TIG Post

Author: Chris Kodo

  • Chief who allegedly aided pastor to kidnap, sexually assault and kill aspiring trainee nurse arrested

    The main suspect in the killing of a 22-year-old aspiring trainee nurse in Mankessim has been arrested.

    The chief who is the Tufuhen of Ekumfi Akwakrom in the Central Region was picked up at his hideout at Akwa Krom in the Ekumfi District.

    This was after a pastor confessed to helping him kidnap, kill, and secretly bury the lady.

    Chief who allegedly aided pastor to kidnap, sexually assault and kill aspiring trainee nurse arrested
    Police collecting evidence from the suspect’s home

    Mankessim District Police Command arrested Nana Clark Onyaa and had him transferred to the Regional Police Command in Cape Coast to assist in investigations.

    The body of Georgina Asor Botchwey was exhumed by the pastor and police investigators on Tuesday in the room of Nana Clark Onyaa, the chief who is the Tufuhen of Ekumfi Akwakrom.

    Pastor arrested for aiding chief to kidnap, kill, and secretly bury trainee nurse at Mankessim

    According to sources, the chief, who is also the president of the Mankessim Traders Association, and his accomplice, kidnapped the nurse after engaging in sexual acts with her.

    They then killed her and buried her in one of the chief’s apartments.

    Chief who allegedly aided pastor to kidnap, sexually assault and kill aspiring trainee nurse arrested
    Police collecting evidence from the suspect’s home

    The pastor was arrested in Cape Coast and admitted to the crime.

    He then led the police to the chief’s residence, where the victim’s body was exhumed.

    The victim’s body was reportedly buried nearly three weeks ago.

    Along with the body, the victim’s bag, shoes, and other possessions were also found at the chief’s house.

     

  • Energy bills: New law will force landlords to pass on £400 rebate

    Landlords will be forced through legislation to pass on the £400 energy rebate to tenants with all-inclusive bills, the government says.

    Charities had raised concerns that tenants whose bills are included in their rent could miss out because the rebate is paid to their landlord.

    But a body representing landlords said plans for legislation “demonised” them.

    An estimated 585,000 households – 13% of private renters – have energy bills included in their rent.

    The government confirmed legislation would be introduced to make sure landlords pass on the discount as it announced its energy support for businesses.

    It had previously said it expected landlords to pass on the rebate but had not said there would be legislation to enforce this.

    • What the new energy plan means for you
    • What cost-of-living help are disabled people getting?

    The government has announced a package of measures to help households with the rising cost of living, including a £400 discount on energy bills.

    The money will be paid in six instalments, with a discount of £66 applied to energy bills in October and November, and £67 a month from December to March 2023.

    How the money is received will depend on how you pay your bill.

    However, for tenants whose energy bills are included in their rent, their landlord would receive the discount as they are the bill payer.

    Charities, including Shelter and Citizens Advice, had previously raised concerns some landlords would not pass on the support if there was no legal obligation to do so.

    Some tenants also said they were worried their landlord would increase their rent if they asked for the discount to be passed on.

    Zoey, not her real name, has her bills included in her rent and has not heard anything from her landlord about the £400 rebate.

    She said the money would “mean the world” and be “a huge relief”.

    “I would have a food budget for a while at least… I could pay off credit card debts that I’ve accumulated,” she said.

    The 39-year-old has been struggling with soaring fuel bills as she has to drive to work. Her rent has also increased by £50 a month and she expects it to rise again later this year.

    However, she is still sceptical about whether she will get the £400 rebate in practice and said she would only believe it when it arrives in her bank account.

    Housing charity Shelter said it was “absolutely right” the energy rebate was passed on to tenants.

    “It’s not fair for struggling renters to be left at the mercy of their landlords for this much needed help when so many are having to count every penny this autumn,” chief executive Polly Neate said.

    Gillian Cooper, head of energy policy for Citizens Advice, said: “We’re relieved to see the government bring in measures to make sure people don’t miss out on money they’re entitled to.

    “But it’s still shaping up to be an incredibly difficult winter and the government must be ready to provide more support for families struggling the most.”

    Chart showing how you get your £400.

    However, Chris Norris, policy director for the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), which represents private landlords in England and Wales, said: “Given payments under the support scheme have not begun to be made, the government’s plans to legislate are premature and are demonising landlords unnecessarily.

    “It sends a dangerous and misleading message that landlords cannot be trusted to do the right thing, creating needless fear and anxiety for tenants.”

    There is unlikely to be time to pass new legislation before October as Parliament is in recess from 23 September until 11 October for the Labour and Conservative Party conferences.

    It is unclear if this will delay the rebate being passed on to tenants.

    The energy support package for businesses, which will see their bills cut by around half their predicted level this winter, also requires legislation.

    The scheme will fix gas and electricity prices for companies for six months from 1 October.

    The government has said the savings for businesses will first be seen in October bills, which are typically received in November.

    Earlier this month, Prime Minister Liz Truss announced plans to limit energy bill rises for all households for two years.

    It means the typical household energy bill will be capped at £2,500 annually until 2024.

    An earlier version of this story said the NRLA welcomed the announcement as “good news”. This has been updated with a new statement from the association.

    Source: BBC

  • Akufo-Addo to address the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly

    President Akufo-Addo will address the United Nations today Wednesday, 21 September 2022 at 8:45 pm.

    He will participate in the General Debate of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA77) in his capacity as President of the Republic of Ghana.

    The high-level General Debates of the UNGA77 opened Tuesday, September 20, 2022 with the theme, “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges.” It would end on Monday, September 26.

    The UNGA77 will focus on the war in Ukraine, the soaring energy and food prices, climate action and ending COVID-19 pandemic.

    About 157 heads of state and representatives of governments plan to deliver speeches. During the General Debate, heads of delegation are expected to state the positions of their governments on topical issues.

    The General Debate will also provide member states with an opportunity to raise matters relating to priorities and concerns that are of a national, regional, and global nature.

    Source: GNA

  • Lilian Kasait Rengeruk: Kenyan runner gets 10-month doping ban for using hormone therapy drug

    Olympic athlete Lilian Kasait Rengeruk has been handed a 10-month doping ban after being found to have used a prohibited substance by the sport’s Athletics Integrity Unit.

    Rengeruk, 25, who finished 12th in the 5,000 metres final at last year’s Olympics in Tokyo, used the hormone therapy drug Letrozole.

    The former world Under-18 3,000m champion had her results annulled from 20 January this year, the day she provided her positive sample.

    The former All-African Games and national champion’s suspension will run from April 2022 to February 2023 because she admitted her guilt.

    “Taking into consideration how promptly the athlete admitted the anti-doping rule violations upon notification, the parties agree that the period of ineligibility shall be backdated,” the AIU said in a statement.

    Rengeruk is the eighth Kenyan to be banned for a positive doping test since the beginning of July.

    In response to the trend, the country’s athletics body – Athletics Kenya – announced a raft of measures earlier this month in a bid to tackle the problem.

    “With effect from 1 October, Athletics Kenya will commence the registration of athletics training camps including details of all personnel in residence therein and their respective roles vis-a-vis the athletes,” read an Athletics Kenya (AK) statement dated 7 September.

    The new measures also require all coaches handling Kenyan athletes to have the correct work certificates and licences to operate within the east African country, as well as to instruct the relevant authorities of their contact details.

    Prominent among the eight suspensions is Lawrence Cherono, the winner of both the Boston and Chicago marathons in 2019, who had to withdraw from Kenya’s team for this year’s World Championships, while already at their venue in Oregon, United States.

    “Athletics Kenya has reinvigorated the intelligence and investigation unit with an aim of dismantling the cartels and taking the war on doping to a new level,” AK said.

    In 2016, Kenya was placed in the top category of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) compliance watch list.

    Source;BBC

  • Passenger arrested in possession of parcels suspected to be wee

    A young man in his late twenties has been arrested for allegedly possessing wee.

    On Tuesday, September 21, 2022, the suspect, Charles Obeng, was apprehended at the Kaneshie-Takoradi station.

    According to information obtained by Rainbowradioonline.com, the suspect was transporting the substances to Takoradi.

    This website also learned that the station’s operators suspected the contents of the bag and raised an alarm.

    The drivers and station officers apprehended Charles Obeng.

    The incident was later reported to the police.

    After counting the parcels, it was discovered that the items totalled fifty (50).

    When confronted, the suspect claimed he was in Accra to attend to personal matters.

    When he returned to Takoradi, his uncle asked him to go get some items for him.

    He had no idea what was in the bag that his uncle had asked him to collect for him.

    He has since been taken to the Kaneshie Police Station.

    It also emerged that a driver at the station was recently arrested and granted bail after Police discovered wee parcels in his car.

    The parcels were to be delivered to someone but the driver did not know that the items he was sending to the individual, were wee.

    Following this incident, the operators at the station met and agreed to scrutinize items brought to the station for transportation.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • How boyfriend of deceased’s sister orchestrated her kidnap, sexual assault and murder

    The family of the prospective nurse trainee who was kidnapped, killed, and secretly buried in Mankessim has made a shocking revelation about the prime suspect.

    Georgina Asor Botchwey’s relatives revealed that the pastor is known by the family since he is the boyfriend of the deceased’s sister.

    According to the family, the 22-year-old’s sister had informed her boyfriend that her sister was at Ankaful Nursing Training College for an interview.

    JoyNews’ correspondent, Richard Kwadwo Nyarko reports that the pastor then called Miss Asor Botchewy and asked to meet her.

    So after her interview, the victim set off to meet her soon‐to‐be brother‐in‐law.

    Unbeknownst to the victim, the pastor had connived with the chief who is the Tufuhen of Ekumfi Akwakrom, Nana Crack, to kidnap and sexually assault her.

    How boyfriend of deceased's sister orchestrated her kidnap, sexual assault and murder

    The two suspects then killed her and buried her in one of the chief’s apartments.

    The news was widespread in the Central Region town that the deceased has gone missing for three weeks.

    The notice circulating read, “Georgina Botchwey went for an interview at Cape Coast on Wednesday and up till now she cannot be found; her phone is off. Please, anybody with information about her should call 0208503126 or 0247048711.”

    Following this notice, a friend of the deceased raised an alarm about Georgina meeting with her sister’s boyfriend.

    The pastor was arrested in Cape Coast and admitted to the crime.

    He subsequently led the police to the residence where Georgina had been buried and her body was exhumed.

    Meanwhile, the chief who fled after reports of the arrest of his accomplice has been arrested.

    Source: Myjoyonline

  • World leaders gather at UN General Assembly

    The UN gang is finally getting back together in person, after three years of leaders speaking by video due to the global pandemic.

    But many leaders from the 193 UN member countries were in the United Kingdom for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday, forcing their missions to the UN to scramble to reschedule speeches and rendezvous.

    Perhaps most prominent among the changes, US President Joe Biden will speak on Wednesday morning instead of taking America’s traditional second speaking slot after Brazil on Tuesday. Biden has also built in time for chats with country leaders in London, which may limit some discussions in Manhattan.

    Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will be the only world leader to speak by video, occupied as he is by the war in his country. The Assembly on Friday overrode Russian objections to permit Zelensky to speak virtually.

