the skyrocketing cost of poultry feed.

    Wheat bran now costs GH50 for a 25kg bag, compared to GH15 two years ago.
    The price of maize has recently increased by up to 60% while the price of soya bean, which was previously offered for GH150 a kilogram, is comparable to those two.

    These are the main ingredients used in the preparation and production of poultry feed; and once they surge in price, managing their poultry farms becomes very expensive for farmers.

    The Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu Banahene, at the 23rd Regional Annual General Meeting of Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) last week in Kumasi hinted that about half the poultry farms in her region are folding-up.

    Mr. Oppong Adjei confirming what the Regional Minister said, explaining to B&FT that the issue is much bigger as there has not been any intervention by government to help assuage their plight.

    He confirmed that most farmers are reducing the capacity on their farms in order to stay in business, even though feeding the birds is having a heavy toll on them.

    He further cautioned that if proper measures are not put in place, the poultry industry might collapse totally.

    “The situation is getting out of hand. It looks like there is no intervention to sustain the poultry industry. Very soon, we will not have a single poultry farm in the country. The situation is bad.

    “The farms are basically in the Bono and Ashanti Regions. They are all having the same challenge as a result of the feed cost that has gone up over 300 percent. We were looking for an intervention by the ministry, but nothing came out of it; so it has now become very critical.

    “If you go to the Bono Region, one farmer who owned a 300,000-bird capacity poultry farm has sold his birds and now has only 50,000 left. And even with that, it’s a challenge feeding them. When you go to the Eastern Region there is another farmer with 32,000 capacity; he now has only 700 birds. The situation is the same across the country, and it is very critical and needs timely intervention,” Mr. Oppong Adjei lamented.

    On the number of jobs lost, Mr. Oppong Adjei explained that once the poultry farmers are cutting down on production, some of their staff will definitely be laid-off. He noted that depending on the size of a farm, staff strength could be around 50 or more.

  • State regulators must act early to prevent scams from gaining credibility – Youth activist

    Youth Activist, Julius Kwame Anthony, has called on state regulators and institutions to be proactive in their fight against financial scams and fraud.

    According to him, the slow-to-act nature of state regulators allows the activities of financial scams and frauds to gain credibility thus leading to more people falling victim to these schemes.

    “The easiest way for a Ponzi scheme to get people entrapped into it is the initial credibility they build and beyond the unemployment, beyond the hunger of the youth and all those things is the fact that the system allows that credibility to build.

    “Let’s look at Menzgold, even Lawyer Maurice Ampaw invested in Menzgold because we allowed Menzgold to build credibility in the public. And then there are times when regulators are supposed to come in and save the situation. Believe you me, anyone can fall victim to Ponzi schemes regardless of how intelligent you are, you can fall victim.

    “That is why regulators are there to save you because no matter what we do as a society, no matter how we educate people, as Jilly Cooper would say in her book Class, there are people who would know nothing about anything no matter what we do so the regulators are supposed to save those people from that situation,” he said.

    Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, he explained that the failure of state regulators to act early also significantly undermines their intentions when they finally try to halt the operations of the scheme.

    “If you look at the DKM issue, it was the same situation. They were misreporting their finances and then the regulators didn’t come in. Menzgold I will concede that yes, the BoG and SEC did a lot to warn the people but beyond warning the people, they should have stepped in and stopped this.

    “By not stopping this, the people who have already bought into the credibility of Menzgold even felt this is BoG trying to frustrate a business. There were those comments, because they’ve already bought into that credibility. So that’s what needed to be stopped in the beginning.”

    Commenting on the arrest of Patricia Asiedua a.k.a Nana Agradaa, founder of Heaven Way Church over allegations of fraud among others, he noted that just like other schemes that had become prominent in the country in the last few years, state regulators had looked on while Nana Agradaa gained credibility.

    “Now let’s come to the issue of Agradaa. She also applied this same principle of buying credibility after her initial sika gari thing failed or people came to realize it for the fraud that it is. And she bought credibility by getting affinity of Christians. And we allowed that process to also succeed.

    “Because she sits on TV the same methods she was using for the sika gari, she replicated that same method just with the coat of Christianity and people still fell victim to that. So whereas we can blame regulators all we want the people were also complicit in these problems. And I feel that Agradaa should have been stopped.

    “I mean when the fraud issues and advertising those things on her TV came up she was only fined and allowed to continue doing these things. So everyone is complicit in this issue but we must save the people that no matter what we do they’ll fall victims and that is where regulations comes in …and Agradaa must be used as an example to everybody in this particular instance,” he said.

    Source: Myjoyonline

     

  • New players will increase competition for places and benefit Black Stars ahead of World Cup – Otto Addo

    Head coach of Ghana, Otto Addo has disclosed that the new players will increase competition for places and benefit the team ahead of 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

    The Black Stars welcomed several players who switched their allegiance after representing other nationalities in junior set-ups.

    Tariq Lamptey, Mohammed Salisu, and Inaki Williams were handed call-ups and made their debuts from the bench in Ghana’s 3-0 loss to Brazil in a pre-World Cup friendly last month.

    “It’s a good situation. We have pressure from the bench because new people are there who are very, very solid in Europe, and we have players on the pitch who have to prove themselves,” coach Otto Addo said.

    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.

    Black Stars will take on Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay in Group H at the World Cup final.

    Source: Footballghana

  • Elon Musk denies he spoke to Putin about Ukraine war

    Elon Musk has denied reports he spoke to Vladimir Putin before posting a Twitter poll with his suggestions for ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Ian Bremmer, head of the Eurasia Group political risk consultancy, alleged that Mr Musk had personally told him about the conversation with Mr Putin.

    But Mr Musk has now refuted this.

    “I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space,” Mr Musk tweeted.

    Last week, the Tesla CEO asked his 107.7 million followers to vote on ways to resolve the Ukraine war.

    The suggestions included a proposal to hold votes in parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia that the Kremlin says it has annexed. His comments were welcomed by Moscow.

    The multi-billionaire said: “Russia leaves if that is will of the people.”

    President Putin has already declared four Ukrainian regions to be part of Russia, following so-called referendums denounced as fraudulent by Kyiv and its Western allies. Russia does not fully control any of the four regions.

    Mr Musk also suggested the world should “formally” recognise Crimea – illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014 – as part of Russia.

    In a newsletter, Mr Bremmer wrote that Mr Musk told him the Russian president was “prepared to negotiate”, but only if Crimea remained under Russian control, if Ukraine accepted a form of permanent neutrality, and if Kyiv recognised Russia’s annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

    Mr Bremmer said the SpaceX boss told him that Mr Putin said these goals would be accomplished “no matter what” and that there was the potential of a nuclear strike if Ukraine invaded Crimea.

    But Mr Musk has since denied the reports.

    Mr Musk’s initial poll caused widespread controversy.

    Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said people proposing Ukraine give up on its people and land “must stop using word ‘peace’ as an euphemism to ‘let Russians murder and rape thousands more innocent Ukrainians, and grab more land’”.

    Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov called Mr Musk’s tweet “moral idiocy, repetition of Kremlin propaganda, a betrayal of Ukrainian courage & sacrifice”.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov welcomed Mr Musk’s suggestions, stating: “It is very positive that somebody like Elon Musk is looking for a peaceful way out of this situation.”

    Early in the war, the billionaire gained widespread popularity in Ukraine after sending a number of his Starlink internet terminals to the country. He was subsequently invited to visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

    But his recent tweets have seen that relationship sour, with Mr Zelensky last week hitting out at his Twitter polls.

    Source: BBC

     

  • Family of murdered Muriel McKay urge police to launch new search for her remains on remote beach

    The family of murdered Muriel McKay is urging police to launch a new search for her remains on a remote beach after the discovery of a long-lost “confession” by her killer.

    According to a letter hidden among old court files Arthur Hosein told his solicitor he buried her body at Jaywick Sands near Clacton, Essex.

    It is believed he information was never followed up.

    Arthur and his brother Nizamodeen Hosein kidnapped Mrs McKay, the wife of a newspaper executive, in 1969 and held her for ransom before they were arrested and charged with her murder.

    Mrs McKay was married to newspaper executive Alec McKay, deputy to Rupert Murdoch who had just bought the Sun newspaper.

    The Hosein brothers mistook her for Mr Murdoch’s first wife Anna. The Murdochs were abroad and the McKays were using the boss’s limousine.

    They were convicted in one of the first murder trials without the evidence of the victim’s body, denying their involvement and refusing to say what they did with her.

    Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein
    Image:Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein

    But in a letter to the Appeal Court in 1972, Arthur’s solicitor George Brown, who was trying to get legal aid for his client, wrote: “I have received information that the body of Mrs McKay, who was the alleged victim in this case, was buried at Jaywick Sands, a fact which I have communicated to the local police.

    “It may be that there is some merit in what this man says…”

    Mrs McKay’s daughter Dianne McKay told Sky News: “In many ways I’d like to halt the whole thing and personally I find it’s an ongoing agony.

    “I learned to live with it a long time ago, the loss of my mother and the way it happened.

    “I don’t really want to go on and on for ever. But if someone is willing to have a quick look or a proper look for us on this huge beach area maybe that’s a good idea.”

    Author Simon Farquhar, who discovered the letter at the bottom of a box of official documents, said the plea for legal aid was rejected and there was no appeal hearing. The solicitor and the killer are now dead.

