TIG Post

Author: Chris Kodo

  • Hotel, aviation sector hardest hit by coronavirus – ICU leader

    General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) Solomon Kotei has revealed that the hotel and the aviation sectors of the economy are the areas of most affected by the impact of Coronavirus.

    He explained on the Sunrise morning show hosted by Alfred Ocansey on 3FM 92.7 Wednesday that these sectors mostly rely on foreigners and others who travel around the world.

    Therefore, jobs have been lost following the closure of borders and other entry points into the country.

    As part of measures to curtail the spread of the virus in Ghana, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Ado closed all entry borders and points into the country “until further notice”.

    Mr Kotei said: “The hardest hit so far is the hospitality sector and the aviation sectors because these businesses they have over 80 percent of their activity being supported by foreigners who come in and those who actually give them the rate of occupancies in their various hotels.

    “As of these times that the planes are not coming in, what we have experienced in this sector is that those who supply the planes with foods and juice have closed down, they been declared redundant and be paid off. So the job losses begin from this particular angle.

    “For them, both the casual workers and the regular workers had been sorted out and we are concluding negotiations to get them paid off.

    “To the big hotels, they are hoping that at least by September some kind of level of activity that can give them self-sustaining operations will take off.

    “We have said as ICU that around September-October, we will see the real impact of COVID-19 in the area of job losses.”

    Source: 3 News

  • Northern region is tired of conflicts Salifu Saeed to politicians

    Northern Regional Minister Salifu Saeed says the security apparatus in the region will deal ruthlessly with anyone caught fomenting trouble in the run-up to the 2020 elections.

    Mr. Saeed who was speaking to the media said the chiefs, as well as the people in the region, are tired of conflicts, hence they have resolved to deal with anyone who comes into the area to invite the youth to engage in violence.

    He said, “I have spoken to the chiefs, opinion leaders, and the youth and they all say we are tired of the conflicts.

    “We have worked together and now we are enjoying peace in Northern region. So we are telling any politician who leaves his region or constituency to come here to cause trouble that we are criminalizing their acts and we will deal with them”.

    The regional minister who seemed unhappy with some political elements in the country said the region is enjoying an influx of investors due to the peace currently prevailing in the area.

    He added, “we have worked so hard and now there is peace here so investors are rushing in hence we will not sit down and allow trouble causers to send us back.”

     

    Source: Starr FM

  • NDC puts Supreme Court in tough position

    It is very certain that our highest court of the land once again finds itself in a tough grounds due to the brilliant submissions of the NDC and an even difficult situation compared to the election petition case of 2016.

    Some civil and public associations have been on the nerve of the Supreme Court to make the hearing public due to the public’s interest in the case.

    Justices may posses its own basis and debates which are influenced by great philosophers and ideologist, the greater good of the country remaining calm and the sanctity of the apex Court are of much greater concern and comes in to play and not just the arguments put forward by the various counsellors.

    The first part of the submission by NDC through their lawyers seeks to get a definitive position on whether the EC can compile another register after the initial one is compiled. If the answer is yes, it opens the flood gates for the EC to compile registers at will but will still require the second part of petition to be considered.

    On the other hand, if its a no, it settles the matter and we all go home and work with the existing register being grateful we do not have to look for coins for our friends and relatives to go and pay for documents so that they can queue in this Covid-19 rising season of an average of 300 positive cases a day, in order to register.

    If the second part of the NDCs petition is further considered, the SC in my estimation will again have a difficult task as per the arguments the EC has put out. In the event that it goes in favor of the EC, there will be far reaching effects and implications such that:

    a. all the activities of the commission since its existence will be null and void.

    b. if at anytime the EC feels it has sufficient dissatisfaction with its own work, it can elect to compile a new register

    c. the EC has judicial powers

    d. It makes irrelevant the provisions for Adjudication.

    e. Nullifies the essence of concensus building when Adjudicating.

    f. this current commission’s activities are to be without blemishes or human errors which is virtually impossible.

    g. elections for the first time in Ghana will not be Free and as such cannot be fair.

    h. the SC is likely to contradict its own stance.