    Source: GNA

  • Everything will be fine – Countryman Songo reacts to Kotoko’s shocking exit from Champions League

    Management member of Asante Kotoko, Patrick Osei Agyemang has reacted to the club’s exit from the CAF Champions League.

    Countryman Songo as he is widely known is hopeful that the club will bounce back from their latest setback.

    In a tweet on Tuesday, Songo tweeted “Everything will be fine fabulous. More fireee”

    Asante Kotoko exited the Champions League in a shocking and embarrassing manner as the club lost 3-1 on penalties to Burkinabe side Kadiogo FC.

    Hopes were high in Kumasi that Kotoko were going to sail through after winning the away 1-0 but it was never to be as Kadiogo beat them by the same margin at the Baba Yara Stadium before going on to win the shootout.


     

    In the aftermath of the defeat, pressure is mounting on Nana Yaw Amponsah to vacate his role as Chief Executive Officer of the club.

    Some fans of the club who spoke to GhanaWeb’s Joseph Adamafio posited that Nana Yaw Amponsah’s style of running the club is not bringing them the needed result.

    They hold the view that he is selling off their best talents for players whose standards are below Asante Kotoko‘s.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • Suspected thief nearly lynched at Ogome

    A suspected thief who allegedly attempted breaking into a phone shop at Ogome, a suburb of Somanya in the Eastern Region Tuesday dawn was nearly lynched by an angry mob.

    The timely intervention of the police saved his life.

    41-year-old Kojo Owusu is currently on admission at the Yilo Krobo District Hospital receiving treatment under police guard.

    Information gathered by GhanaWeb suggests that the suspect who claimed to be a native of Kumasi-Abuakwa but resides at Mataheko, a suburb of Afienya in the Greater Accra Region together with two accomplices who managed to escape from the mob, attempted breaking into the container which was stocked with mobile phones and accessories.

    The culprits had allegedly already cut one of the padlocks used to lock the shop before being apprehended.

    Narrating the incident to GhanaWeb, a resident of the area said his attention was drawn to the scene around 2 am when he together with an uncle were on their way to the roadside at that time of the morning.

    “I was home when I decided to come to the roadside and I saw two people standing by the container and cutting it. So I called my brother and told him what was going on and they came. The two cutting the container managed to escape but we caught the driver,” he narrated.

    The suspect upon seeing the approaching residents attempted to escape by speeding off in a KIA truck with registration number AS 1040-12 which they had parked in front of the shop but he was accosted by the residents.

    The confrontation attracted others to the scene who, not convinced by his answers to their interrogations, assaulted him severely with all manner of implements to the point of death.

    He sustained deep cuts on his head and severe injuries on other parts of his body before personnel from the Somanya District Police Command intervened and sent him to the hospital.

    The KIA truck was set ablaze by the angry mob before personnel from the Somanya Ghana National Fire Service were called to put out the fire.

    Upon interrogation, Kojo told the police that he had gone to offload some bags of maize at Asutuare in the Greater Accra Region and was on his way back when the two asked him to convey them to Ashaiman.

    Assemblyman for Ogome Electoral Area, Hon Richard Kumah in an interview explained that he was called around 2:30 am to the scene and immediately proceeded to the Somanya Police Station to report the incident.

    He referred to a similar instance in the area a few months ago where a phone shop was cut open and the items were stolen.

    He however called on residents not to mete out instant justice to thieves and other criminals but draw the attention of the police to the scene for prompt action.

    Efforts to get a response from the Somanya District Police Commander, Superintendent Andrews Anyani proved futile as he didn’t pick up his calls.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • Over 7,000 UDS students deployed to rural communities

    Over 7,000 students of the University for Development Studies have as part of their academic activities been deployed to 735 communities in the country.

    As part of the University’s program, students undergo a two-year field practical project into communities to identify the challenges confronting them.

    This year, the students were camped at EP College of Education in Bimbilla prior to being deployed.

    At a short ceremony for the deployment, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Seidu Alhassan spoke on the importance of the program saying it is meant to help find solutions to the country’s developmental challenges.

    “The field practical programme of the university is important for promoting quality teaching and learning as well as rural development. The approach involving the training and deployment of students to poor rural communities to live with the people with the aim of identifying problems and developing sustainable intervention proposals for addressing these problems is so unique.”

    He admonished the students to exhibit high professional conduct in the communities and serve as ambassadors.

    He also urged them to take the necessary requirement to remain safe and do not adventure in taking any risk while in the communities.

    “You are required to take all the necessary precautionary measures to remain safe. You are allowed to take any kind of risky or adventurous task in your daily assignments”.

    The MCE for Nanumba North municipality, Abdulai Yaqoub, on behalf of the beneficiary districts thanked the university for the project and assured them of their continuous support.

    He entreated the students to take the program seriously and conduct themselves well.

    Some of the students who shared their expectations with Citi News said they’re anxious about the programme.

    “Even though I’m anxious, I want to experience it, especially the bit about serving the community and helping the community to resolve some of their challenges.”

    The Vice-Chancellor announced that the university, for the first time, is going to develop a scheme to award the best TTFPP student.

    The award will target students who go the extra mile to win small projects for their communities.

  • West Africa Connect provides platform to promote Mango, Cassava and ICT sectors

    Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) suppliers in the Mango, Cassava and ICT sectors are being connected to buyers in and outside the ECOWAS sub-region to promote regional trade and access to market.

    At the launch of the second edition of the West Africa Connect 2022, held in Accra, more than 160 suppliers from the 16 West African Countries were with more than 20 buyers from West Africa and other regions.

    The two-day event focused on creating linkages between mango, cassava and ICT value chain actors, while establishing new and durable business partnerships and increasing commercial transactions.

    The programme is to strengthen the competitiveness of West African countries; improve the business environment and quality of the products sold and exported from the region, while complying with stringent market requirements on product safety, health and environmental impact.

    Also, it was to improve food security in the region, by modernizing the agribusiness sector and supporting agri-food SMEs to meet the vital needs of the local population.

    Out of 302 million tonnes of cassava globally produced in 2020, more than half was produced in Africa.

    On the African continent, 52 per cent of total cassava production is carried out in West Africa, Nigeria accounting for 23.4 per cent globally.

    In the mango sector, the ECOWAS region was the 7th mango-exporting origin worldwide with 90, 000 tonnes exported in 2019, with a market share of global trade rising to 5.1 per cent in 2020.

    Dr John-Hawkins Asiedu, Technical Advisor, Ministry of Trade, said the government had developed policies on textile and garment, cassava and mango which would soon be out to help value chain actors take advantage of West African Connect and AfCFTA platforms.

    He said: “the government is focused on capacity development in the area of profiling matchmaking and linkage to the supply chain of large enterprises.”

    In Ghana, about 70 per cent of all industries are MSMEs that provide over 85 per cent of manufacturing jobs and generate 70 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product.

    Mr Kolawola Sofola, Acting Director for Trade, ECOWAS Commission, said the local firms had untapped potential and the event would allow them to demonstrate the quality of their products and services.

    “The West African Competitiveness Programme ((WACOMP) and the West Africa Connect 2022 are just illustrations of what ECOWAS is doing to promote the private sector and trade in the region,” he said.

    Mr Rafik Feki, the Industrial Development Officer, Department of Trade, Investment and Innovation, UNIDO, gave the assurance that his outfit would ensure the products were of high standard not only for the African market but the global market.

    The West Africa Connect is implemented as part of WACOMP, being funded by the European Union and led by the ECOWAS Commission.

    The WACOMP is implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the International Trade Centre.

    The first edition of the West Africa Connect focused on textiles and garments and ICT.

    Source: GNA

  • I’m very proud to be here; everyone has been welcoming – Tariq Lamptey

    New Ghana defender, Tariq Lamptey has disclosed that he has enjoyed the welcome given by the Black Stars players in camp.

    The Brighton & Hove Albion player is in the camp of the Black Stars in France where the team is preparing for the international friendly match against Brazil.

    Speaking to the media team of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Tariq Lamptey says he is proud to be part of the team.

    “Everyone has been fantastic, everyone has been welcoming. It’s been so good. I’m very proud to be here and I’m really just trying to train hard to give the best I can for the team,” the former England youth international said.

    Speaking about the upcoming game against Brazil, Tariq Lamptey said, “I’m looking forward to the game on Friday. In this game, we are preparing very well and we all want to be ready for Friday.”

    The game between Ghana and Brazil will be played on Friday, September 23, 2022.

    Source; footballghana

  • Flight operations to Sunyani Airport will enhance Bono Region economic fortunes – Minister 

    Bono Regional Minister, Madam Justina Owusu Banahene, has highlighted the importance of domestic flight operations in Sunyani.

    According to her, the Sunyani Airport would enhance the region’s economic fortunes and spur rapid socio-economic growth.

    “This would improve the livelihoods of the people of the region and beyond”, Mad. Owusu-Banahene said.

    She said domestic airline operations would open the region and attract investors to harness its viable economic potential for development.

    Madam Owusu-Banahene indicated the region’s enormous tourist attraction sites would also be tapped to boost ecotourism too.

    “The inclusion of the Sunyani in the flight route of PassionAir undoubtedly added our dear region to the rapid worldwide air transportation network. This will make the Bono region essentially one stop global commerce centre in Ghana and west Africa”, Mad Owusu-Banahene said at an inaugural flight ceremony held at the Sunyani Airport.

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo inaugurated the first phase of the rehabilitation and expansion of the Sunyani airport on August 03, and assured his government’s commitment to release funds for the second phase of the project to begin next year.

    In 2015, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority closed the facility to pave the way for the rehabilitation and expansion works for the airport to meet the required standard for domestic flight operations.

    “I am fully convinced and highly optimistic that air and road transport system will complement each other to accelerate the economic growth of the region by stimulating trade and investments” Mad Owusu-Banahene added.

    Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, the Minister of Transport, noted high patronage would not only sustain the operations of the airline, but also engender strong competition in the aviation industry in the region, saying that would justify the need for work to begin on the second phase of the project.

    He, therefore, called on the people to patronise, and asked PassionAir to “respect and treat customers with respect and decorum”, saying that was the surest way passengers would buy its products.

    Okokyeredom Sakyi Ako II, the Paramount Chief of the Drobo Traditional Area and the Vice President of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs, commended President Akufo-Addo for the work done at the Airport and urged the people to patronise operations of the airline.

    “The government has contributed its quota by providing the airport; PassionAir has also done its part and so we must also do our part and patronize the services so that the airline will remain in business in our region”, he said.

    Okokyeredom Ako II appealed to the President to facilitate the construction of a dual carriage road linking the Sunyani Central Business District and the Airport.

    Source: GNA

  • We’re against decision to impose 35% penalty on duty for imported vehicles – VADUG

    The Vehicle and Assets Dealers Union of Ghana (VADUG) say they are unhappy about government’s decision to introduce a policy which will impose a 35 percent penalty on duty for imported second-hand vehicles into the country.

    Deputy General Secretary of the Union, Clifford Ansu believes the decision to impose the penalty, on imported vehicles between one to five-year-old, is rather counterproductive.