    In three years of research for his new book about the case A Desperate Business, Mr Farquhar said he found no evidence that anyone had acted on the solicitor’s information.

    He said: “The solicitor says he informed the local police, but we don’t know whether that’s the police in Essex, or local to Arthur’s prison in Wakefield, or his own office in Birmingham or whatever.

    “But as far as I can tell, no police officer was ever given this information. There was no visit to see Arthur in prison, either by the police or by that solicitor. There was no record of any police force having informed Wimbledon CID about this.

    “In fact, right up until 25 years later, whenever someone anywhere in Britain went into a police station with some information about this, it was relayed to members of the CID and any officer who was connected with a story looked at it again.”

    In April, Scotland Yard detectives reopened the case in the search for Mrs McKay’s remains after the surviving killer Nizamodeen, who had always insisted he didn’t know what happened to her, told her family she had died of a heart attack at the brothers’ Hertfordshire farm and he had buried her there.

    Digging has begun at a farm where Muriel McKay's remains may be buried
    Image:Digging was carried out at a farm but Muriel McKay’s remains were not found

    The officer in charge said the latest revelation did not justify a new search because he couldn’t verify the information or be sure where it came from.

    He said in an email to the McKay family: “We are aware of this letter and have copies of the letter and other related documents.

    “We have reviewed, considered, analysed and assessed the information and unfortunately this is one single strand of intelligence.

    “In the letter the solicitor states that he has information which suggests that Muriel was buried at Jaywick Sands, which we can assume has come from Arthur. Nonetheless we have done some research on the solicitor and it seems he has since passed away.

    “We have no way of knowing exactly where that information came from and therefore unable to attribute, verify or assess the validity of the information. It is with regret that I will not be able to progress this line of enquiry.”

    Scotland Yard was asked for an official response.

    Source: SkyNews

  • Palace, China Malls swerve GRA in e-VAT compliance swoop

    After receiving word that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) intended to shut down their companies for disobeying the electronic VAT mandate, all branches of the Palace and China Malls in Accra stopped operating.

    On Tuesday, October 11, 2022, a media crew lead by GRA officials who had planned to carry out the action at all of these foreign-owned merchants’ branches was taken aback when they arrived to find the malls already shuttered by their respective management.

    For the China Malls, information gathered by the GRA and journalists revealed their branches were closed on Monday, whereas the Palace Mall’s branches were closed yesterday – sparking suspicions of a possible tip-off from insiders at the GRA.

    Despite the actions of these malls’ management, the GRA applied its seal on their locks; making it unlawful and punishable to reopen the shops unless the tax authority does so.

    Background of the exercise

    The GRA from Saturday 1st October 2022 started using a certified invoicing system for the administration of Value Added Tax (VAT) in Ghana.

    This forms part of efforts to increase tax compliance and generate more revenue for the state.

    A Certified Invoicing System is an electronic invoicing system (E-VAT) certified by the Commissioner-General per the VAT Act 870 as amended.

    Speaking at a briefing ceremony before the exercise, Kwesi Eghan, Deputy Commissioner, Operations-DTRD, said the malls are part of some 50 selected tax paying companies that are supposed to be enrolled on the system.

    He said, so far, about 25 of these companies are complying but the rest are yet to register onto the system.

    The deadline for registration is dependent on the phased implementation which started on 1st October 2022.

    He said all newly-registered taxpayers will henceforth be on-boarded to the E-VAT System.

    The exercise will be done in a phased process that covers 600 large taxpayers in the first phase.

    The 600 firms being targetted under the phase include listed companies, and they altogether generate more than 90 percent of VAT revenue and 80 percent of domestic revenue.

    The e-invoicing exercise is expected to cover medium-sized taxpayers by 2023 before being extended to all businesses in 2024.

    Unlike the manual system, the e-invoicing system allows the GRA to monitor live transactions in companies where it has been deployed; thereby making it impossible for taxpayers to either under-invoice or dodge the payment of VAT.

    GRA estimates show that the country’s VAT contributions to tax revenue could be increased significantly from the current 17 percent if the various abuses that the manual invoicing system is prone to are decisively dealt with.

    “We want to improve compliance. We are more interested in collaboration than chaining businesses to pay their taxes. But we have no option at this moment than to move swiftly to ensure the right thing is done,” he said.

  • KP Boateng, one other Ghanaian named as ambassadors for Euro 2024

    Former Black Stars forward, Kevin-Prince Boateng has been named as an ambassador for the Germany Euro 2024 tournament to represent the city of Berlin.

    While preparations continue for the tournament, Bayern Munich and Germany great Philipp Lahm has been named tournament director.

    Last Saturday, the ex-international and ambassador Celia Sasic hosted ambassadors selected to represent various cities of Germany to officially outdoor them.

     

    At the event on the premises on the campus of the German Football Association (DFB) Kevin-Prince Boateng and Gerald Asamoah, both German-born but of Ghanaian descent were named among the ambassadors.

    While KP Boateng will be the ambassador for the city of Berlin, Gerald Asamoah will be the ambassador for the city of Gelsenkirchen.

    The 2024 Euro tournament will be the 17th edition of the tournament.

  • Ashanti Region: Police arrest 80 foreign nationals at Duase

    Police have picked 80 foreign nationals at Duase in the Kumasi metropolis of the Ashanti Region.

    Police and Immigration officials have begun investigations into the activities of the nationals who were living in a six-bedroom apartment.

    This follows the previous arrest of alleged illegal migrants in separate operations by security agencies in parts of the Ashanti Region after inhabitants raised concerns over their activities.

     

    The arrest at Duase involved nine Burkinabe females, 60 Burkinabe males, and 11 Nigerians.

    Police sources said the apartment where these nationals lived was thoroughly searched but nothing incriminating was found.

    A resident, Abena Serwaa narrated events that led to the arrest of these nationals said;

    “The foreign nationals have been living in this area for about three months. About 20 of them came initially, and we heard that they were there for educational purposes. That’s why the landlord gave out the apartment. After the initial number that came around, we subsequently noticed that they came in pairs, but we never knew what was going on.”

    “Sometimes you hear them make some gestures and sounds, but we were not still privy to what was going on. They used to play with our kids, and they spoke different foreign languages. On Monday, some guys from this area came to ask if some persons had been kidnapped here, but I told them it was not true. Later they came back wielding some implements, and they clashed with the foreign nationals.”

    Residents in the area told Citi News that they had doubts about the activities of these nationals.

    The Unit Committee Secretary for the Duase Electoral area, Kofi Karikari advised residents to always volunteer information about the activities of strange persons in the community.

    With the government’s see something, say something campaign, community leaders are collaborating with security agencies to arrest strange and suspicious characters in their communities.

    The foreign nationals arrested on Monday are in custody at the Tafo-Pankrono and Kenyase Police stations.

    Police are also collaborating with Immigration officers as part of investigations.

    ;

    Source: Citinews

  • Government secures US$100 million to support GPSNP

    According to Mr. Augustine Collins Ntim, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), the government has received US$100 million from the World Bank for the Ghana Productive Safety Net Programme (GPSNP) phase two.

    He stated that from 2022 to 2025, 100 districts nationwide are expected to be covered by the program’s second phase, which is a component of the government’s effort to “create jobs, boost agricultural production, industrial growth, and to strengthen safety net system to address the needs of the poor and vulnerable in the society.”

    The Deputy of MLGRD was speaking at a sensitisation programme for some selected MDCEs, district planning officers, coordinators, and financials officers in Koforidua last Friday (October 7) on the implementation of the GPSNP.

    Phase 1 output

    He expressed satisfaction with the output gained in the first phase output which is expected to end in December this year.

    On the specific achievements in the GPSNP phase implemented in 80 Districts, he said “the project components under the Ministry have to date provided enterprise skills training to 21,107 beneficiaries in 331 communities; provided start-up grants cedi equivalent of US$215 per person 21,107 beneficiaries to establish and run their own small scale micro enterprises, provided mentoring and coaching support to beneficiaries to ensure sustenance of investments; linked 15,926 beneficiaries to Planting for Export and Rural Development; provided short-term employment for 34,555 beneficiaries through the provision of unskilled labour at LIPW subproject sites”.

    He added that as part of the success story, the government also “provided 64 feeder roads (251.6 km); 79 small earth dams; 209 plantations totalling 2,022 hectares; distributed 11.4 million cashews, oil palm and coconut seedlings in support of the Government’s Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) programme; paid a total amount of GH¢91.8 million directly as grants to beneficiaries under both the PI and LIPW components; trained 167 Contractor and DA Supervisors in the use of Labour intensive methods for construction, and disbursed US$30 million of project funds of US$32.0 million”.

  • Attack on NATO energy supplies would provoke ‘united and determined response’, alliance chief vows

    A deliberate attack on NATO energy supplies will be met with a “united and determined response”, the alliance’s chief has vowed.

    Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg pledged to boost protection of critical infrastructure in response to the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

    The EU believes three leaks in the pipelines last month were the work of sabotage and suspicion has fallen on Russia, but it is not known for sure who was responsible.

    Mr Stoltenberg said NATO has doubled its presence in the Baltic and the North Sea to more than 30 ships supported by aircraft and undersea activities.

    In a speech on Tuesday, he also said the alliance is monitoring Russia’s nuclear forces closely as the country was “losing on the battlefield” in Ukraine.