    One vital Constitutional test the SC will have to contend with will be whether by its judgment, elections in Ghana will be Free and Fair or a reserve or the previlaged few who can afford.

    From my layman’s opinion, it costs money to obtain a passport or birth cert which implies that, if I need any of these to get a voters ID, in effect, am paying to vote and only those with such disposable incomes will be able to pay and the least expensive of all is GH70.00 for a birth certificate.

    A judgement in favor of the EC will further imply that, a state institution has been giving unfettered powers that could open it up to multiple litigations and could be a dangerous precedence in our judicial system and to say the least, could result in an embarrassment to the apex court.

    In a larger breadth, such a ruling will open up the judicial process allowing for multiples suits in the various courts surrounding illegitimacy and illigalities referencing the side stepping of internal procedures that resultated in one incedent or the other.

    The EC in its defense also argues that its pre 2012 voters cards are of dubious standard in the sight of the EC. Even though the SC did not grant that as a relief in the Abu Ramadan case.

    So a critical questions are:

    1. What is the interest of the EC in presenting itself, as without flaws today.

    2. What is the assurance that if even there were such malpractices within the EC, such will not return because we have seen errors in communication, one too many, which themselves are signs of incompetence.

    The EC by its conduct is also spitting on all the political parties and actors who through years of deliberations and considerations helped build consensus on such issues of shortcomings in order for us to forge ahead as a people in unity and strength.

    In paragraph 29 of the EC’S submission, they disgracefully attempt to interpret the laws of the Supreme Court which in itself smacks of disrespect and disregard for the authority of the apex house.

    They didn’t stop there but went ahead to cry more than the bereaved (forgetting they are referees) to determine by themselves (without concensus with stake holders) through the quotation of their regulations and comparing that to their actions and inactions, and in the absense of sufficient evidence of extent of infractions or any adverse effect on the players who are the beneficial owners of the electoral process, to declare their own actions as fruits of a poisonous tree. Where do they glee such powers from?

    It is sad and unfortunate that we are seeing these entrenched positions from non but the referee of the elections. Such a posture or positioning places the actions of the EC beyond its mandate.

    The potential effect of a referee being a regulator and player is the interference these conflicting roles creates and for a sensitive election like that which decides the President, the EC must ensure that, the elections are free and fair.

    On the other hand, should the SC decide that, no, halt all these process and go into concensus building and try again next year to be without flaws, the over 10m Ghanaians who are estimated to loose their votes will be safe, assured and their rights protected and upheld.

    We passionately wait and pray for Godly wisdom and devine understanding for our SC judges as these tough times test their judgement at the highest. History will be made today Thursday June 11th.

    Source : JCWap

  • Ghanaians have adopted the ‘Jesus syndrome’ too much! – Reggie Rockstone

    Veteran Ghanaian rapper, Reggie Rockstone has blasted Ghanaians for their apathy and lack of support towards music arts in the country.

    According to Reggie Rockstone, affectionately called ”grandpapa of Hiplife”, many Ghanaian music lovers tend not to appreciate their own music talents and rather hail Nigerian musicians over Ghanaian musicians.

    Dancehall artistes Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy have had beautiful collaborations with great foreign music talents like American music superstars Beyonce and Keri Hilson respectively, but it appears they’re not getting the buzz they expect from music lovers in the country.

    Stonebwoy, in particular, has had to go an extra mile to promote his sound tracks.

    The enthusiasm surrounding the work that these musicians and others in the country have done is not as profound as the euphoria that accompanies Nigerian arts.

    Recently, there were talks about Nigerian music star Davido to feature American rapper Nicki Minaj and as expected, a lot of Ghanaian music lovers didn’t disappoint at all as they used their social media platforms to throw a spotlight on the collaboration, sending their congratulatory messages.