    Speaking in an interview, he explained that vehicle dealers in the country were already paying exorbitant duty charges on such vehicles thus the new policy will rather cripple their businesses.

    “The amendment intends discouraging importation of secondhand vehicles and encourage automobile assemblers”.

    “We are against this aspect of the law. For instance, a vehicle between 1-5 years attracts a penalty of 35% on duty. We are even struggling with the existing duty and when it is implemented before the year ends, it will surely collapse our business.”

    Clifford Ansu is quoted by Joy Business after the Union held a meeting in Tema with Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong on the Customs (Amendment) Act 2020, Act 891.

    The Deputy General Secretary further lamented that the new policy will rather favour vehicle manufacturing and assembling companies operating in the country.

    Touching on efforts to seek an audience with relevant authorities to reconsider the decision, Clifford Ansu said, “We recently met Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, on this issue but he made it clear to us that nothing will stop implementation of this law and if we want any changes done, we need to go through parliament”.

    “Despite being the sector minister, he declined helping us get our message across. It appears government has taken an entrenched position,” Mr. Ansu added.

    Meanwhile, the Union said it calling on government to at least allow for the importation of used vehicles in order to assist persons who cannot afford vehicles being assembled and manufactured in the country.

    As part of efforts to provide incentives to automobile manufacturers and vehicle assemblers who are registered under the Ghana Automotive Manufacturing Development Programme, government announced a ban on the importation of salvaged motor vehicles and specific motor vehicles over 10 years of age among others.

    The move, which did not sit well with vehicle importers in the country received widespread backlash as some believed the move was far-fetched and accused government of taking an entrenched position.

    The Ghana Automotive Manufacturing Development Programme which was launched in 2019 is expected to cost a sum of GH¢802,251,785 in customs duties and taxes with additional revenue from duties on vehicles not covered by the programme.

    However, authorities believe that the implementation of the Programme will boost automobile manufacturing in Ghana which will in turn meet local demand across West African markets.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • Francis Amuzu set to extend contract with Anderlecht

    This summer, Francis Amuzu was persistently chased by French club Nice. However, he stayed and is now preparing to extend his contract with Anderlecht.

    Francis Amuzu sustained an injury this weekend during the win against Kortrijk. Julien Duranville was brought in to take the winger’s position.

    It would be likely that he had a muscular injury, which may prevent him from playing for a few weeks.

    The Walloon press continues by saying that Amuzu would be wise to extend to Anderlecht. The new contract needs to be increased. Therefore, the arrangement to prolong an existing contract beyond 2024 will be done this week.

    Amuzu has scored two goals and assisted two this season.

    Source: footballghana

  • Suame Municipal Assembly dragged to court by two members

    Two Members of the Suame Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti Region have served notice of dragging the Assembly to Court.

    The Members have accused the Assembly of breaching the Local Government Act by going ahead to run the assembly when its 2022 budget was rejected.

    The Assembly Member for the Agogoso Electoral Area and his colleague from the Adjei Peprah Electoral Area have said several efforts to draw the Assembly’s attention to what they call an irregularity have not been heeded to.

    “Our fight is a fight of justice that we should work, act and perform in accordance with the constitution of Ghana that governs the assembly,” Atta Boam, the Assembly Member for the Adjei Peprah Electoral said to Citi News.

    The Chief Executive for the Suame Municipal Assembly, Maxwell Ofosu Boakye, confirmed to Citi News that the Assembly has been served with the notice.

    But he insisted that his administration did nothing wrong.

    “Out of the 26, 24 of the assembly members approved the review. Before then, we had the 2022 budget laid before them and the revised one,” Mr. Boakye said.

    Source: Citinews

  • Joseph Cudjoe’s 10 answers to how Ghana can become an economic giant

    The Minister of Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe, has proffered a number of solutions aimed at boosting Ghana’s position as an industrial nation and a self-reliant economy in the world.

    The country is at the present facing a number of economic challenges which has been caused by both internal and external factors such as the depreciation of the cedi, revenue generation constraints, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fallouts of the Russia-Ukraine war, among others.

    While the major cause of these factors may be debatable, the Public Enterprises Minister believes Ghana can adopt a number of measures which can propel the Ghanaian economy.

    In a statement made available to GhanaWeb, Joseph Cudjoe called for the reorganizing and restructuring of the Ghanaian economy.

    “How can we export Gold, bauxite, manganese, coal, timber, oil etc. and go broke and continue to find ourselves in this situation?” the Member of Parliament for Effia constituency wondered.

    He also called for a rethink of the educational system in order to ensure it moves beyond just theory and rhetoric, to achieve much more in order to improve economic development by leveraging on vast natural resources.

    Read the full statement below:

    REORGANIZING AND RESTRUCTURING OF GHANA’S ECONOMY – WHAT THE YOUNGER GENERATION SHOULD BE TAUGHT

    Good morning, folks. For the past three to four days, I’ve had an intense engagements with my “A’-Level Classmates on our WhatsApp platform. It’s been an interesting and productive interaction. I learnt that what we’ve been taught early days in school is what we continue to believe in our current stations in life, in spite of real-world evidence pointing to the contrary. The question below came up from the engagements and I would like to share my response to the question with you;

    THE QUESTION:

    Joe, let me ask this ignorant question. Maybe it’ll give you the opportunity to expand your ECONS 101 lecture.
    How can we export Gold, bauxite, manganese, coal, timber, oil etc. and go broke and continue to find ourselves in this situation?

    1. TIMBER: Do not expect a country that cut and sell big trees in the 21st century to be a rich country. Cutting and selling trees called timber from natural forest is primitive. Note that the country that buys the trees (timber) and processes them into wood products and sell back to the primitive economy will be the rich country.

    2. BAUXITE: Don’t expect a country that scoops a type clay from the ground and sell in the 21st Century to be rich. The country that buys the clay and refines it into alumina and then to Aluminium and then produce Aluminium products from it will be the rich country and the one that export the “mere clay” called bauxite will remain poor.

    3. GOLD: A country that digs the ground and looks for a certain type of rocks that bears gold and then uses poisonous chemicals like cyanide, arsenic and mercury to search for unrefined gold and sell it is doing a primitive job. The country that buys the unrefined gold, refines it, assays it, and produces high valued jewels or uses the gold as reserves to back its currency will be the rich country. The one doing the primitive job of mining the gold will perpetually be poor.

    4. OIL: A country that doesn’t have its own capital to risk and explore for its own crude oil and when it finds one, appraise it by itself and finance the development of the crude oil production facilities and then produce and sell will be the poor one. On the contrary, the country that can raise tha risk capital which is used to search for oil and can also raise the capital required for developing the production facilities will be a richer country than the country which merely has the crude oil under the sea/ground but cannot bring it out by itself.

    5. MANGANESE: Manganese is also a type of rock we mine and sell these rocks primitively just like we were doing during Guggisberg’s time in the 1920s. Manganese is used to produce a variety of important alloys and to deoxidize steel and and as desulfurizer. It is also used in dry cell batteries. Further, Manganese is also used as a black-brown pigment in paints. Of all these industrial uses of manganese, we do not carry out a single one here as a country. If you ask even tertiary students in Ghana the uses of manganese, they wouldn’t even know. Meanwhile, primitively, we still dig the grounds for the rock and sell and expect to be rich. Unfortunate

    6. COCOA: Kofi, you didn’t add cocoa but let me say that a country that clears the bush, plants a tree, waits for three years or more for the tree to bear fruits and then go through a laborious series of tasks to crack the pods, dry the beans, bag the beans and haul them to the ports to sell to other countries to process them in few days and rather sell at higher values, is just doing a primitive economic activity. You can’t expect to be rich.

    7. From the points 1 to 6 above, you realize that we are in this world today in 2022 (Two Thousand and Twenty Two Years) after the death of Christ) still largely undertaking SLOW, PRIMITIVE AND LESS VALUED ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES and using the little proceeds of foreign exchange to import FAST FACTORY PRODUCED ITEMS like petrol, diesel, phones, cars, Aluminium products, electrical products, electronic products, bottles, computers, Tyres, drinks, aboboyaa , motor cycles, chocolate drinks, photo frames, clothes, paints, footwears, steel, automobiles, air conditioners, machine tools, pizza and other food items, etc, etc.

    8. Unfortunately, we expect to be a rich country from our primitive economic activities. Your cedi will continue to fall saaaa until you understand what President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is doing through the Alan driven 1D1F program and Vice President Bawumia driven Ghana Card and Digitalization program to solve pretty much robustly and “permanently” the unemployment and frequent country-broke, frequent IMF, and the weak cedi we have always had.

    9. Our education system and our old economists should stop teaching we export this, we export that and all that primitive economic stuffs and psyche all of us to move in the direction of high value economic activities like factory production, service deliveries and technological innovations and deployment. I’m personally sick and tired of hearing we export this, we export that when the exports are just clay, rocks, metals, beans, and some crude liquid.

    10. This is what we should use the over 500 FM stations in Ghana to teach ourselves and deploy or educational facilities to achieve. Mindset changing time is here, KOFI.
    Thanks for the question!

    HON JOSEPH CUDJOE
    MP FOR EFFIA CONSTITUENCY
    MINISTER FOR PUBLIC ENTERPRISES

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • 76 Black Market foreign exchange Operators busted

    A joint team of Bank of Ghana (BoG) officials and the Ghana Police Service has arrested 76 suspected illegal black market operators in a special operation within the Central Business District.

    The suspected operators of the foreign exchange (forex) parallel market were apprehended at various hotspots, including Rawlings Park, Tudu, Cowlane, Circle, Kinbu, Timber Market and Lava.

    This special operation was part of the Bank’s overall strategy of sanitising the foreign exchange market to ensure compliance with Ghana’s foreign exchange laws and regulations.

    The Police would prosecute the apprehended persons, and the BoG urged the public to avoid patronising the services of underground-economy operators and desist from engaging in foreign exchange business without a license.

    “The general public must always trade with the Bank of Ghana licensed forex bureau,” a briefing note for the said.

    According to Section 3(1) of the Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723), “A person shall not engage in the business of dealing in foreign exchange without a license”.

    Section 29 (1a) of the Act further states that “A person who engages in the business of dealing in foreign exchange without a licence commits an offence and is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of not more than seven hundred penalty units or a term of imprisonment of not more than eighteen months, or both”.

    The Bank further cautioned against pricing, advertising, paying, or receiving payment for goods and services in foreign currency in Ghana as the sole legal tender in Ghana is the Ghana Cedi and Ghana Pesewa.

    “It is an offence punishable by law. Such violations are punishable, on summary conviction, by a fine of up to 700 penalty units or a prison term of not more than 18 months, or both” the statement read.

    As part of complementary measures to ensure compliance with Ghana’s foreign exchange laws and regulations, the bank said it would enforce compliance of taking customer identification (Ghana card) and issuance of electronic receipt for every forex transaction.

    It also intends to intensify public sensitisation and media engagements to educate the public on forex rules and regulations, including the need to avoid the illegal market.

    “Members of the public are encouraged to report all foreign exchange violations.”