    Meanwhile, Moscow has issued a fresh warning to the West over its involvement in the Ukraine war.

    Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia will take adequate countermeasures in response to the West’s “growing involvement”.

    In the comments reported by the state-owned RIA news agency, he said: “We warn and hope that they realise the danger of uncontrolled escalation in Washington and other Western capitals.”

    Russian bombs have rained down on Ukraine, killing at least 14 people on Monday.

    Vladimir Putin said the strikes were in retaliation for its “terrorist action” against Russian territory – the attack on the Kerch Strait Bridge in occupied Crimea – but Ukraine has rejected this claim of “provocation”.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed to make the battlefield “more painful” for Russian troops in response to the rocket attacks and said air defence was the “number one priority”.

    Despite remarkable Ukrainian battlefield successes – both early on in the war with the defence of Kyiv and more recently with counterattacks in Kharkiv and Kherson regions – the war could continue for decades to come, one expert said.

    Sky News security and defence analyst Professor Michael Clarke said the war is likely to be a “generational struggle” and could be a “forever conflict” until “something changes in European security or Russia”.

    Mr Clarke said the current crisis in Ukraine was the “second war” and the first war was witnessed in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea.

    He added: “My feeling is next year there will be a ceasefire in which the Ukrainians will be better placed and that ceasefire will be unstable and it will break down and there will be a third war and then a ceasefire and a fourth war.

    “We’re dealing here with an existential struggle because the Russian establishment thinks that Ukraine has no right to exist and they won’t change their mind in the short-term.

    “This is likely to be a generational struggle. Let’s say it’s going to last 30,40 or 50 years.”

    Source: SkyNews

  • John Dumelo’s son chooses to go to the farm over school

    Actor and politician John Dumelo has mad love for agriculture and owns farms that produce foodstuffs including yam, ginger, cabbage and onions among many others for public consumption.

    Dumelo has managed to transfer his love for agriculture to his four-year-old son, John Dumelo Junior.

    In a video published by the actor on his social media platforms, Junior was resisting all efforts to go to school.

    “I want to go to the farm,” the young boy cried.

    According to John, ever since he started taking his son along to his farm, he prefers to tag along even on days when he ought to be in school.

    “What I go through each day,” he announced in reaction to the video shared.

    Some social media users joined to beg on behalf of the young boy by urging John Dumelo to grant him his wish.

    Check out the video below:

  • Ghana Free Zones Authority CEO embarks on regional tour to licensed free zone firms

    The Chief Executive Office of the Ghana Free Zones Authority, Mike Ocquaye Junior has embarked on a regional tour to licensed free zone companies in the Ashanti and Western Regions of Ghana.

    His first stop was at Angel FM in the Ashanti region where he answered questions from listeners and the presenter centered on the mandate of the institution and the plans Ghana has to accelerate the development of the Great Kumasi Industrial City Project.

    The CEO stressed the need for Ashanti-based industrialists with export orientation to take advantage of available incentives

    As part of the regional tour, the team visited Juaben Oil Mills Limited, an agro-processing company at the heart of adding value to oil palm, among others.

    After touring the factory and engaging with its leadership, the GFZA team then paid a courtesy call to the Omanhene of the Juaben traditional area, Nana Otuo Siriboe II.

    Mike Oquaye Junior thanked the Paramount Chief for his continuous support for industrialisation and for guiding and shaping the growth of Juaben Oil Mills from inception to date.

    Nana Otuo Siriboe II commended Mr. Oquaye for his stellar performance at the GFZA and urged him to do more to achieve the mandate given to him by the President on behalf of the Good People of Ghana.

    The GFZA then visited OLAM Ghana Limited, one of Ghana’s largest licensed agro-food processing firms. OLAM Ghana is an adept buyer and exporter of processed cocoa, cashew, and rice in Ghana.

    He encouraged OLAM to do more for the sector as he committed to working closely with the company to clear bottlenecks that might impede their growth.

    The next company visited by the team was Logs & Lumber Ghana Limited, one of the leading timber logging and processing companies in Ghana and the West African sub-region.

    Mike Oquaye Junior noted the company’s concerns and committed to working with other state actors to address them.

    In the Western Region, the CEO of the Ghana Free Zones authority and the team paid a working visit to the Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah, to discuss pertinent land-related issues before heading to the Lands Commission with the team.

    Before meeting the Regional Minister, Mike Oquaye Junior, was interviewed extensively on Skyy FM during which he updated listeners on a wide range of issues about Free Zones and its activities in the Western Region.

    The GFZA team then met with the CEO and management team of Wayoe Engineering & Construction Limited, one of the largest privately-owned Ghanaian engineering and construction companies in West Africa.

    The group toured the new factory of the company to get a sense of the investment the company had made and its growth potential.

    Mike Oquaye Junior committed to working closely with the company to find lasting solutions to some identified problems.

    The team then visited Amalitech Limited, a social enterprise that harnesses the potential of remote work to build the future of work in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Speaking at the end of the one-week working visit, Mike Oquaye Junior expressed satisfaction with the achievements of many of the institutions in the two regions.

    He also charged the regional heads of the GFZA to continue delivering value to all GFZA-licensed businesses.

    Ziblim Alhassan, Director of Administration and Human Resources; Jesse Agyepong, Director of Corporate Affairs and Lawrence Osei-Boateng, Director of Business Development and Research, accompanied Ambassador Mike Oquaye on the working visit.

    He was also accompanied by Ricky Osei Owusu, Regional Head of the Ashanti Region; Hajia Hanatu Abubakar, Regional Director for the Western Region; Fred Agyei-Gyane, Manager in Charge of Compliance; and Harry Ansah, Personal Assistant to the CEO.

    With two enclaves in the Western region and one in the Ashanti region, Ghana’s lead agency for regulating the free zones scheme and Ghana’s Special Economic Zones remains ready to do more.

    Source: Myjoyonline

  • Liz Truss to face PMQs as she launches charm offensive to win back rebel MPs

    Liz Truss will face her second Prime Minister’s Questions later before going on a charm offensive to get her own MPs back on side.

    After facing Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at the despatch box at 12pm, the PM is expected to hold lunches with backbenchers and tour the tea rooms in parliament, before appearing in front of the Conservative 1922 Committee on Wednesday evening.

    The government will also introduce its Energy Prices Bill to put into law its plan to help households and businesses with soaring energy costs over the winter and beyond.

    It comes after a chaotic start to Ms Truss’s premiership following the death of the Queen and a mini-budget that divided Tories, as well as sending the markets into turmoil.

    The PM and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng have already been forced into a U-turn on one of the many tax cutting policies within their plan – namely scrapping the 45p tax rate for the highest earners.

    And they have also been pressured into bringing forward Mr Kwarteng’s medium-term economic announcement to Halloween after complaints the original 23 November date was too far away.

    But with warnings from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) that the chancellor would have to cut spending or raise taxes by £62bn if he was to stabilise or reduce the national debt as promised, the rows in the party are far from over.

    Many MPs, including some cabinet ministers, are publicly calling for the PM to commit to raising benefits in line with inflation to help the poorest during the cost of living crisis – though Number 10 says she has yet to make a decision.

    And one Tory former minister, Stephen Hammond, said she should delay the planned cut to corporation tax to ensure there aren’t savage slashes to public services, like the NHS and education.

    But Health Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey tried to calm fears, saying she was “confident” of “increasing investment in public sector services – but making sure that we do that carefully with taxpayers money whilst we also stimulate the economy to grow”.

    There is also upset from some MPs in rural areas over Ms Truss’ plan to ban solar projects from farms, with the Conservative Environment Network saying it is “disproportionate” and risks being “damaging to investor confidence in an energy crisis”.

    Scrapping EU laws protecting the environment, creating the government’s proposed investment zones in national parks and lifting the ban on fracking are also bitterly opposed by the green lobby.

    A government spokesperson insisted to Sky News that they were “empowering local places to deliver plans that are right for their area”.

    Labour is also attacking the government over reports it could scrap its plan to end no-fault evictions – a pledge made in the 2019 Conservative manifesto to stop landlords kicking tenants out without giving a reason.

    The prime minister’s official spokesman said “no decisions have been taken on any further policies” but the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities was looking at the issue.

    He added: “Clearly, ensuring a fair deal for renters will always remain a priority for this government.”

    But shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy said: “Millions of people are only a few weeks from losing their home through no fault of their own.

    “The Tories promised to stop this in their election manifesto and the Queen’s Speech. It would be shameful to break this promise.”

    Source: SkyNews

  • Tributes pour in for Dame Angela Lansbury after her death aged 96

    Tributes have been pouring in for Dame Angela Lansbury after her death at the age of 96.

    The actress, who starred in TV drama Murder, She Wrote, died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles early on Tuesday, her family said.

    Born in London, she won five Tony Awards for her Broadway performances, was nominated for three Oscars, and in 2013 she received an honorary Academy Award for her lifetime achievement in film.

    Her death has been met by an outpouring of tributes and praise for her acting talent by stars from across the industry.

    American actress and Orange Is the New Black star Uzo Aduba called her “an icon of the stage”.

    She tweeted: “She poured so much love into each of us.

    “An icon of the stage, and legend across so many mediums but, we all knew…she was always one of us.”

    Frozen actor Josh Gad said that Dame Angela had “touched four generations” with her work.

    “It is rare that one person can touch multiple generations, creating a breadth of work that defines decade after decade. Angela Lansbury was that artist,” he wrote on Twitter.

    Jason Alexander, who appeared in Seinfeld, praised her as “one of the most versatile, talented, graceful, kind, witty, wise, classy ladies I’ve ever met”.

    He added: “Her huge contribution to the arts and the world remains always.”

    Actor Harvey Fierstein tweeted: “Angela Lansbury – She, my darlings, was EVERYTHING!”

    Catherine Zeta-Jones, who starred alongside Dame Angela in the Broadway musical A Little Night Music, said their time together will “forever be one of the joys of my life”.

    Disney Animation Studios tweeted: “We join the world in mourning Disney Legend Angela Lansbury, who brought such incredible warmth and personality to Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast. Her unforgettable performance will forever be a classic.”

    Playwright Paul Rudnick said Dame Angela “provided the most fabulous, irreplaceable joy” and was “beloved as a person and an actress, and managed to be approachable, glamorous and heartbreaking”.

    West End star Elaine Paige said Dame Angela was “one of the last Golden Age of Hollywood stars & a Broadway & West End icon”.

    Author Rebecca Makkai wrote: “A thing you should know: In September, 1987, Angela Lansbury headlined a show that packed the Chicago Theater with 2,400 people to raise money for AIDS research. It was the first major AIDS benefit in Chicago, and it raised $1 million.”

    Source: SkyNews

  • My album is an autobiography, everything on there is real – Black Sherif

    Ghanaian music star Black Sherif has revealed his debut album The Villain I Never Was is an autobiography.

    Speaking in an exclusive interview with NY DJ on Y102.5FM, the award-winning musician revealed the album chronicles a series of memorable moments in his life and are not fictional.

    “I write from a deeper, raw and real place. I don’t like to filter stories or emotions. I put everything in there. That’s how I want to see art. I feel like I’m on a journey and with the music I do, I’m kinda marking memories and telling my story as I keep going,” he said.

    With so much to tell at age 20, the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards nominee tells NY DJ the album evokes every passion because it conveys his struggles even at a young age.

    “At age 20, I’ve seen a lot. Whatever you listen to on my album and could think about, I’ve seen it in real life. That’s why I go detailed about it. This is not fictional. This is my autobiography. The album is my autobiography. That’s me from 1 to the last song…” Black Sherif said.

    On Thursday, October 6, 2022, Black Sherif released a 14-track album, The Villain I Never Was.

    The album which had only one feature with Burna Boy has since garnered over 100 million streams across various digital platforms.

    Watch the exclusive interview below as he breaks down various songs on the album.

    Source: nydjlive.com

  • Impact of climate change is ruining economies – Ofori-Atta to developed countries

    Ken Ofori-Atta, the finance minister, has urged for additional funding and attention to the financial effects of climate change on developing nations.

    He claims that a strict strategy is necessary to ensure that developed countries fully understand the negative implications of climate change on mankind in general and economies in particular.

    Speaking to attendees at the G-24 Ministers and Governors Meetings of the ongoing World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) Meetings in Washington, D.C., Ofori-Atta noted that over the past two decades, climate change had cost developing countries more than $525 billion.

    “There is the need to put a spotlight on the economic consequences of climate change, particularly as relates to developing countries who are the least contributors to climate change,” Ken Ofori-Atta noted.

    “Climate change has wiped out a fifth of the wealth of climate-vulnerable countries over the last two decades – meaning that vulnerable countries have lost approximately US$525 billion because of anthropogenic global warming,” he added.

    Ghana’s Finance Minister, however, described the losses as horrific effects on lives and livelihoods and called for economic cooperation through climate prosperity plans for climate-vulnerable countries.

    Touching further on this plan, he suggested that it must facilitate the flow of climate financing into “our economies with a focus on building climate resilience in our economies, expanding on our adaptive capacity as we increase our mitigation efforts and increasing investments in disaster risk reduction and insurance.”

    The 108th meeting of Ministers and Governors of the Group of 24 was held on the theme: ‘Securing a Sustained Post-Pandemic Recovery.’

    Meanwhile, Ken Ofori-Atta along with government officials met with the Director for the Africa Department of the IMF, Abebe Aemro Selassie, to advance negotiations with the Fund for economic support porgramme aimed at addressing Ghana’s macroeconomic and structural challenges.

    The second round of formal negotiations will however continue after the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings, between the Government of Ghana team, led by Minister for Finance and the IMF team, led by the IMF Mission Chief, Stéphane Roudet.

    The negotiations will focus on the implementation of policies that create conditions for a stable macroeconomic environment, sustainable growth and debt sustainability.

  • Jacob Rees-Mogg says he has ‘confidence’ in Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey but disputes pension funds ‘at risk’

    Jacob Rees-Mogg has declared his confidence in the governor of the Bank of England, but disputed that pension funds are at “systemic” risk.

    Speaking to Sky News, the business secretary said “of course” he has confidence in Andrew Bailey, describing him as “respected”.

    He questioned, however, whether there was a “systemic problem” with pensions after the Bank of England expanded its market intervention to help pension funds for the second time in two days on Tuesday by buying up index-linked gilts.

    The Bank had warned of a “material risk to UK financial stability” with “fire sales” of assets if did not act.

    The business secretary said that on the whole, pension funds “aren’t at risk”, but added: “Some pension funds have taken some high risk investments.”

    He told Sky News that the “rightly independent” Bank of England intervened to protect these “risky investments.”

    Yesterday, the Bank confirmed that its emergency support operation to protect pension funds would end this week.

    Mr Rees-Mogg repeatedly refused to be drawn on whether the Bank was right to signal an end to its market intervention.

    “I’m not going to criticise the Bank of England or the governor. It is not for me to speculate on what the Bank of England is doing,” he said.

    The business secretary also insisted to Kay Burley that parts of the economy were in a “good state” as he admitted that after the economic turmoil of recent weeks his own mortgage payments have gone up.

    “Mortgage rates have gone up for everyone who has a mortgage, and I have a mortgage,” he said.

    “Any floating rate mortgages have gone up.”

    Prior to his interview, new Office for National Statistics figures revealed that Britain’s economy fell by 0.3% between July and August, down from downwardly revised growth of 0.1% the previous month.

    But Mr Rees-Mogg urged caution in interpreting them.

    “The previous quarters figure showed a contraction, was then revised to show economic growth. So, be very careful about how you interpret figures immediately after they’re released,” he told Sky News.

    “It’s a small amount of a very large economy, but these figures are notorious for being revised afterwards.”

    The business secretary also refused to indicate his own view on whether benefits should rise in line with inflation amid an internal Conservative Party row over the issue.

    “We haven’t yet had the inflation figure on which benefits will be set. So, that is something that will be decided once the figure is available,” he said.

    “Most predictions, most economic forecasts, turn out to be inaccurate rather than spot on. So, one has got to be careful about forecasts.”

    Mr Rees-Mogg continued: “There is a process for making this decision. This decision will be made once the figures come out.

    “The statutory instrument has to be laid in November to put through the increase. That will be done in the normal way. This is completely routine governmental decision-making.”

    In the commons on Tuesday former cabinet minister Julian Smith warned Mr Kwarteng that the government must not balance tax cuts “on the back of the poorest people in our country”.

    The government has already been forced to abandon plans to scrap the top 45p rate of tax in the face of a threatened revolt.

    Prime Minister Liz Truss will face MPs in the commons on Wednesday for the first time since Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s £43 billion tax-cutting mini-budget caused economic turmoil.

    On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Mr Kwarteng’s package of unfunded tax cuts was making it harder for the Bank to get soaring inflation rates under control.

    While the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned the chancellor he will have to find £60 billion in public spending cuts if he persists with his tax plans.

    Source: SkyNews

  • FDA warns public against two brands of contaminated sausage

    The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) is cautioning the public against the consumption of two contaminated sausage brands on the market.

    The Authority said the brands  – AIA Wudy and Pavo brands under the Agricola Tre Vali sausage products have been recalled by Italian authorities.

    In a statement issued by the FDA, it noted that the sausages contain listeria bacteria.

    The statement further directed persons in possession of any of the brands to return them to any FDA office.

    “The attention of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has been drawn to the recall of Agricola Tre Vali sausage products, namely, AIA Wudy and Pavo brands, by the Italian authorities due to the presence of Listeria bacteria in these sausages made from poultry meat.”

    Considering the recall activities ongoing in Europe and other countries, the FDA has also conducted a market surveillance activity and Pavo Frankfurt sausages with expiry dates of November 2022 were found in Ho in the Volta Region.

    The products have since been detained for safe disposal.

    “So far, no AIA Wudy sausages have been found on our market. The FDA directs that anyone in possession of the above-mentioned products should immediately take them to either our Head Office or Regional Offices across the country.”

    “The FDA wishes to assure the public that its surveillance teams continue to monitor the markets for any of the above-mentioned products”, the statement further added.

    Source: Citinews

  • Freddie Blay’s acceptance to defend Aisha Huang’s accomplices indicates lack of principles – Security Analyst

    A Security Analyst has criticised the former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay for agreeing to represent four of Aisha Huang’s accomplices.

    The four accomplices; Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng together with the ‘galamsey’ queen, Aisha Huang are being held by the state for their involvement in illegal mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey’ in the country.

    Speaking in an interview on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Tuesday, Mr. Adib Sani stated that Mr. Blay’s acceptance to defend the accomplices is only “indicative of his lack of principles.”