    Source: GNA 

  • Two persons arrested for illegal mining offences granted bail

    The High Court on Tuesday granted bail to two Ghanaians in a criminal prosecution for conspiring to mine without a license and contracting non-Ghanaians to undertake mining operations and services without a license.

    Wilberforce Essien and Rev. Walace Dela-Brown pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    They are accused of engaging five Chinese nationals at Teleku-Bokazo at Nkroful in the Western Region.

    The five Chinese nationals were arrested at Esiama and an excavator and other mining equipment were seized from them.

    The two Ghanaians were subsequently arrested for their alleged involvement in the galamsey operations.

    Her Ladyship, Mary Maame Ekue Nsenkyire admitted the two to a bail of GH¢2 million with 2 sureties to be justified with landed properties.

    The case has subsequently been adjourned to October 2, 2022.

    Source: Citinews

  • Tariq Lamptey geared up for Brazil friendly on Friday

    England-born defender, Tariq Lamptey has noted that he is geared up to feature for Ghana in the upcoming friendly match against Brazil.

    The player is in the camp of the Black Stars in France where training is ongoing for the clash against the Selecao.

    Speaking in an interview today, Tariq Lamptey has disclosed that he is enjoying himself in training while putting in the work.

    “Training has been really good. Getting t know everybody. There is very high quality here and we are working hard in training and listening to what the coach has to say.

    “Everyone has been fantastic, everyone has been welcoming. It’s been so good. I’m very proud to be here and I’m really just trying to train hard to give the best I can for the team,” the Brighton & Hove Albion defender told the Ghana FA media team.

    According to him, he is geared up and looking forward to the big game against Brazil.

    “I’m looking forward to the game on Friday. In this game, we are preparing very well and we all want to be ready for Friday,” Tariq Lamptey noted.

    The game between Ghana and Brazil will be played on Friday, September 23, 2022.

    Source: footballghana

     

  • Attempted suicide is not a crime – Mental Health Authority

    The Mental Health Authority says it has initiated steps to have suicide decriminalised, saying it is a medical condition that needs health support rather than imprisonment.

    This follows the “unprecedented wave” of suicide and attempted suicide cases, especially among the youth in 2017.

    Speaking at the launch of the Mental Health Authority call centre in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Prof Akwesi Osei, noted that even the choice of words used to describe suicide-related cases is worrying.

    He stated that an attempted suicide should not be criminalised.

    “I am trying harder not to say ‘people who wanted to commit suicide’ – it’s a language we want to move away from. So, don’t say ‘somebody who committed suicide’ because that criminalises the offence.

    “We are trying to get us to understand that attempted suicide is not a crime, even though we don’t encourage it. It is [rather] a condition that requires support, largely mental illness.

    “So, in all our discourses, let’s move away from ‘committed suicide’ to say ‘take his/her life by suicide’ or ‘die by suicide’,” he said.

    At the same event, the Board Chair of the Authority, Estelle Matilda Appiah, explained that the establishment of the call centre was necessary due to the number of calls they receive weekly from people.

    She mentioned, among other reasons, that the centre will provide an urgent support system which could be easily accessed by the vulnerable.

    “There was an unprecedented wave of people who wanted to take their lives. The phenomenon led to speculations as to what was the cause of this with different people ascribing different reasons.

    “The wave of people attempting suicide began with the unfortunate suicide death by hanging of a first-year female Chemical Engineering student of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology on the 24th of February, 2017.

    “This was followed by the death of another female, level 400 student at the University of Ghana on the 8th of March, that year. She is alleged to have jumped from the fourth floor of the Akuafo Hall Annex to her death,” she recounted.

    These incidents, according to her, were followed by several reports of purported suicide deaths across the country.

    “This led to questions as to why there had been a surge in acts of suicide and what might be the cause. The Mental Health Authority decided on several actions take in the short, medium and long term.

    “These included the issue of a press statement stating what in its view might have culminated in the plethora of suicide cases and the issue of temporary helplines to provide access for people who have suicidal thoughts and other psychosocial issues.

    “Since 75 calls were being received weekly on the temporary helplines, management of the Authority obliged to consider a call centre,” she explained.

    The call line – 0800678678 – is free for only Vodafone and Airtel-Tigo users.

    Individuals are advised to refrain from prank calls as they could lead to serious issues.

    Source: Myjoyonline

  • Adongo, Kwarteng ‘clash’ over IMF assessment of economy

    The Chairman of the Finance Committee in Parliament, Kweku Kwarteng and the Deputy Ranking Member on the Finance Committee of Parliament, Isaac Adongo have ‘clashed’ over the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) assessment of the economy.

    While Mr Adongo contended that the assessment of the economy by the IMF failed to reflect the real situation of the economy, Mr Kwarteng asked critics of the government’s quest to seek a bailout from the IMF to be measured and support the move.

    Ghana returned to the IMF for support and assistance after months of struggle with the economy, cost of living crisis, and is expecting $3 billion from the Fund.

    Mr Adongo, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolgatanga Central Constituency in the Upper East Region, maintained that the IMF got it wrong when it attributed the economic woes to COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia invasion of Ukraine because the economy was already in tatters before the two situations.

    According to him, the IMF was managing the situation so as not to create fear and panic that would further exacerbate the issue since it was clear the economy was already suffering internal and external vulnerability before the two situations and also accused the government of conniving with the Fund to paint a gloomy picture of the economy.

    “The New Patriotic Party (NPP) should not be forgiven for its comments made against the National Democratic Congress for seeking an IMF bailout in the past which is dishonesty for people who have profited from propaganda; people who have come to power on the back of deception of the electorate that going to IMF defines incompetence, to now be turning around to say we should not have that debate,” Mr Adongo postulated.

    However, Mr Kwarteng, MP for Obuasi West Constituency, noted that the debate on whether or not the country’s economy was robust for external financial assistance and support was needless and must not be encouraged and wondered why people should be preoccupied with the assessment by IMF.

    He indicated that the debate on whether or not the country’s economy was robust for external financial assistance was needless and must not be encouraged and wondered why people were preoccupied with that rather than discussing what was needed for the economy since the economy had been challenged.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • Talaba Sports Club new signing Abdul-Ganiyu bids farewell to Asante Kotoko

    Ghana defender Ismail Abdul-Ganiyu has waved goodbye to Asante Kotoko in a statement published on social media following his move to Talaba Sports Club in Iraq.

    Abdul-Ganiyu joins the club on a one-year deal as a free agent.

    The highly-rated defender left Asante Kotoko at the end of the 2022/23 football season after helping the club to emerge as Champions of the Ghana Premier League.

    According to information gathered, the contract signed by the 26-year-old includes a clause that could see him sign a one-year extension when the initial deal expires.

    “End Of Era. Sporting compliments to the entire Ghana football fraternity,” he said in his farewell letter.

    “With fond memories from my time with Asante Kotoko SC, I write to announce the end of our relationship.

    “After four years of career-changing time in the colours of Asante Kotoko SC, the time has come for us to mutually end our stay together, with fond memories to look back at. From the roaring voices at the Baba Yara Stadium to the unflinching love from the Porcupine family, my time at Asante Kotoko SC could not have been any better.

    “The pinnacle of my time was that triumphant game against Medeama SC which confirmed us as the 2021/2022 Ghana Premier league champions.

    “I fulfilled a lifelong dream of leading the biggest Ghanaian football club to domestic triumph. Days like these don’t repeat often.

    “The fond memories from the club including Normalization Cup, Otumfuo Cup, President’s Cup, Qualifications into the Group Stages of the CAF Confederation Cup and the latest trophy as Ghana Premier League Champions made my stay memorable. I could not have achieved these alone. We worked for it and we achieved a lot as a team.

    “I believe in the concept of Ubuntu, “I am because you are and you because of me, together we are.

    “I was a porcupine before joining the club and will be a porcupine after leaving the club.

    “I have no grudges whatsoever against anyone and will continue to support the club.

    Source; footballghana

     

  • Government signs agreement with Banks to push YouStart implementation

    The Government has signed an agreement with 13 Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) to support the implementation of the commercial part of the GHS10 billion YouStart entrepreneurship programme.

    Through the partnership, the PFIs would provide a loan facility of about GHS5 billion in the next three years, ranging from GHS100,000 and GHS500,000 to businesses under the programme.

    The funds would be used to meet the working capital requirement of businesses, support their expansion needs and purchase of equipment or machinery to enhance productivity and create more well-paid jobs, especially for the youth.

    Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance, signed for the Government, with Managing Directors of the 13 PFIs signing for their respective banks.

    Mr John Awuah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ghana Association of Bankers (GAB), signed for the coordinating institution of the PFIs, which is GAB.

    In his speech at the programme, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance, said the signing of the agreement showed the commitment on the part of the Government and the private sector to strengthen links between education and job market stakeholders.

    He explained that the partnership would provide access to finance, skills, and markets for young Ghanaian entrepreneurs and increase the ability of the private sector to create decent and sustainable jobs.

    “Fundamentally, we had to adopt this approach because the pandemic taught us, we must re-orient our approach towards structural transformation and react with a clear plan to reap the benefits of our population dividend by building an Entrepreneurial State,” Mr Ofori-Atta said.

    He noted that the three components of the YouStart programme (Commercial, module, District Entrepreneurship and YouStart Grace Modules) were to ensure that “no one is left behind in building Ghana as an entrepreneurial nation.

    Dr John Ampontuah Kumah, the Deputy Minister of Finance, said the partnership was critical in the Government’s quest to build future entrepreneurs and make Ghana an entrepreneurial State.

    Dr Kumah said the YouStart programme was to deliberately grow start-ups and make them contribute to the Government’s agenda of creating three million jobs but depend largely on the support of banks.

    He, therefore, urged the PFIs to sustain their support to the programme and ensure its extension to entrepreneurs with businesses in rural areas to help create jobs and uplift many living in those areas from poverty.

    The CEO of GAB, told the Ghana News Agency that the banks saw the support as a responsibility to help grow businesses with financial and other needed support to build the economy.

    “Part of the COVID-19 pandemic has taught as that we need to have a homegrown economy, one that is owned and managed by Ghanaians. This signing is an attestation that the public and private sector can work together to create value and the entrepreneurial nation we’ve all been yearning for,” Mr Awuah said.

    He noted that the Banks had worked with the Finance Ministry to design the YouStart programme to help propel businesses forward, particularly younger and smaller businesses.

    “It is a positive development. We only must ensure that what we’ve put on paper, when it gets to execution, we all come to the table in a way the agreement has been signed,” Mr Awuah encouraged.

    Providing a brief on the programme, Mr Andy Ameckson, Acting Coordinator, YouStart, said under the commercial part, Banks would provide loans to beneficiary businesses at interest rates lower than the market rate.

    “There will not be any collateral for businesses to access loan under the programme, and the recovery is also dependent on them [beneficiaries],” Mr Ameckson pointed out.

    The pilot phase of the YouStart programme was implemented in February 2022, involving 85 young entrepreneurs, and currently awaiting the availability of the President for the launch and full-scale implementation of all three modules.

    The Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) and National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) are the implementing agencies of the programme, whose goal is to create a Wealthy, Inclusive, Sustainable, Empowered and Resilient (WISER) society.

    They would be supported by the National Youth Authority, Ghana Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Service and Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) in its roll-out.

    Source: GNA

  • Government set to begin talks with domestic bondholders for debt restructuring – Report

    The Government of Ghana is set commence talks with domestic bondholders as parts of efforts to restructure the country’s cedi debt.

    According to a Bloomberg report, the move forms part of government’s plan to secure a US$3 billion loan facility from the International Monetary Fund under an economic support programme.

    Although Ghana has for some time not been able to access the international capital markets due its increasing public debt stock, revenue generation constraints and among others, Bloomberg said the country’s Eurobonds have since extended its declines in trading.

    Meanwhile, Ghana is targeting an amount of $3 billion from the IMF once an agreement is reached.

    One of the key requirements for the loan facility will entail the restructuring of the country debt which has been soaring.

    For instance, commercial banks and pension funds are among some of the country’s largest debt investors which are preparing to engage in talks on the imminent debt restructuring exercise.

    If all goes to plan, the debt reform could result in an extension of maturities and cuts placed on principal and interest payment.

    Ghana’s public debt stock at the end of March 2022 rose by some GH¢40.1 billion to GH¢391.9 billion, data from the Bank of Ghana’s May 2022 Summary of Economic and Financial Data has showed.

    This, in terms of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is estimated at 78 percent, which is slightly lower than the 80.1 percent earlier recorded in December 2021.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • Why Nico Williams’ mother wept after Spain call-up

    Spanish-born of Ghanaian descent, Nico Williams has disclosed that his mother shed tears after she was informed of his call-up to the Spanish national team.

    Nico Williams was handed his debut call-up to the Spanish national while his elder brother Inaki Williams earned his first call-up to the Ghana national team after switching nationalities.

    Speaking in an interview with MARCA, Nico disclosed that his mother cried as she could not hold back her joy.

    The winger who had played for Spain’s youth side in the past also disclosed he never anticipated an invitation to the Spanish senior national team.

    “I’m a regular in the U21s, but I didn’t expect the call from Luis Enrique. I started screaming in the living room at home and my mother hugged me and started crying,” Nico Williams told MARCA.


     

    According to him, his elder brother, Inaki Williams encouraged him to take advantage of the opportunity given him to work hard to maintain a spot in the Spanish team.

    “Even my brother (Inaki Williams) stayed a while. He didn’t expect it either. He’s very happy for me, very proud. He told me that I have to work and keep my feet on the ground,” Nico revealed.

    The 20-year-old Atletico Bilbao forward could make his debut for Spain’s senior national soccer team in the UEFA Nations League games against Portugal and Switzerland.

    The Ghana Football Association were hoping to convince Nico Williams to switch nationalities and play for the Black Stars.

    The brothers were born to Ghanaian parents who migrated to Spain. Nico and Inaki visited Ghana in July during the off-season period.

    Source; Ghanaweb

  • Finance Minister says better days are ahead

    Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has encouraged Ghanaians not to give up amid the current economic crunch, but to continue to work hard for a prosperous Ghana.

    He said the Government had put in place measures to lessen the plight of its citizenry and evidence of growth in the economy was seen in the second quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figure.

    Despite the rising cost of fuel and its attendant increases in food and transport fares, inflationary pressures, and Cedi depreciation, the economy grew by 4.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2022, compared with 4.2 per cent for 2021.

    The growth, the Ghana Statistical Service said, was driven by manufacturing, crops, information and communication, and education sub-sectors.

    The services sector recorded the highest growth of 5.2 per cent, followed by the agriculture sector with a growth of 4.6 per cent and industry, which had a 4.4 per cent growth.

    Mr Ofori-Atta at the signing of an agreement with banks supporting the Government’s YouStart entrepreneurship initiative was confident the programme’s implementation would speed up efforts of economic recovery and transformation.

    He said: “Indeed, the expected consequence would be the realization of a WISER (Wealthy, Inclusive, Sustainable, Empowered, and Resilient) society, with our young people more confident about their place in the World.”

    He noted that other policies, including the homegrown economic programme with International Monetary Fund (IMF), from which the Government expects to receive a $3 billion loan the Fund would help restore and make the economy resilient.

    “We’re having an arrangement with the IMF so that we move beyond the dependence on Government and donors into our creative synergies,” the Finance Minister said.

    He said this as the Government prepared to present the Budget Statement and Economic Policy for the 2023 financial year, which Mr Ofori-Atta said would be read on November 15, 2022.

    Drawing inspiration from Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Nkrumah, the Finance Minister encouraged Ghanaians to be courageous to work hard to achieve excellence despite the current economic hardship.

    He quoted Nkrumah, saying, “Countrymen, the task ahead is great indeed, and heavy is the responsibility; and yet it is a noble and glorious challenge – the challenge which calls for the courage to dream, the courage to believe  the courage to dare, the courage to do, the courage to envision, the courage to fight, the courage to work, the courage to achieve – to achieve the highest excellencies and the fullest greatness of man. Dare we ask for more in life?”

    On entrepreneurship, he said the creation of Ghana as an entrepreneurial nation through the YouStart programme with support from the private sector was critical to having a robust and sustained economy.

    “Almost 37 per cent of our population are between the ages of 15 and 35 face unemployment challenge and the public sector cannot absorb this level of population. So, we need to build a system in which can train to be entrepreneurial to also hire other people,” Mr Ofori-Atta said.

    “I look forward to working alongside all of you to realize a transformed Ghana where: ingenuity is encouraged, innovation is supported and ultimately, prosperity is shared,” he emphasised.

    Source: GNA

  • Africa is still having trouble advancing with intra-trade activity – John Mahama

    John Dramani Mahama, a former president of Ghana, has expressed concern about how the continent of Africa is still unable to advance in terms of trade and freedom of movement.

    On September 21, 2022, Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day will be observed. Mr. Mahama claimed the nation’s founder had the vision to free Africa from its current economic problems in a Facebook post.

    “It is obvious that we need an African answer to our issues, and that this can only be achieved through African unity.
    Dr. Nkrumah was quoted by the former President as saying, “Divided we are weak; united, Africa may become one of the greatest forces for good in the world.

    According to him, “These visionary words by the Founder of our nation, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, span the timeless future of Africa.”

    “Many decades later we are still facing the challenges of common currency, intra-African trade, and free movement of people and goods across our continent,” Mr. Mahama added.

    He said truly, Kwame Nkrumah never dies! “Because his words will ring true for Africa over timeless millennia!”

  • Celebrating Kwame Nkrumah’s contribution to football development

    Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, besides fighting for and earning the country its independence, led a campaign of a united Africa.

    Nkrumah in his quest to unite Africa used the beautiful game of football as one of the main tools and this led to Ghana’s first president investing in the development of the game both at home and across the continent.

    In commemoration of his 112th birthday which falls on today, Tuesday, September 21, 2021, we compile five of Nkrumah’s most remarkable contributions to the development of football.

    Establishment of Real Republikans

    When Dr Kwame Nkrumah appointed Ohene Djan as his Director of Sports on July 1, 1960, he encouraged the veteran football administrator to form a football club which was named Real Republikans also as known as Osagyefo’s Own Club.

    As a way to diversify the team’s squad and recruit the best of talents for the club, Ohene Djan, enlisted two of the finest players each from the top teams in Ghana and one each from the middle table teams.

    This strategy led to the transfer of Baba Yaro and Dogo Moro, two of the country’s finest sportsmen from Asante Kotoko to Real Republikans. Dodoo Ankra and Addo Odametey were also transferred from Hearts of Oak to join Osagyefo’s Own Club.

    The team subsequently contributed 40% of the Black Stars squad that won Ghana the 1963 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) hosted by Ghana.

    In the final match of the 1963 AFCON against Sudan, Real Republikan players proved phenomenal in the 3 – 0 win as Aggrey Fyn netted the opening goal while Edward Acquah bagged a brace.

    Real Republikans would go ahead to win one league title and dominated the FA Cup competition, winning it for an unprecedented four consecutive seasons.

    Real Republikans also became the first club to win a double of league and FA Cup in the 1962/1963 season.

    CAF Champions Cup (former African Champions Cup)

    Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah birthed the idea of a single club football competition in Africa which was to be like the European Champions Cup (now UEFA Champions League).

    The idea was part of Kwame Nkrumah’s agenda to achieve a United Africa. Osagyefo donated the first ever cup for the African Champions Cup (now the Champions League) with Ghana hosting the maiden edition in 1964-1965.

    Nkrumah’s Real Republikans who were champions of Ghana represented the West African state in the competition.

    The participants in the competition were; Oryx Douala (Cameroon), Real Republikans (Ghana), Stade Malien (Mali) and Cotton Factory Club (Ethiopia).

    Cameroon giants Oryx Douala beat Stade Malien 2-1 in the final.

    The first trophy presented for the competition named Osagyefo’s Cup was donated by Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

    Kwame Nkrumah Gold Cup and West African Federation

    Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah in 1959 instituted the Gold Cup which became the annual football tournament in the West African sub-region for a period of four years.

    Ohene Djan, who was then Chairman of the Ghana Amateur Football Association, in a meeting with Kwame Nkrumah in 1958, announced the Association’s intention to compete in the Olympic Games. Kwame Nkrumah seeing the good in the idea also proposed a regional competition for West Africa, while making a promise that he would donate a gold cup as the trophy for the competition.

    Ohene Djan visited Nigeria, Senegal, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast to garner support for the idea, and on Saturday 28th March 1959, at the Ambassador Hotel in Accra, a conference was held with the aim of establishing a West African federation, the main purpose of which was to administer the competition for the Nkrumah Gold Cup.

    The conference was opened by Dr Nkrumah himself, and was presided over by Mr Kojo Botsio, president of the G.A.F.A. Ghana was represented by Mr Jellico Quaye and Mr Sam Blankson, as well as Mr Djan and Mr Botsio.

    The product of the conference was the establishment of the West African Soccer Federation which Kwame Nkrumah was elected life patron, and Mr Kojo Botsio as president. Mr R.B. Allen of Nigeria and Mr Rito Alcantara of Senegal were named vice presidents, and Mr Ohene Djan was elected secretary-treasurer.

    The Association in 1959 organized the maiden edition of the Nkrumah Gold Cup.

    The preliminary rounds of the competition were arranged zonally for geographical convenience:

    Zone A: Nigeria, Dahomey, Togo, Cameroon, Fernando Póo

    Zone B: Ghana, Ivory Coast, Niger, Upper Volta

    Zone C: Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Mali

    Zone D: Senegal, Portuguese Guinea, Gambia, Cape Verde

    The emerging champions of the four zones were to play in the finals. The tournament was planned to be held biennially, with the first “trial” edition to be held in 1959 with finals in Ghana (these were later delayed until early 1960). The first competition “proper” would take place in 1960 with finals in October in Nigeria to coincide with Nigerian independence.

    The competition was played from 1959 to 1963.

    Fight for African slot in the FIFA World Cup

    The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) decided that the line-up for the 16-team finals would include 10 teams from Europe, including hosts England, four from Latin America and one from the Central American and Caribbean region.