    His assertion is in connection with an announcement that former NPP National Chairman, Freddie Blay, will be representing four accomplices of ‘galamsey’ queen Aisha Huang.

    Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, announced in court on Tuesday that she was holding brief for Freddy Blay in the case of the four accomplices of Aisha Huang.

    Mr. Adib Sani said although, Mr. Blay is not doing anything wrong legally, he believes it is a wrong move strategically.

    According to him, the offer should have been turned down by the lawyer in as much as “man must feed.”

    “As a businessman, there are sometimes some jobs that will come, even though you are looking for the money, as a matter of principle, you turn it down considering the controversial nature of the issue, the attention it has garnered locally and internationally, the pain it has caused Ghanaians, particularly those in the mining communities,” he insisted.

    Mr. Sani noted that this development may add to the public’s perception that there are powerful forces in the country behind ‘galamsey.’

    Meanwhile, Aisha Huang herself is being represented by NPP stalwart, Nkrabea Effah Dartey.


    Source: Myjoyonline

  • Pound suffers as Bank of England governor rules out extension to bond-buying aid for pension funds

    The Bank of England’s governor has ruled out extending its bond-buying support for pension funds beyond Friday’s deadline, prompting a dramatic fall in the value of the pound.

    Andrew Bailey told an event in Washington that funds had “three days left… to get this done” after a series of interventions to support the “dysfunctional” market in the wake of the wider meltdown over the government’s mini-budget.

    The latest action, on Tuesday, saw the Bank snap up index-linked gilts, government bonds with interest payments in line with inflation.

    They are heavily used by pension funds.

    The Bank had already been buying up long-dated gilts – a type of government bond that make up a large proportion of pension pots – to steady market jitters.

    They saw yields – the rate demanded to hold government debt – shoot up as pension schemes tried to raise hundreds of billions through firesales of government and corporate bonds to meet cash calls – the latest coming from providers of so-called liability-driven investment strategies.

    They are demanding funds put up more money to support new and older hedging positions.

    Mr Bailey told an event organised by the Institute of International Finance that the intervention must be temporary.

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    Are we set for another era of austerity?

    “We have announced that we will be out by the end of this week. We think the rebalancing must be done.

    “And my message to the funds involved and all the firms involved managing those funds: You’ve got three days left now. You’ve got to get this done.”

    Industry body the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association had earlier urged the Bank to extend the bond-buying programme until 31 October – the new date for the publication of the government’s debt plan – at least.

    Mr Bailey’s clear stance on the issue saw the pound, which had been trading higher on the day versus the dollar earlier, sink by more than one and a half cents to below $1.10.

    What on earth is happening in UK markets?

    This is starting to look a little… unnerving.

    The government bond market is – in the UK and elsewhere – best thought of as the bedrock of the financial system.

    The government borrows lots of money each year at very long durations and these bonds are bought by all sorts of investors to secure a low but (usually) reliable income over a long period of time.

    Compared to other sorts of assets – such as the shares issued by companies or for that matter cryptocurrencies – government bonds are boring. Or at least, they’re supposed to be boring.

    They don’t move all that much each day and the yield they offer – the interest rate implied by their prices – is typically much lower than most other asset classes.

    But recently the UK bond market (we call them gilts as a matter of tradition, short for gilt-edged securities, because in their earliest embodiment they were pieces of paper with golden edges) has been anything but boring.

    On Monday the Bank announced a potential doubling of the amount it was willing to spend every day on long-dated gilts.

    Gilt yields, the interest rate payable on government bonds, rose on Monday, near the 5% highs of 27 September, the day before the Bank made its first intervention.

    They fell when news of the latest operation was announced but long-dated yields later rose higher again.

    That took place when the Bank revealed it had bought £1.947bn of index-linked bonds on Tuesday, adding that it had rejected £466.9m of offers to sell to the central bank.

    It also bought up £1.363bn in long-dated bonds – also well below the £5bn possible.

    The yield on 30-year bonds rose back to 4.8% for a short time, having been down at 4.4% around lunchtime.

    The benchmark 10-year yield remained around the 4.4% level.

    “Things seemed calmer again today,” Mr Bailey told the event.

    “We will see,” he added.

    The Bank announced on 28 September a temporary and emergency buying programme of long-dated gilts that are to be repaid in 20 to 30 years time, in the wake of chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget announcement.

    Bond buying period due to end on Friday

    Market turmoil that stemmed from the mini-budget led to the unprecedented intervention from the regulator to prevent part of the pension market collapsing as the cost of interest on gilts surged.

    Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said of the scheme’s expansion before Mr Bailey’s remarks: “The Bank of England hopes to avoid a crisis in the market by being a willing buyer of bonds from pension funds who are under pressure.

    “These pension funds will welcome today’s move, but whether the broader market shares the same enthusiasm remains to be seen.

    “The key sticking point is that the support measures are only scheduled to last until Friday.

    “Will that be long enough, or will the Bank of England extend the support scheme? Extending it could go one of two ways – the market either applauds the move and breathes a sigh of relief or it gets even more worried, thinking that the extra time suggests the crisis is more severe than originally thought.”

    Source: SkyNews.com

  • Black Sherif describes his music style

    Black Sherif has described his music style in an interview he granted to Kumasi-based YFM’s Ebenezer Donkoh, alias NYDJ.

    Since his introduction to the mainstream music scene, a section of the public has been wondering what genre of music Black Sherif does.

    When NYDJ engaged the artiste nicknamed Blacko on the subject, he reflected and first argued: “Our generation doesn’t really care about genres like that.”

    To the 20-year-old rapper, the music simply “has to make sense.”

    “But I, Sherif, myself,” he touched his chest with both hands to emphasise before revealing: “My bedrock is Highlife.”

    “So every beat I hear, I try to be my Highlife self, and tap into my childhood reggae [and make the music],” the EMPIRE signee elaborated on his creative process.

    “[I] simply [seek to] make sense on the beat,” the ‘Kwaku the Traveller’ hitmaker added.

    “With what influenced me, my sound and everything, it was real sounds, conscious things,” he explained his artistic posture and recalled some of his earliest memories of music as a child.

    “My mom is a big fan of Highlife, and when I saw my dad for the first time, the first thing he put me on was reggae,” Blacko revealed and further said: “I’ve been singing reggae tunes from like 9 years old.”

    “9 years old in Class 4, I was singing ‘Jah shall clean out the bad weeds’,” Black Sherif sang Don Carlos’ 1982 classic ‘Harvest Time’ a cappella and noted “That song has been my favourite” since time immemorial “and I still sing [it] every morning.”

    According to the sensational singer-songwriter who has amassed fans, local and international, in record time, his childhood memories of music are what he relies on to create.

    He added he does music to fend for himself, his family and friends.

    “I tap into that place in myself because I feel like everything I saw, or every sound or imagination I had about sound when I was a kid is still in me, so I just need to tap that real, raw source and add my message, my life, my perspectives about things and put it on my art, give it outside, make it mean something to people, feed myself, my family, my mandem and we all,” Blacko chuckled.

    “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 also noted during the interview.

    In a recent interview on Accra 100.5 FM, the Hiplife pioneer Reggie Rockstone put forth that Sherif has “in fact started a new sound” and advised that he names it.

    “When you finally do it [name your music style], give the evidence so 30 years later, after your hard work, no one will come and claim you are not the originator. Have you heard?” the Hiplife legend added with concern.

    On Thursday, October 6, 2022, Black Sherif released his debut 14-track album called ‘The Villain I Never Was’.

    On Monday, October 10, 2022, he was made the ‘Youth Chief’ in Tamale, Northern Region, Ghana, by the Chiefs and people of the Tamale traditional area.

     

  • What the judge said while refusing Aisha Huang and four others bail

    Aisha Huang, the galamsey kingpin, 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.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • Nana B ‘attacks’ GRA over tax collection approach in Ashanti region

    Henry Nana Boakye, National Organiser of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), has chastised the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for stationing its officers at shops, restaurants, and other businesses to record sales of products for tax purposes.

    Nana B as he is known popularly is of the view that the strategy would have been justified only if it was targeted at businesses that ample evidence shows have been evading or under-declaring their taxes.

    In a statement issued via his social media handle, he said, “widespread approach of stationing revenue officers at businesses is counterproductive, oppressive, repressive, and suppressive.”

    “We are not in normal times – businesses and individuals are bearing the brunt of the twin global crisis and their concomitant economic agony – and the least expected from GRA is to police traders whom no tax evasion findings have been made against.”

    “In this day of technology, GRA should adopt welcoming and pleasant ways of revenue collection strategy that engenders revenue assurance. This strategy is weak and lame since Revenue Officers stationed at these shops and businesses can be compromised to aid owners to evade or under-declare their taxes. GRA should rather strive to reduce human contact in revenue collection and employ technological solutions to take taxes from businesses,” Nana B added.

    In his view, the Public Relations unit of GRA must do better by way of educating the public on the importance of paying taxes.

    “Paying taxes is not a pleasant thing and for that matter, a responsive PR approach must be adopted to educate the tax-paying population about their programmes and activities.”

    Background

    The GRA from Saturday 1st October 2022 started using a certified invoicing system for the administration of Value Added Tax (VAT) in Ghana.

    This forms part of efforts to increase tax compliance and generate more revenue for the state.

    A Certified Invoicing System is an electronic invoicing system (E-VAT) certified by the Commissioner-General per the VAT Act 870 as amended.

    Speaking at a briefing ceremony before the exercise, Kwesi Eghan, Deputy Commissioner, Operations-DTRD, said the malls are part of some 50 selected tax-paying companies that are supposed to be enrolled on the system.

    He said, so far, about 25 of these companies are complying but the rest are yet to register onto the system.

    The deadline for registration is dependent on the phased implementation which started on 1st October 2022.

    He said all newly-registered taxpayers will henceforth be on-boarded to the E-VAT System.

    The exercise will be done in a phased process that covers 600 large taxpayers in the first phase.

    The 600 firms being targeted under the phase include listed companies, and they altogether generate more than 90 percent of VAT revenue and 80 percent of domestic revenue.

    The e-invoicing exercise is expected to cover medium-sized taxpayers by 2023 before being extended to all businesses in 2024.

    Unlike the manual system, the e-invoicing system allows the GRA to monitor live transactions in companies where it has been deployed; thereby making it impossible for taxpayers to either under-invoice or dodge the payment of VAT.

    GRA estimates show that the country’s VAT contributions to tax revenue could be increased significantly from the current 17 percent if the various cases of abuse that the manual invoicing system is prone to are decisively dealt with.

    “We want to improve compliance. We are more interested in collaboration than chaining businesses to pay their taxes. But we have no option at this moment than to move swiftly to ensure the right thing is done,” he said.

     

     

  • If You Know What I Know, You Won’t Be Surprised That Freddie Blay Is The Lawyer For Aisha Haung

    The MP for North Tongu Constituency Honaroble Samuel Okudzeto has added his voice to Freddie Blay representing Aisha Huang in her galamsey activities against the state.

    In a post shared on his official Facebook page on Wednesday, 12th October 2022, he wrote;

    “Those who know what I know won’t be the least surprised that former NPP National Chairman, Mr. Freddie Blay is the new lawyer for Aisha Huang’s accomplices.

    After her first arrest, Aisha Huang’s earlier lawyers of choice were Mr. Bernard Owiredu Donkor and Mr. Ellis Owusu-Fordwouh.”

    According to Okudzeto, Messrs Donkor and Owusu-Fordwouh appeared for Aisha Huang and her other four accused Chinese nationals on numerous occasions at Criminal High Court 4 from July 21, 2017, before His Lordship Justice Charles Edward Ekow Baiden until that knavish January 2018 Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel Accra meeting where the powers that be strangely issued strict instructions about their preferred lawyer for Aisha Huang. They mentioned Nkrabeah Effah Darteh as the lawyer government was more comfortable with.

    That is how Aisha Huang dropped her earlier lawyers and accepted Effah Darteh. (I shall reserve for another day further details of what fully transpired at that unethical and diabolical meeting which was convened and chaired by a prominent Deputy Minister).

     

    Soon after the devious Mövenpick meeting, Nkrabeah Effah Darteh, who was described as government’s preferred lawyer, took over the case and actively appeared in court on multiple occasions defending Aisha Huang and her accomplices on 26th February, 2018; 14th March, 2018; 22nd March, 2018; 23rd March, 2018; 5th July, 2018; 11th July, 2018; 13th July, 2018 and 1st November, 2018.

    Nkrabeah Effah Darteh was also present in court on December 19, 2018 when the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government filed its infamous and treacherous nolle prosequi making Aisha Huang and her collaborators free as they were discharged immediately.

    Okudzeto added that this government must really have such a special interest in the Aisha Huang affair that it always schemes under bizarre, nefarious, unpatriotic and destructive circumstances to ensure that only a certain calibre of “trusted” and “preferred” lawyers associate closely with the Aisha Huang case.

    “Instructively, it is clear to me government is more concerned about managing sensitive information and containing the spread of dangerous secrets about the Aisha Huang debacle even more than the damage negative public perception about an immediate past NPP Chairman defending Aisha Huang’s accomplices can do to its already sordid image.” He added.

    The trickery, political chicanery and galamsey shenanigans will be exposed and totally defeated soon — real Judgment Day is coming.

    Source: Opera News

  • IMF talks: Ofori-Atta will steer Ghana out of crisis – Akufo-Addo’s lawyer

    Kow Essuman, lawyer for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed belief in the ability of Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to steer Ghana out of the current economic downturn.

    Essuman’s belief is anchored in the fact that the Minister has steered Ghana out of a crisis and that “he will do it again.”

    “I am confident that Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, will get a good deal for Ghana and steer us out of these times very soon. He has done it before, and he will do it again,” tweeted on October 11, 2022.

    His views accompanied a GhanaWeb curated publication from the Business and Financial Times portal, in which Ofori-Atta expressed satisfaction with progress made so far with regards to negotiation with the International Monetary Fund for an economic programme.

    “This has been a very productive mission and I thank the IMF Team and all stakeholders for their commitment over what has been a marathon fortnight. The Government of Ghana is deeply encouraged by the progress made so far,” he said.

    “We look forward to continuing our engagement and remain committed to working tirelessly to create a stable and resilient macroeconomic environment, ensure debt sustainability, and maintain social cohesion.

    “Ghana is at a pivotal moment in her history and we are grateful for the IMF’s support, and indeed the support of all Ghanaians, as we work together to bolster Ghana’s build back effort,” he is quoted to have said.

    His views come after the IMF mission team led by Stéphane Roudet completed its work in assessing the state of the Ghanaian economy.

     

  • Nurse calls for support for mental health care

    Mr Yussif Mustapha, a mental health nurse at the Westside Mental Health Center, in Takoradi, has said inadequate financing for mental health continued to be the biggest limitation, negatively impacting efforts to expand Africa’s mental health workforce.

    He said the sector was formerly funded by the Government, but for some years now there has been inadequate support with just a few medications signed on to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

    Mr Mustapha in a media engagement in Takoradi indicated that persons with mental health conditions in Ghana have been going through many challenges in addition to their mental ill-health.

    He, in that regard, called on the public and benevolent agencies to support the sector to help cater for people with mental disorders.

    Mr Mustapha indicated that mental health issues could affect anyone at any time and urged the public to make positive changes by connecting with other people, being physically active, practising mindfulness, learning a new skill, and giving to others.

    He mentioned that October 10 was observed annually as World Mental Health awareness creation day, which sought to bring attention to mental health issues and how they affected people.

    The theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day celebration, “Mental Health in an Unequal World” was geared towards making mental health and well-being a global priority.

    He urged the public to focus on and prioritize their mental health needs.

    “The public must take at least an hour out to reflect on their lives to make the necessary amends so as to prevent mental breakdown,” Mr Mustapha said.

    He added: This is not just for those already affected, prevention is just as important as a cure. As we return to a fast-paced life, taking a moment to pause and reflect on ourselves is rarely at the top of our to-do list.”

    Source:GNA

  • PANAFEST 2023 launched

    The 2023 edition of the Pan African Historical Theater Festival (PANAFEST)/Emancipation Day has been launched in Accra with a renewed commitment to reclaim the African family, while confronting the challenges of the past to make way for transformational opportunities.

    The day slated for July 19 – August 1, 2023 would be on the theme; “Re-Claiming the African Family: Confronting the Past to face the Challenges of the 21st century.”

    It is celebrated annually to mark the abolition of slavery in the British Colonies in 1862 and its annual observance introduced in Ghana in 1992.

    Speaking at the launch on Friday, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, in a speech read on his behalf, said PANAFEST which was conceived and developed in Ghana was the longest consistently celebrated Pan African Festival in the world.

    He said it had been in existence since 1992 and its forte was to use the powerful medium of the arts and intellectual interaction to speak the unspeakable, raise awareness, build bridges and generate healing.

    “PANAFEST originated as a state-led festival in 1992 and has become a powerful Ghanaian initiative of which our nation can be justifiably proud,” he added.

    DrAwal expressed the ministry’s commitment to continue to collaborate with the Foundation and other actors involved in the initiative.

    “Additionally, I expect that building up participation by different communities and that of Ghanaian creative and by the Ghanaian public in general will be take up seriously. I also expect that participants will be able to have the experience of both those iconic features as well as additional innovations to keep them coming back to the festival and to Ghana,” he said.

    The Chairperson of PANAFEST Foundation, Professor Esi Sutherland-Addy, said PANAFEST 2023 rode on the many insights gained from 2021, however, over the last two years, a number of important trends appeared to mark the existence of African people across the world.

    She stated that the challenges of the 21st century must be confronted to make way for transformational opportunities, adding “And so we must as the world be buffeted by tornadoes of change should we sit like victims or are we going to carve out our place.”

    Prof Sutherland-Addy called on the African family to take its fate into its own hands and point out the challenges to re-unite and illuminate new paths towards transformational unity.

    The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), MrAkwasiAgyeman, said the 2023 edition of the PANAFEST would be exciting and different from the previous ones which would showed hope and unity among the African descent.

    He promised his outfit’s commitment to keep the relationship between the global African family and Ghana’s role as the beacon of Pan-Africanism.

    The event would be marked by wreath laying, Return Journey, Traditional Akwaaba ceremonies, grand durbar with chiefs and queen mothers, Bazaar/Expo, colloquium, reverential night/emancipation vigil, exhibitions, performances, tours to significant sites, among others, and would be finally climaxed at AssinManso in the Central Region.