    The decision left only one slot to be fought for by the three remaining continents: Africa, Asia and Oceania.

    Ghana’s Director of Sports, Ohene Djan in a telegram to FIFA complained bitterly about the development saying “Registering strong objection to unfair World Cup arrangement for Afro-Asian countries STOP.

    “Afro-Asian countries struggling through painful expensive qualifying series for ultimate one finalist representation is pathetic and unsound STOP At the worst, Africa should have one finalist STOP Urgent – reconsider.”

    His strong objection to FIFA’s decision was influenced by Dr Kwame Nkrumah who had led Ghana in 1957 to achieve independence.

    Nkrumah wanted to use football to unite Africa and had told his appointee Djan to do whatever was necessary to put African football on the world map.

    This largely led to Africa boycotting the 1996 FIFA World Cup, a decision which compelled FIFA to revise the allocation of slots for the 1970 Mundail.

    Thus, Africa in 1970 were given one slot by FIFA.

    Ghana’s football reached its pinnacle- won two continental titles

    The Black Stars of Ghana who won three West African championship titles became the first country in the Sub-Saharan Africa region to win the Africa Cup of Nations in 1963 on home soil.

    Ghana beat Sudan three goals to nil, through a goal from Aggrey Fyn and a brace from Edward Acquah in the finals to lift the trophy.

    The win was boosted Nkrumah’s idea of using football to unite the nation and the African continent and also proved a success to Nkrumah’s investment in the beautiful game.

    The 1963 winning team was coached by CK Gyamfi and was captained by Aggrey Fyn of Real Republikans. Ben Kouffie was assistant to the head coach.

    The Black Stars after the win in 1963 successfully defended the trophy in 1965 by winning the AFCON hosted in Tunisia.

    Ghana set a record in the final by becoming the first nation to beat the host nation in the final of the AFCON competition.

    All these successes were achieved with Ohene Djan executing the vital role of Sports Director in Nkrumah’s government.

    Nkrumah achieved his dream of building an all-conquering Black Stars team through the help of Ohene Djan and wrote some of Ghana’s most successful footballing history.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • Some four exciting African cities that never sleep

    As a continent with diverse cultures and landscapes, Africa is blessed with many cities that prospective tourists should definitely keep on their ‘bucket list’.

    There’s no better experience in life than traveling and exploring several unique and exciting destinations.


    But if you have your mind set on heading to a location that is always buzzing, then you might want to pick from one of these cities that never sleeps.

    From the flashing lights to blazing hangouts, there are so many options worth checking out and definitely a lot of packed activities that come with it.


    Let’s take a look at some exciting African cities that tourists should consider


    Kampala

    Located in the heart of Uganda, East Africa, Kampala is packed with fun activities all day and all night.


    Ever heard of the “famous Kampala nightlife”?

    Well, asides from the city’s incredible safari parks and lake tours, there are tons of Casinos and nightclubs that keep buzzing from dusk till dawn.


    Interestingly they are noted for their insatiable cravings for “flavored beers” and you might find these at almost every pub.


    Nairobi

    Situated in the capital of Kenya, Nairobi has also been touted as a hub for real entertainment.


    Nairobi gathers Kenya’s diverse cultures, cuisines, and people into one city.


    There is always so much to see and do, such that it’s hard to know where to start.

    One gets to experience more adventure that includes Safari parks, free cultural dances, crafts, music, and so on.

    Also, Nairobi has carved a great niche for itself on the nightlife front.


    Locals, expats, and visitors mingle at various venues that range from exclusive champagne bars to nightclubs that are flooded with the sounds of electrifying African beats.


    Cairo

    While many plan to do little in Egypt like just visiting the pyramids, those with more time will find this city possibly even more enchanting.


    There are around-the-clock activities including romantic dinners and belly dancing shows on the legendary river Nile.


    Also, there are tons of mind-blowing rooftop bars and night tours at some of its wonderful places.


    Cairo asides from being noted for sightseeing also offers good fun.


    Marakesh (Morroco)


    Being the fourth largest city in Morrocco, Marrakech promises all sorts of wild sensations.


    Horse-drawn carriage rides, Architectural tours, sunny terraces, desert rides, and other activities give a taste of a wishful comeback.


    When the sun sets, Marrakech offers a “stress-free” experience.

    The city overwhelmingly offers a good taste of food, dance, and music every day after sunset.


    Disclaimer: This is subject to the writer’s discretion, research, and views from travelers. Readers might have their own favorites outside the list

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • Renewed Chieftaincy clash in Bawku allegedly claims lives

    There has been a renewed Chieftaincy clash at Bawku in the Upper East Region, despite the imposition of curfew and other security measures.

    Although the Police and the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) are yet to come out with the number of fatalities in the clash, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) sources revealed that a few persons lost their lives, while others were injured.

    Heavy gunshots were fired within the Bawku Township, compelling the REGSEC to enforce the security situation in the area with additional security measures, including enhanced restrictions.

    A statement signed on behalf of Mr Stephen Yakubu, the Upper East Regional Minister and Chairman of the REGSEC, by Inusah Abubakari Alhaji, the Regional Chief Director and copied to GNA, noted that the measures were taken after emergency meeting held on Monday.

    “The Police, Ghana Immigration Service and the Military are allowed to use official motorbikes between 0600 hours to 1800 hours”, it stated.

    A temporal ban had also been placed on the use of tricycles (yellow yellow), until further notice and curfew hours extended to cover Nayoka, Kpalgu and Manga communities.

    Apart from the curfew imposed on the Bawku Township and its environs from 2000 hours to 0500 hours, a ban had earlier been placed on the wearing of smock and riding of motorbikes.

    The Regional Minister told GNA in an interview that the review of the security measures in the area was to strengthen surveillance and enable the security agencies to effectively deal with current trends of causing crime and igniting the conflict.

    He said the REGSEC had gathered intelligence that some people involved in the conflict used the tricycles to commit crime and urged the residents to report any suspicious characters to the security agencies for rapid action.

    “With the information that is only privy to REGSEC and based on what we have achieved and what we have not achieved, we think that what we are doing is the best option because we know what is happening in Bawku.

    “Yesterday for instance, there were heavy gunshots in Bawku and people are using the tricycles to commit these crimes,” he said.

    Mr Yakubu said although the decision taken had consequences on the movement of people and economic activities, it was necessary to restore peace in the area and called for support from the public especially residents of Bawku.

    “These are things that we do with a heavy heart, but we have really measured in whatever action that we take but what we are praying for is peace to return to Bawku.”

    The protracted conflict is partly due to a disagreement over the performance of the funeral of a Chief who died more than 42 years ago, to pave way for the enskinment of another Chief.

    Meanwhile, the government, through the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, noted that the Chieftaincy disagreement was settled by the Supreme Court in 2003 and urged all parties to respect the ruling.

    Source: GNA

  • Bernard Mensah happy to score first goal in Kayserispor big away win against Hatayspor

    Ghana midfielder Bernard Mensah scored his first goal of the season in Kayserispor’s 4-0 win against Hatayspor in the Turkish Super League.

    The 27-year-old scored from the spot kick in the fifth minute for the first goal of the game.

    Miguel Cardoso, Andrea Bertolacci, and Mario Gavranovic were on the scoresheet as Kayserispor recorded a resounding 4-0 victory away against Hatayaspor.

    “I am very happy to score my goal after a long time.

    “We have achieved an important victory. I congratulate all my teammates. This victory is a gift to our fans who support us,” the Ghana international said after the game.

    Bernard Mensah has started the season strongly after his injury return and has made seven appearances, scoring one goal and one assist.

    Source: Ghanasoccernet

  • Mzbel, VIP, Praye others didn’t know how big their records were – Patoranking

    Patrick Nnaemeka Okorie popularly known as Patoranking has described as funny how Ghanaians particularly some artists have underestimated their timeless records.

    The Nigerian Afrobeats/Dancehall singer said he is usually met with funny reactions anytime he recalls how the likes of VIP, Tic Tac, Mzbel, Praye, Patapaa, and others dominated the music scene with huge bangers.

    He believes that these artists do not even know how massively their records reigned particularly in Nigeria and across the globe at that time.

    “When it comes to the highlights of every party and we go into that Ghana tempo, it is always a rave. I am talking about songs like Tic Tac’s Kangaroo, that was a big one. Then you come to VIP, Mzbel, Praye among other great songs and you know there is a big difference between being big and huge, those were massive and big records, even down to one corner,” he stated.

    “I find something funny in their reaction. People (Ghanaians) were shocked that I knew these songs. I am not sure even the artists knew how big they were then. If it was on billboards, they would be competing for the number one, number two spots,” he added whiles interacting with Hitz FM’s Andy Dosty.

    Patoranking also maintained that it’s about time Ghanaians appreciated their work adding that the country’s entertainment industry has got a lot to offer.

    “If only they knew that the best visuals, the best videos are from Ghana. Not just videos, me being a ghetto boy, you know we just do street carnivals a lot during December and parties as well,” he stated.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • Let’s intensify education on HIV preventive measures – Dr Ayisi Addo

    Programme Manager at the National AIDS/STI Control Programme, Dr Stephen Ayisi Addo, wants education on HIV prevention to be heightened in the country until a cure or vaccine is discovered.

    This, according to him, is necessary to prevent new infections or reduce the number of positive patients.

    “We are calling on civil society groups, chiefs, religious and traditional leaders, to help to talk about HIV and AIDS in the communities so that we prevent new infections,” Dr. Ayisi Addo stated.

    Dr. Ayisi Addo, therefore, appealed to the public to support People Living with HIV and AIDS in the communities to help reduce stigmatization and discrimination.

    He noted that, unlike other health conditions, HIV was cumulative so anyone who tested positive would be adding to the numbers.

    Dr. Ayisi Addo made the call at the Ghana News Agency (GNA) Dialogue platform.

    The media platform allows state and non-state and commercial and business operators to communicate to the world.

    He encouraged people to access testing and not wait to fall sick before visiting the hospital, stating that there were about 380,000 people living with HIV in Ghana but not all of them were aware.

    In addition, he said that people living with HIV had the same life expectancy even more than other people because of treatment.

    Dr Ayisi Addo recommended that an enabling environment be created to motivate people to know their status and rather not point fingers at those who had declared their status or look down on them since that would cause them to hide and in effect place others at risk.

    The NACP Programme Manager also advised HIV patients on treatment to adhere to their schedule because if they took their medication, the virus was suppressed, undetectable and cannot be transmitted while when they withdraw the virus come back again.

    “The message now is there is treatment so even if you know your status, it is not a death sentence,” he said, stressing that whereas the face of HIV had changed, the problem persisted and there were conditions to continue to stay healthy even when one tested positive.

    Mr Francis Ameyibor, Regional Manager, Ghana News Agency, Tema, said the Agency had shaped itself as a catalyst for change to promote national development.

    Source: GNA

  • Results of the reduction in the cutoff for girls in STEM

    According to Bernice Mpere-Gyekye, national coordinator for the Ghana National Education Coalition Campaign (GNECC), the government’s affirmative action policy, which has lowered the cut-off point for girls who want to pursue different courses in the sciences at the senior high school (SHS) level, is starting to produce fruitful results. More girls have recently been admitted to category “A” schools.

    She said that in the recent years, many girls have been accepted to study science-related programs in the best schools in the nation. Some of these girls have also graduated with distinction and been accepted to continue studying these programs at the tertiary level.

    According to her, the initiative which is targetted at achieving Sustainable Development Goal five (SDG-5) – Gender equality, and empowering all women and girls, to end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere, has not only encouraged more girls to opt for the sciences but is also closing the gender inequality gap at the second cycle level.

    “At a point in time, we realised that we were achieving gender parity in education but at the basic level only because once the girl-child rises up in education, a lot of socio-cultural factors draw her back at the SHS and tertiary level.

    “So, the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) initiative is a programme that came in handy to help bridge the gap as government took a policy decision to drop the cut-off point for females to be able to enter the male-dominated space,” she said.

    Nonetheless, she emphasised that the drop-out rate at the SHS level is still high; therefore, more should be done to encourage girls, as well as made it flexible for them to transition into the STEM field.

    She commended government for the construction of girls’ STEM SHS’ across the country, emphasising that the schools would provide a more structured environment for female SHS students.

    Ghana has seen a rapid transformation and great improvement in girls’ access to education during the last decades. However, despite having reached almost complete gender parity in enrolment in primary and secondary education in 2019, girls are still under-represented in some subjects, and many still do not complete their education.

    Sub-Saharan Africa is the lowest-scoring region when it comes to gender parity in education, with an overall score of 54 percent against a global average of 75 percent. Not only in sub-Saharan Africa, but worldwide, there are still numerous barriers to girls’ education stretching far beyond mere access.

    While it is believed that Ghana will soon achieve gender parity at the second cycle of education level; it is not only enough to achieve that, but also important for the girl-child to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Madam Mpere-Gyekye, emphasised.

    Government introduced the Free SHS Policy in September 2017, and enrolment into Senior High School increased from 800,000 in 2017 to 1.3 million in 2022.

    Apart from the Free SHS Policy, the improvement in gender parity is due to government’s commitment to ensuring educational gender parity through a demonstrated Education Strategic Plan (2018-2030) with a priority on gender equality.

    The Educational Strategic Plan (2018-2030) will help improve equality through improving access, and help girls reach higher levels of education while operationalising new guidelines on addressing pregnancy among adolescent school girls with a primary focus on prevention, socio-emotional, and learning support.

  • Mohammed Salisu finally spotted at Black Stars camp

    Southampton defender, Mohammed Salisu, has been spotted with his teammates at the Black Stars camp in Paris.

    Fans were eager to see images of the defender after the Ghana Football Association reported that Mohamed Salisu has joined his mates in camp on Tuesday, September 20, 2022.

    The player was exempted from training with the team after he arrived in France to give him enough time to rest and recover from his trip.

    Mohammed Salisu is one of the six players the Ghana Football Association confirmed in July as new players of the Black Stars.

    The central defender is one of the players the GFA has been pursuing for months after Mohammed Salisu was reluctant to play for the Ghana national team.

    With his arrival in camp, coach Otto Addo is spoilt for choices when it comes to the defence.

    Mohammed Salisu could make his debut appearance for the Black Stars in their game against Brazil or Nicaragua on September 23rd or 27th respectively.

    Source;Ghanaweb

  • She is not my estranged wife, we are living together – Yul Edochie clarifies

    Nollywood actor and film producer, Yul Edochie, has opened up for the first time about his rocky marriage to May Yul Edochie.

    Recall that Yul Edochie made headlines when he announced his recent marriage to Judy Austin.

    She was a colleague, who birthed his fifth child, a son who just turned one.

    His relationship with his first wife went sour since she stood the grounds that she does not support polygamy.

    As May Edochie and Yul Edochie reunited, it appears that isn’t the case.

    This actor made this known while attacking blogger, Linda Ikeji.

    Linda Ikeji wrote about Judy Austin’s greeting to May on her birthday.

    The actor didn’t like Linda’s description of May as an estranged wife, which irritated him.

    source: mynigeria.com

  • 2022 World Cup: We must ensure Otto Addo’s tactics work – Captain Andre Ayew to teammates

    Black Stars captain, Andre Ayew, has entreated his teammates to believe and ensure Otto Addo‘s tactics ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

    The ex-international led the four-time African champions to book a place in the Mundial.

    Ghana cruised over Nigeria in a two-legged tie to return to the global showpiece with an away goal rule.

    Andre, who was named the skipper for the side in 2019 believes the Black Stars’ success at the World Cup in Qatar will hinge on making the tactics of Otto Addo work.

    “I think he took us to the World Cup in those two important games,” he told Accra-based Radio Gold.

     

    “We know that it was a longer journey than just those two games but those two games were the important ones and you know we managed to make it to Qatar.

    “So we have to make sure that we keep working, we follow his tactics, what he wants us to implement on the field, and to try to make it work.

    “It’s not going to be easy, it has not been easy but you can see that we are trying to implement his style, and bit by bit we are getting there so we will keep preparing and get ready for the next game,” he added.

    The Super Eagles held the Black Stars to a goalless draw at the Baba Yara Stadium before a 1-1 finish at the MKO Moshood Abiola Stadium.

    Ghana have been housed in Group H with Portugal, Uruguay, and South Korea for the global football showpiece starting in November.

    Source: footballghana

  • Security lapses have contributed to killings in Wa – Rashid Pelpuo

    The Member of Parliament for Wa Central, Dr. Rashid Pelpuo, said lapses in the security system in Wa have partly accounted for the killings witnessed over the past few months.

    He contends that weak intelligence gathering by officers gives perpetrators the liberty to carry out nefarious activities.

    His comments follow recent events of killings of private security officers and the discovery of dead bodies in Wa.

    Speaking to Citi News on the matter, Dr. Rashid Pelpuo said there’s a need to address the lapses in the system to effectively deal with the issue.

    “I suppose the security system is weak. There is no direct relation between exactly what they [criminals] are doing and what the security is doing.”

    “While the security officers are stopping people on the roads and stopping cars and blowing sirens on roads and searching cars and sometimes blowing sirens on the road, these people are quietly mapping out a plan and by the time anybody realizes, they have gone to an outskirt of the town and done their thing,” the MP said.

    Mr. Pelpuo also noted the role intelligence can play in improving security.

    “I think that this is beyond ordinary appearance of policemen on the street. There must be some intelligence deep enough to overcome what these people are doing. They are unable to match that intelligence with what is happening,” he said.

    Source: Citinews

  • MTN Business campaign shows how it gets #Businessdonebetter

    MTN Ghana today unveiled a brand campaign highlighting MTN Business, the continent’s top ICT provider, with the goal of becoming a dependable partner for companies as they go digital and ultimately achieving #BusinessDoneBetter across the whole of Africa.

    “We are aware that expanding a firm is challenging.
    Business executives frequently find it difficult to balance all of their commitments, according to Mr. Samuel Addo, Chief Enterprise Business Officer of MTN Ghana.
    “MTN Business’s role is to help them carry out the actions that have an impact and promote their growth, assisting them in doing so more effectively.”

    MTN Business provides the tools to shift small, medium, and large enterprises and multinational corporations, and those in the public sector to being modern, connected, and digital. These include Mobile as well as Fixed and ICT converged services i.e. managed network services; cloud services; unified communications; security solutions; and Internet of Things (IoT).

    Mr. Samuel Addo, Chief Enterprise Business Officer, said the plan was for MTN Business to become the empowering, leading ICT expert providing value to enterprise clients. Among our customer base, we already have more than Three thousand (3,000) enterprises that are instrumental in contributing to Ghana’s economic growth.

    Mr. Selorm Adadevoh said MTN Business also had a key role to play in realizing the MTN Group’s Ambition 2025: Leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress: “Building the largest and most valuable platforms is one of Ambition 2025’s four strategic priorities. Enterprise Services is one of MTN’s five platform businesses and operates under the ‘MTN Business’ brand.”

    Ambition 2025 targets MTN Group enterprise revenue of more than R30 billion by 2025. This compares to R16.6 billion in 2021. In the first six months of 2022, enterprise revenue accelerated, increasing by 26.8%* in constant currency terms to R9.9 billion. This was driven largely by MTN Business growth in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire. Ghana’s Enterprise growth was 44.9% for H1 2022 and revenue of R331m.

    African enterprises have a valuable role to play in addressing the continent’s most pressing challenges by providing much-needed jobs, products, and services. World Bank data shows that SMEs contribute up to 60% of all employment and as much as 40% of the GDP in emerging economies. This makes them the cornerstone of most economies in Africa.

    “We want to be the business enabler of choice in Ghana, meeting the communication and ICT demands of business clients throughout the country,” said Mr. Samuel Addo, Chief Enterprise Business officer. “With a customer-centric approach to providing cutting-edge services, we are doing this by leveraging our brand and advanced network as well our strong customer base of top companies across sub-Saharan Africa.”

  • OccupyGhana petitions RTI Commission over public lands

    OccupyGhana, a pressure group, has petitioned the Right to Information (RTI) Commission to order the Lands Commission to provide details on all public lands that the Commission had allegedly returned to owners.

    The petition dated September 20, 2022 and addressed to the Executive Secretary of the Commission, said the action had been necessitated due to the Lands Commission’s “conceivable trick to frustrate” access to the documents.

    The Group has, therefore, asked the RTI Commission to make the Lands Commission provide it (the Group) with a list of all public lands over, which Government’s ownership or control had been relinquished and the names of the persons to whom those lands had been released.

    They are also asking that the respective sizes and locations (suburbs, towns/cities, and regions) of all such lands, and the conditions of release, whether free, sale, lease or license be provided.

    OccupyGhana is also asking that the Lands Commission be made to tell the Group the amount of rent paid or payable, and any other amounts paid to or received by Government, if any, for the release of a land.

    According to the Group, the Lands Commission had purportedly returned some public lands to the original owners in compliance with article 20(5) and (6) of the Constitution.

    However, the Group said such action by the Commission was contrary to the Supreme Court’s ruling that those provisions did not apply to lands acquired before the Constitution came into force.

    “Checks with both the Lands Ministry and Lands Commission have confirmed that contrary to article 258(2), there is no government policy that authorises these alleged returns of lands to purported original owners,” the pressure group noted.

    The Group said it had between June 2 and September 15, 2022, engaged with the Commission to be given the needed information in line with the right to information and to be accounted to, as Ghanaians per constitutional provisions.

    It said reasons for, which the information had not been given included a demand to name an individual with whom the Commission would deal with, request for time to compile the information from the regions, and the calling for a meeting to discuss the Group’s concerns.

    According to OccupyGhana, the Commission also said it needed the advice of the Attorney-General on the request in the light of the provisions of the Data Protection Act and the Right to Information Act.

    “At this stage, we are concerned that unless and until compelled by the Right to Information Commission to do so, the Lands Commission will keep coming up with one unsustainable excuse after another,” the Group said, hence, the petition.

    Source: GNA

  • Goil sues Agortime-Kpetoe District Assembly over GH¢43,000 debt

    The Goil Company Limited is seeking legal action against the Agortime-Kpetoe District Assembly for non–payment of a debt to the tune of over GH¢43,000.