    Source:ghanaiantimes.com

  • 1,476 TVET teachers graduate

    A total of 1,476 teachers trained with the relevance competence for technical and vocational education training, have graduated from the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED).

    The beneficiaries were selected from wide range of relevant Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions all over the country.

    Additionally, 500 master crafts persons were trained to be workplace facilitators and supervisors and 400 Competence-Based Training (CBT) facilitators and assessors and internal verifiers from technical institutions and technical universities.

    Dubbed a “special congregation,” the ceremony was made possible because of a €109,000.00 grant from the government of Germany that was advanced to the University for the training and related activities.

    In an address, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof Frederick Kwaku Sarfo, could not hide his appreciation for the German government and other partners for the support to help build Ghana to reduce unemployment.

    The Vice Chancellor was of the view that “if all of us will maximise the competences and expertise from these pieces of training…we shall be making a significant impact on Ghana’s socio-economic situation.”

    He, therefore, encouraged the graduands to be determined to contribute their quota to the gamut of efforts that the government and various institutions and partners like German Development Organisation (GIZ) “are making towards TVET transformational agenda.”

    The Vice Chancellor told them that they had the onerous responsibility to ensure learners put in their care were trained in TVET for the world of work.

    Prof Sarfo was happy that the government had prioritised the TVET sector since 2017 to make it more attractive for Ghanaians as part of job creation and economic development efforts.

    The government, he said had roped in technical and vocational education into free Senior high school programme and had reached significant advancement toward achieving a five-year strategic plan for TVET in the country.

    Chairman of the governing council of the University, Paul Kwasi Agyemang, noted that TVET and entrepreneurship were some avenues holding much promise in the country.

    He, therefore, commended the government for sincere effort to strengthen the TVET sector of the country.

    The University, he said would not relent in its mandate to train and provide teachers with relevant competence for teaching in technical and vocational education and training institutions.

    According to the Chairman, the University would continue to provide higher education in technical, vocational and entrepreneurial training to develop skilled manpower for job creation and economic development for the betterment of the country.

    Source:ghanaiantimes.com

  • UEW female students, residents undergo breast cancer screening

    Dozens of female students and residents in and around the immediate environs of University of Education Winneba (UEW) on Thursday got screened for breast cancer as part of the launch of the “Pinktober” month.

    Pinktober month is a social campaign platform launched by the Department of Strategic Communication, School of Communication and Media Studies of the UEW as part of activities to mark this year’s breast cancer awareness month celebration.

    The month of October has been set aside to draw attention to the effects of breast cancer globally and to localise it, the department had instituted the “Pinktober” month as a social campaign platform to help draw attention to the disease in the country.

    This year’s campaign is on the theme: “Together we can” and organised in collaboration with the Trust Hospital, Accra.

    It offered the platform for awareness creation on the effects of breast cancer, educate students on the symptoms, risk factors and treatments available for it.

    Launching the event, the Head of Department, Strategic Communication, Dr Mavis Amo-Mensah said the fight against breast cancer required a concerted effort which would require the contribution of all stakeholders.

    She noted the theme for this year’s celebration “Together we can” was not only apt but timely since the issue of breast cancer required the inputs of all.

    Dr Amo-Mensah said Pinktober month was a platform instituted by the Strategic Communication Department of the School of Communication and Media Studies to draw attention to effects of breast cancer among students and residents of Winneba and the country as a whole.

    “We as communication department believe that together we can help kickout breast cancer and Pinktober is a campaign platform that will be dedicated creating awareness and educating people about the risks and effects of breast cancer,” she said.

    On her part, the lead Medical Officer from the Trust Hospital, Ms Louisa Odei urged women to makeself-examination of the breast a regular feature since it helps early detection of the disease.

    She noted that constant examination of the breast was one of the surest ways of dealing with breast cancer effectively.

    Ms Odei explained that through regular examination of the breast, one was able to detect any anomaly for quick medical intervention.

    “Once breast cancer is detected at the early stages, it can be dealt with and dealt with effectively. It is important that we take self-screening of our breast seriously since that was the means by which we can detect any form of abnormality and also seek quick medical care,” she emphasised.

    She also took participants through the risk factors and predisposed conditions that could lead to breast cancer and urged women especially to desist from unhealthy practices.

    Source:ghanaiantimes.com

  • Akwasi Fanti residents undergo health screening

    The Chrematin Agro Company Limited, a private agro-processor and exporter over the weekend held a free health screening exercise for Akwasi Fanti residents in the Afram Plains South district of the Eastern Region.

    The exercise, undertaken in collaboration with the Holy Spirit Polyclinic, formed part of the corporate social responsibility of the company.

    More than a hundred persons were screened for ailments including Hepatitis ‘B’ malaria, typhoid fever and had their full blood count and blood sugar levels also checked.

    A Physician Assistant, Dr Abdulai Ali, who led the team of health care givers of the Holy Spirit polyclinic to screen the beneficiaries said persons who tested positive for malaria or any of the medical conditions checked were given medications whiles those whose conditions were severe, referred to the health facility for further investigations to be conducted.

    He stated that it was very necessary for the public to be health conscious by adopting healthy lifestyles and going for medical check-up at least once every six months.

    Some chronic medical conditions, he said did not present any symptoms at the early stages, adding that this was why routine medical check examination was very important “because in many cases patients only visit the hospital when their conditions have deteriorated making treatment difficult or impossible.”

    Dr Ali expressed gratitude to Chrematin Agro for the gesture and called on other capable organisations to emulate the act.

    A representative of Chrematin Agro, Mr Emmanuel Yeboah on his part said his outfit embarked on the exercise in efforts to give back to the community.

    He mentioned that many people resort to unapproved methods of treating ailments due to financial constraints therefore coming out occasionally to help the needy was something the company found necessary.

    “We cannot operate here and overlook the needs of the people so this is one of the reasons why we are providing the free health screening for them today. It will not be the last kind gesture from Chrematin Agro because we will keep ensuring we add value to the lives of all the needy people we can afford to help,” he added.

    According to Mr Yeboah, plans were far advanced for the construction of a health centre and classroom blocks within the area, to support the educational and health needs of the people.

    Currently, he revealed that Chrematin Agro had employed more than 200 workers to man the company’s farms, saying the development had contributed significantly to a reduction in the rate of unemployment among the youth in the Afram plains.

    Source:ghanaiantimes.com

  • Tarkwa-Nsuaem MP inspects roads

    Member of Parliament for Tarkwa-Nsuaem, Mr George Mireku Duker, on Friday inspected the 67km AgonaNkwanta- Tarkwa road project being executed by M/S Rango-Gabriel Cuoto Consortium.

    The visit to the Wassa Simpa Camp site and inspection of work on the Wassa Agona and Effunta sections, was to afford Mr Duker, a Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, the opportunity to assess progress of the project and also, together with Parliament and the ministry, address some teething challenges.

    The project would link Tarkwa one of Ghana’s major economic hub to the port city of Takoradi and the national route, N1, which connects Ghana to Cote d’Ivoire.

    It would also connect the mineral and agriculture rich lands in Western, Ashanti, Western North and Central regions, becoming the efficient route to haul gold, manganese, cocoa, bauxite and timber to Takoradi.

    The resident engineer, Mr Eben Gyampo, reported that after the sod-cutting on September 2021, the design phase took engineers a while before they got approval in July, this year, for work to begin.

    So far, he said, the contractor had done about two-and-half-months of work on drainage works at Nsuaem, Wassa Simpa, Wassa Agona and Effuanta, at Tarkwa.

    Earthworks, Mr Gyampo mentioned, was also on-going from the Apemanim end towards Tarkwa and at WassaAgona.

    “Major activities carried out include drainage of about 2km and for completion, we have done about 18 per cent. The 95 million Euros project funded by Deutche Bank AG Frankfurt Germany isto be completed in 36 months(31st August, 2024) and we have done two months, and so, we have less than two years to complete the job.” he explained.

    The resident engineer added that the camp site at WassaSimpa would produce concrete for drains and the asphalt for the entire project.

    Mr Duker said, he lobbied on the floor of Parliament for the Tarkwaroad project to be approved and executed, stressing that government was eager to see the success of the project.

    Commending the Gabriel Cuoto and team, he believed that works including excavations and clearing which was gathering momentum, showed the project would be speeded-up and completed on time to ease the burden of the communities along the stretch.

    Mr Duker admitted that difficulties such as proximity to gravel supplies and the crash programme at Appiatse, had affected progress, but assured that all stakeholders would help address the gaps for successful completion of the Agona-Tarkwa road project.

    He recalled experienced during President Kufuor’ tenure, when earlier attempts to get the Tarkwa road reconstructed suffered major setbacks and the road began deteriorating because the base materials were not certified.

    This, time, Mr Duker observed that Ghana Highway Authority had done due diligence on the quality for the road to last longer.

    He was happy that contractors agreed to also start from the Tarkwa and Effuanta and WassaAgona ends to reduce the pressure on the government and also the worries of the communities.

    Source:ghanaiantimes

     

  • Bad roads at Afram plains affect healthcare, farming

    Deplorable roads in some parts of Afram Plains in the Eastern Region is affecting healthcare delivery and farming activities in the area.

    The Holy Spirit Polyclinic which is the main health facility in the Afram Plains South District that serves more than 3,000 people cannot be reached by patients most of whom are pregnant women.