    The company is making claims for the recovery of money the district owes it since June 2021 and also general damages for inconveniences caused the firm.

    In a writ of summons sighted by Citi News, the Agortime Branch of  the Goil Company Ltd contends that the defendant through the Coordinating Director approached the company to supply fuel into about 17 vehicles of the district assembly on various occasions to enable them carry out their daily operations.

    Goil said it supplied fuel to the district to the tune of over GH¢73,000 out of which the assembly paid GH¢30,000 leaving the outstanding balance of over GH¢43,000.

    Source: Citinews

  • Kotoko new signing Eric Zeze set to make debut against Hearts after securing work permit

    Asante Kotoko new signing Eric Serge Zeze will be available for selection, as his working permit has finally been sorted out.

    The Ivorian midfielder is yet to make his debut since joining the Ghanaian giants this year on a free transfer before the end of the transfer window.

    Documentation issues has been the key factor why Eric Zeze Serge has been on the sidelines and unable to feature for the Porcupine Warriors.

    Asante Kotoko will face Hearts Of Oak in the match day 3 fixture at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in the Ghana Premier League after the painful exit from the CAF Champions League.

    The midfielder joined the Porcupine Warriors on a three-year deal as a free agent, keeping him at the club until 2025.

    Serge Zeze has been training with Porcupine Warriors since start of the pre Season. His performance during the trial period impressed the club’s technical team to earn him a contract.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • World Bank satisfied with expenditure of $430m for COVID fight – Country Director

    The World Bank says it is satisfied with the way the government spent the $430 million COVID-19 support from the Bretton Woods institution.

    The World Bank says the expenditure was in line with procurement requirements.

    The government has been accused of mismanaging COVID-19 provided by the World Bank to fight the pandemic.

    Speaking on TV3, World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, Pierre Frank Laporte, said “we know each and every dollar that is spent and accounted for.”

    “We have done audits. There are always a few things here and there and some documentation that needs to be followed, but largely, speaking, we are very satisfied that our resources were spent in line with the procurement requirements that existed.”

    “All the funds for COVID were not spent. There were immediate things to be spent on, but there was also construction and procurement of equipment. We don’t feel that our resources have not been properly spent,” Mr. Laporte explained.

    The money provided by the World Bank was for communication campaigns, the sensitization campaign, equipping labs, equipping new facilities to receive patients, among others.

    The World Bank further provided an additional $130 million for the purchase of vaccines.

    Source: Citinews

  • Man Drives in reverse over 16 kilometers in under 30 minutes, sets world record

    A 35-year-old man from India’s Tamil Nadu state recently set a new world record for the longest distance driven in reverse in under 30 minutes – 16 kilometers and 140 meters.

    During an event that took place last week at Edappadi Bypass in Tamil Nadu, Chandramouli, a passionate motorist from Salem district, managed to set a new world record by driving over 16 kilometers in reverse gear in under 30 minutes.

    The man, whose passion for driving cars goes back to when he was only 10 years old, practiced hard for the task, knowing that he had to beat the previous record set by 22-year-old Tesson Thomas from Pathanamthitta of Kerala, who had covered 14.2 km driving in reverse for 30 minutes.

    Chandramouli managed to blow that record out of the water, backing up for 16 kilometers and 140 meters in just 29 minutes and 10 seconds.

    Explaining why he decided to break this particular world record, Chandramouli said he wanted young people to understand the importance of safety. And while that may not make much sense at first sight, we all know how tricky driving in reverse, even for short distances, can be, especially in busy traffic.

    Although he practiced driving in reverse for the attempt, Chandramouli said he had to deal with excruciating neck pain throughout the 29 minutes and 10 seconds.

    The Indian motorist advised anyone wanting to attempt this record to take all safety precautions to avoid putting their own lives, and those of other motorists, in danger.

    Chandramouli may have broken the record for the longest distance driven in reverse in 30 minutes, but the record for the longest distance driven in reverse ever has been standing since 1984. That’s when Brian ‘Cub’ Keene and James ‘Wilbur’ Wright from the US drove their Chevrolet Blazer for 14,534 km in reverse, in 37 days, passing through 15 American states and parts of Canada.

    Driving in reverse seems to be pretty popular in India. A few years back we wrote a Punjab man who only drove his car in reverse.

    Source: Oddity Central

  • Following corporate default, GRA urges companies to send VAT invoices

    The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) urged companies on Monday to try to give the Commissioners Value Added (VAT) Invoice to their clients if they are registered with the Authority.

    The Authority stated that in order to issue a VAT invoice, taxpayers who are engaged in commercial operations and have registered must be registered.

    Many Means and Wasfal Enterprises, two wholesale stores in Nima that the team visited, were not issuing the VAT invoices when an examination was being done there.

    Since the officers at the Many Mean Enterprise were generating their own receipts, they had to steal the computer’s central processing unit.

    Mr Joseph Annan, Area Enforcement Manager of GRA in charge of Accra Central, told the Ghana News Agency that the organisation had clearly violated regulations of the VAT.

    He said the exercise or operations were part of an ongoing nationwide VAT Invigilation exercise by the Authority to retrieve some taxes due the State.

    The Enforcement Officer said during these exercises some of their officers were sent on the field to do mystery shopping and this gave them the idea that many of the shop owners were not issuing the right VAT invoice, thus infringing on the country’s tax laws.

    He said at Many Means Enterprise, some of the managers were handed over to the police for process for court, and “we will also assess them and apply all the interest and penalties and sanctios under our law.”

    Mr Annan said the exercise would run until the Authority restored sanity into the system, where people obey their tax obligations.

    He said instances where shop owners would want to issue their own invoices, they could apply to the Authority, where auditing would be done, and the necessary processes followed to enable them to issue their receipts.

    The Enforcement Officers said at Wasfal Enterprise, the owner of the shop was asked to report at the GRA Head Office.

    In a previous exercise on Friday, another team locked up the facilities of a plush event and trading centre ‘Delcon’ at East Legon in Accra for failing to honour their tax obligations to the state.

    The action by the GRA is to ensure that all revenues due to the state through taxes were collected.

    The GRA as part of the nationwide invigilation will continue to embark on mystery shopping exercises across the country to apprehend culprits evading tax.

  • I want to work hard so that I will get more opportunities – Nico Williams on Spain call-up

    Nico Williams, an athletic Bilbao attacker, showed his enthusiasm in his first call-up to the Spanish national team.

    The youngster revealed that he wants to work very hard so that he will get more opportunities under Luis Enrique.

    Spain is set to face Switzerland and Portugal during the international break.

    “My parents and family are proud of me. I have my feet on the ground. I want to work, let the mister see me. Thank you for this opportunity and give your best in the field,”

    Spain will take on Switzerland on Saturday 24th September in La Romareda.

    Nico Williams and his brother Inaki wrote their names in the history books of Bilbao when they scored against Rayo.

    Source: footballghana

  • Ghana’s fuel supply won’t run out anytime soon, according to the managing director of BOST

    Ghana won’t soon experience a fuel scarcity, according to the managing director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST).

    This follows previous predictions by certain petroleum analysts that Ghana would experience a fuel scarcity as a result of the cedi’s depreciation and the low levels of oil production on the global market.

    The BOST Managing Director revealed that the business has at least 13 days’ worth of fuel in its own reserve in addition to other private storage facilities during an interview with Accra-based Joy News.

    “We have tank farms across the length and breadth of the country. When I came back to check, we have almost 40 days in private storage plus the 13 days in BOST; so, we are nowhere near running out,” he is quoted by myjoyonline.com.

    Touching on calls for the scrapping of the nine pesewas BOST margin on petroleum products, Edwin Provencal said the move will rather have severe consequences on supply side of petroleum in the country.

    “If you talk about taking away the BOST margin because the BOST margin comes at a cost; that cost is a social cost. Don’t just take away the BOST margin, also take away that social cost – then you are being fair and comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges.

    “But you don’t say take away the BOST margin but BOST will continue to manage the depots in Bolga, in Savelugu, in Buipe, in Akosombo… it’s not fair. Private money does not do social project but BOST is mandated to do these things and they should come at a social cost,” he explained.

    Mr. Provencal continued, “And that cost is the BOST margin; so, if you leave it to me, a private sector person, I am going to shut down all these other depots and also operate solely in Accra [and] Tema.”

  • Deputy Mayor of Deauville visits Black Stars at Training

    The Deputy Mayor of the city of Deauville Philip Behuet has visited the Black Stars at their training ground ahead of Friday’s International friendly against France. He was in the company of the Director of Sports for Deauville Sebastien Delanoe and other key managers of the city.

    The visit was to officially welcome the Black Stars to Deauville and to wish the team well in the two friendlies against Brazil and Nicaragua.

    “We are blessed to have all of you visiting us. I hope the visit brings us a lot of luck in our games,” President Kurt Edwin Simeon Okraku said.

    For his part, Mayor Philip Behuet said the city has been very hospitable to visiting teams in the past.

    “You are welcome to the city of Deauville, this place is peaceful and hospitable so feel free, enjoy your stay and good luck to the team,” he said.

    “It’s a big secret that I am going to tell you: you have to know that all the teams that come here have great results.

    “We had Croatia coming in 2016 and we all know where they are now, we had the four finalists of the 14th FIFA Women’s World Cup train here and we had a basketball team going all the way in the World Cup and so we are sure with Ghana it will be the same.

    “It’s a big honour to have you here, thank you for choosing Deauville,” Mayor Behuet added.

    Deauville is a seaside resort on the Côte Fleurie of France’s Normandy region. An upscale holiday destination since the 1800s and it’s known for its grand casino, golf courses, horse races and American Film Festival.

    The Black Stars have been training at Stade du Commandant Herbert in Deauville since Monday, September 19, 2022.

    Ghana will play Brazil in Le Harve on Friday, September 23 before facing Nicaragua on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, in another friendly in Lorca- Spain.

    Source: ghanafa.org

  • Isak Kwaku Hien reveals why he ditched Ghana for Sweden

    Sweden-born Ghanaian, Isak Kwaku Hien, has revealed why he chose the European country over the Black Stars despite Ghana qualifying for the World Cup.

    Hien, who was also eligible to represent Burkina Faso, insists it was an easy choice since he was born in Stockholm.

    The Hellas Verona defender earned his first invite for the Nations League games against Serbia and Slovenia this week.

    “It wasn’t really a very difficult choice. It was kind of fun that Ghana was going to the World Cup, but it is perhaps the worst World Cup of all World Cups,” he said as quoted by aflonbladet.se.

    “I was born and raised in Sweden and have always wanted to play for Sweden, so it was nothing I was stressed about. If a few years had passed and you were getting older, you might have thought about it, but for me it wasn’t this collection or anything but that I thought I was waiting for my chance in Sweden,” he added.

    Hien expressed delight after receiving a call from national team coach Janne Anderssen.

    “He called and wanted to hear how I reasoned with the different national teams that I had to choose from. Then I explained that I don’t feel any stress, I want to play for Sweden and I have always wanted to,” he said.

    Source: Ghanasoccernet