    Farmers said the poor roads made it difficult for them to visit the health facility when the need arose, especially when they were referred from CHPS compounds to the Holy Spirit Polyclinic, and were required to get a vehicle to convey them.

    The situation, they said also made it difficult for them to sell their farm produce as many drivers refused to ply the roads due to its terrible condition.

    They are, therefore, calling on authorities to fix the roads as a matter of urgency, to protect lives and their farming activities which served as the only means of livelihood for many within the Afram Plains enclave.

    One management member of the Holy Spirit Polyclinic, Sister Margaret Nyame, told the Ghanaian Times that the situation had even prevented many pregnant women from continuing with the required antenatal appointments.

    While some of them skipped appointments, others, she said completely stopped visiting the health facility with the excuse of difficulty in getting vehicles to bring them to the facility.

    She said others also complained that travelling on the bad roads for antenatal care made them very uncomfortable.

    Ms Nyame added her voice to calls for a swift intervention to address the situation which she described as “very serious.”

    “Vehicles get stuck on the road often so many drivers refuse to drive to this place making movement from far and closer areas to our facility for healthcare extremely difficult for some people,” she added.

    With regard to how the bad roads was affecting farming activities in the area, a resident of Akwasi Fanti, Victoria Gbowinor,  stated that she and her husband owned a yam farm, but most of their produce were going bad because people stopped coming to the area in search of food commodities due to the bad roads.

    She said her husband had to sell the remaining tubers of yams, which were more than 200, at cheaper prices to avoid further loss.

    “Apart from we going in search for customers to buy our foodstuffs, there are many people who come here to buy and not all of them prefer using the pantoon boat. Many pass through Juaso and Agogo to this area but now the bad roads are scaring them away and it is affecting our livelihood, we need help,” she lamented.

    A resident of Donkorkrom, also in the Kwahu Afram Plains North District, Florence Ansah also complained of low patronage of farm produce in the area, adding that fixing the bad road would bring back their customers.

    Assembly member for the Akwasi Fanti electoral area, Mr Bukari Maasu, said the bad roads had negatively affected the people, adding that the situation got worst any time it rained.

    Source:ghanaiantimes.com

  • Lizzo seemingly addresses Kanye West remarks at Toronto Show: ‘Can I stay here?’

    Lizzo appears to have responded, albeit without naming names, to recent comments made about her by the artist formerly known as Kanye West.

    At a recent show in Toronto, as spotted by TMZ and others over the weekend, Lizzo asked the crowd for help securing her dual citizenship while noting that “everybody in America” has her name in their mouth.

    “I feel like everybody in America got my motherfuckin’ name in they motherfuckin’ mouth for no motherfuckin’ reason,” Lizzo told fans at the show. “I’m minding my fat, Black, beautiful business. Can I stay here? Who can I marry for that dual citizenship?”

    As previously reported, Ye—during a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, a Fox News talking head who’s been roundly criticized as a nationalist—mentioned Lizzo.

    “When Lizzo loses 10 pounds and announces it, the bots—that’s a term for people, like, it’s like telemarketer callers on Instagram—they attack her for losing weight,” Ye said. “Because the media wants to put out a perception that being overweight is the new goal when it’s actually unhealthy. … It’s actually clinically unhealthy and for people to promote that, it’s demonic.”

    On Monday, Ye—who last week featured a “white lives matter” design in the YZY SZN 9 presentation and made public comments criticized as antisemitic—released a 30-minute short to YouTube titled Last Week.

    In it, Ye previews what sounds like a new track, as well as excerpts some seemingly still-in-progress (and previously released as Stem Player exclusives) Donda 2 songs. In the previously unheard track, which is previewed starting around the 3:33 mark in the video above, Ye mentions a number of fellow artists including Drake, Lil Baby, Future, and more:

    “You a fake bitch
    You don’t really love Ye
    Go listen to Drake, bitch
    You don’t have no idea what it take, bitch
    Go listen to Lil Baby
    Go listen to Future, bitch
    Too past you don’t think about your future, bitch”

    Viewers are also given a look at a fabrics-focused meeting about a potential hoodies material being made in Los Angeles, which then spurs a discussion on elastics. Later, Ye is seen listening to a presentation about Alegría food systems.

    A certain-to-receive-attention moment from the mini-doc revolves around what appears to be a meeting between Ye and Adidas execs. A rep is heard speaking on Ye’s behalf, arguing that his issues with the company are equitable with the “children of his mind” being kidnapped and utilized for “Yeezy-inspired derivatives.” During the meeting, Ye is seen playing a clip from a porn video and seemingly remarking how one exec’s voice sounds like an actor featured in the adult film production.

    Deeper into the video, Ye is heard telling an undisclosed party “it’s time for me to shut the fuck up” while reflecting on possible strategy.

    “I know this might sound like the wildest thing to you but I’m literally in a place where I believe that my product and relevancy and all these things can work without me having to be the center of the news,” Ye said at one point in the short.

    Last Week was shared to Ye’s YouTube late Monday into early Sunday and opens with a previously reported Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga visual inspired by Yakuza and Grand Theft Auto. See the full video, which also includes an appearance by Kim Kardashian, below.

    In recent days, both Instagram and Twitter took action in response to content Ye shared that was called out as antisemitic. While Instagram moved to restrict Ye’s account, Twitter removed a tweet for violating its site rules.

    As for the inclusion of Adidas-related footage in the new short, it wasn’t immediately clear whether said footage was captured before or after word that the company was placing its Yeezy partnership under review.

    Source: Complex.com

  • ‘The situation is becoming very bad; pay us our money’ – Contractors to gov’t

    The Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry (GhCCI) says the government’s failure to pay arrears owed its members, is having a toll on their operations.

    The chamber says the long-lasting delay in payment to local contractors is crippling the industry and leading to job losses.

    This follows several calls by contractors in the infrastructural industry sector on government to pay what is due them after executing jobs they were contracted for.

    Speaking to Citi News, Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, Cherry Emmanuel, appealed to government to pay them.

    “The situation is becoming very bad. Because of government’s inability to pay, the debt portfolio of our industry keeps increasing on a daily basis and at the same time, making the contractors, consultants and suppliers poorer. Our contractors are losing their value, pride and integrity.”

    Contractors had in the past complained that their businesses were grinding to a halt due to the government’s indebtedness to them

    As of 2020, the Chamber said government owed contractors about $1.8 billion – the amount is a result of delayed payment and accumulation of interest on locked-up certificates.

    Recently, a group – Joint Contractors Association threatened legal action against government should it refuse to pay monies owed its members for works they have executed successfully.

    It came on the back of a two-week ultimatum the association, made up of building and road contractors, issued to government to pay its members or be on the lookout for a series of actions.

    Spokesperson for the Joint Contractors Association, Richard Nyarko, said his outfit was ready to negotiate with government on a payment plan.

    “We are willing and ready to negotiate. Even if government cannot pay all the money they owe us, at least, we should sit down and talk. But we have given government two weeks to get back to us for a favourable response. If they don’t engage with us, we will explore other options including legal because our money has lost value.”

    The Association of Conscientious Public Sector Contractors has, in the past also, pleaded with the government to pay the long-standing arrears owed its members.

    They say government owes them several sums of money for projects executed for government including GETFund but are yet to be paid.

    The contractors stated that the payment of their monies will relieve them from their accrued debt.

    Source:citinewsroom.com

  • It will be suicidal to sack Otto Addo 40 days to the world cup – Fred Pappoe

    Former Ghana FA vice-president Fred Pappoe has kicked against the sacking of Black Stars head coach Otto Addo.

    Since the friendly defeat to Brazil in September, there have been some calls for the Ghana national team head coach to be fired.

    Speaking to Akoma FM in an interview on Tuesday, Fred Pappoe has stressed that taking a decision to sack the Borussia Dortmund tactician will be suicidal.

    “The mistake Hearts of Oak made that led to their defeat to AS Bamako is the same thing people want the FA to commit, forty days to the World Cup and some people want the FA to change the coach, and bring who?

    “Like we did going into the 2006 world cup, the friendly matches are being played not necessarily for results but to look out for individual performance and how systems will look for the coaches.

    “We should not confuse ourselves by calling for the sack of the coach due to the performance of the team from a friendly match,” Fred Pappoe said.

    The experienced football administrator added, “We should not be quick to pass judgment on whether Otto Addo is good or bad, to me he is good. We cannot change him at this time, For me that will be suicidal.”

    Coach Otto Addo is under contract with the Ghana FA until December. At the moment, he has the full backing of his employers and will lead the Black Stars to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

  • It’s a special feeling – Kevin-Prince Boateng reacts after being named Berlin’s ambassador for Euro 2024

    Former Ghana forward Kevin-Prince Boateng has expressed his joy after being named as an ambassador of Berlin for Euro 2024.

    The 34-year-old has been elected to represent the city as Germany prepare to host the Euro 2024.

    “It is a very special honor for me to represent the city that gave me everything 18 years ago. It is the cornerstone of my current career,” he wrote on Instagram.

    Boateng was unveiled during an official dinner organized by the German Football Association (DFB) which had tournament director Philipp Lahm present.

    “We are very happy that we were able to win Kevin-Prince Boateng as an ambassador,” said sports senator of Berlin Iris Spranger.

    Boateng currently plies his trade for Hertha Berlin after stints with Barcelona, AC Milan and other clubs.

    He played a key role for the Black Stars during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where Ghana reached quarter final.