    The exuberance to which the country’s music fanatics give to Nigerian music is one of the headaches of Hiplife legend, Reggie Rockstone.

    Juxtaposing the interest and support of Ghanaian music lovers towards local music and Nigerian music, Reggie Rockstone wasn’t impressed by the attitude of Ghanaians.

    He believes Ghanaians are an epitome of the biblical quote ”a prophet has no honor in his own country”.

    Reggie Rockstone, speaking in an interview with Nkonkonsa.com, called on Ghanaians to show a higher level of patriotism for Ghana’s music industry by patronizing and pushing the brand and works of the country’s musicians.

    ”Ghanaians have adopted the Jesus syndrome a little bit too much…With Nigeria, Nigeria has a serious level of patriotism. Their level of patriotism is unrivaled. Look, let me give you an example. A few years ago, if you spoke about Nigeria, it was about 419. It was synonymous with 419 but look at what Afro Beats did. It’s done a PR job for them. Now, when you mention Nigeria, they’re talking about Afro Beats…So, Ghanaians are what we call in New York; dick riders!…They’re not gonna do for themselves but they wanna talk about the next person”, he stressed.

    Watch his full interview below:

    Source: Peace FM

  • Todays newspapers front pages

    Daily Graphic

    Daily Guide

    The New Crusading Guide

    The Daily Statesman

    The Chronicle

    Business and Financial Times

    Ghanaian Times

     

     

  • High demand for food pushes inflation up, hits 11.3%

    The general price levels of goods and services, according to Ghana Statistical Service, have further increased in the month of May following price hikes by traders due to the coronavirus pandemic effects.

    General prices increased by 0.7 of a percentage point over the previous month, as it recorded 11.3 percent in May 2020 largely driven by food and non-alcoholic products, and water, electricity and gas.

    Both the food and non-alcoholic products, and water, electricity and gas recorded the same inflation rate of 15.1 percent. The non-food basket also followed the same trajectory as it recorded 8.4 percent inflation compared to the 7.7 percent recorded the previous month.

    Inflation for imported goods was 4.8 percent, while the inflation of local goods was 14.1 percent on average. This is the highest rate of local inflation and the lowest rate of imported goods inflation since the rebasing in August 2019, with the main contributor to local inflation being locally produced foods.

    This could be a result of high demand for food as a chunk of the population have remained at home to observe the COVID-19 protocols, thereby putting pressure on food producers to deliver as importation is no longer coming in due to closure of borders. And as a general rule of economics, the higher the demand, the higher the price hence reflecting in the high inflation rate of locally-produced items.

    At the regional level, the year-on-year inflation rate ranged from 3.1 percent in the Upper East Region to 13.3 percent in the Greater Accra Region. Ashanti (12.8 percent), Eastern (12.8 percent), and Western Region (12.1 percent), all recorded inflation rates above the national average of 11.3 percent.

    Last month, a surge in inflation from 7.8 percent to 10.6 percent, coupled with the pandemic impacts on the economy, prevented the Bank of Ghana from further cutting the policy rate.

    According to Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, the jump in inflation points to an elevated risk to the inflation outlook, which may result in the rate peaking in the second quarter; hence, it is prudent to hold the policy rate at the current 14.5 percent.

    “The recent rise in inflation is projected to peak in the second quarter and begin returning to the disinflation path in subsequent quarters, with inflation settling within the medium-term target band by the end of the year.

    “On the growth outlook, baseline projections show a sharp downturn in GDP growth; with the economy operating below capacity in the medium-term. Under the circumstances, and given the balance of risks to inflation and growth, the Committee decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 14.5 percent,” he said at a meeting with journalists in Accra.

    Source: B&FT Online

  • MoFA cautions vegetable farmers against misuse of agro-chemicals

    The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has cautioned farmers against the misuse of agro-chemicals on vegetables to protect themselves and consumers from food poisoning.

    Mr Michael Kumah, the Ahafo Regional Plant and Protection Officer of the Plant Protection Research Services Directorate (PPRSD) of the MoFA advised vegetable farmers to check labels of agro-chemicals when they buy and applied them accordingly.

    Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of a stakeholders meeting held at Duayaw-Nkwanta in the Tano North Municipality of the Ahafo Region on Tuesday, Mr Kumah regretted some wholesalers aided ignorant vegetable farmers to misapply agro-chemicals on their crops.

    This, the buyers believed was the right method of storage as misuse of the chemicals on the crops protected the vegetables like lettuce, cabbage, okra, and tomatoes from getting rotten.

    The meeting was attended by representatives from the Ghana Standard Authority (GSA), Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), MoFA, and farmers.

    It is in line with a project being implemented by the Nyamebekyere Cooperatives Vegetable Farming and Marketing Society Limited, a farmer-based organisation in the Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo Regions.

    The Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BuSAC) Fund is sponsoring the six-month advocacy project at the cost of Gh¢ 70,000.00 and aimed at helping to remove all bottlenecks impeding the growth and development of the vegetable production industry.

    It is also expected to help improve on the farming efficiency of the food production system and increase income levels of the more than 10,000 members of the society and expand access to ensure sustainable and quality agro-chemical supply to farmers to increase vegetable production.

    Mr Kumah indicated that the misapplication of agro-chemicals on vegetable farms was dangerous since the crops become contaminated leaving residues in the human system after consumption.

    This he said becomes poisonous overtime for consumers to develop health complications.

    He said the government had engaged more extension officers across the country and advised farmers to make use of them by engaging the officers frequently.

    Dr Gabriel Gbiel Benaakuu, BuSAC Service Provider, called on stakeholders to collaborate, brainstorm, and deliberate seriously on the possible way to fight the influx of fake, adulterated, and harmful agro-chemicals in the vegetable industry.

    Mr Elia Opoku Afriyie, the Chairman of the Society, noted many vegetable farmers could not differentiate between fake and genuine agro-chemicals when they went to the market to buy.

    The problem is seriously affecting vegetable production as farmers produced low and poor-quality yields, he added.

    Source: GNA

  • Import records 4.8% inflation in May, lowest since August 2019

    Inflation of imported goods was 4.8%, while the inflation of local goods was 14.1% on average in May 2020, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), has announced on Wednesday, June 10.

    According to the GSS, this is the highest rate of local inflation and the lowest rate of imported goods inflation since the rebasing in August 2019.

    Month-on-month inflation for imported goods was 0.8%, while month-on-month inflation for local goods was 2.1%. The main contributor to local inflation was the inflation of locally produced foods.

    Meanwhile, the GSS said the overall year-on-year inflation ranged from 3.1% in the Upper East Region to 13.3% in Greater Accra, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), has announced on Wednesday, June 10.

    The GSS said when comparing Food to Non-Food inflation, there are clear differences between regions.

    Ashanti (22.3%) and Western Region (19.8%) had the highest rates of Food inflation, while Eastern Region saw the highest Non-Food inflation (12.8%).

    The Upper East, Northern, Eastern, and Volta Regions experienced higher Non-Food than Food inflation, the opposite was true for the other six regions.

    The month-on-month inflation rate between regions also differ.

    The overall month-on-month inflation was between -1.5% in the Volta Region and 3.9% in the Ashanti Region.

    The Western Region recorded a month-on-month Food inflation rate of 6.9%, while the Volta Region saw a decrease of -3.3%.

    Greater Accra saw overall month-on-month inflation of 0.7% and a Food month-on-month inflation of -0.4%. See Figure 5, for the other regional month-on-month inflation rates.

    The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Division recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 15.1%. This is 0.7 percentage point higher than April 2020 (14.4%) and 7.2 percentage points higher than the average over the eight months preceding March 2020 (7.9%).

    This translates to Food being the predominant driver of year-on-year inflation. Food contributed 58.6% of the year-on-year inflation in April 2020.

    Month-on-month Food inflation stood at 2.3%, which is less than the 6.4% that was recorded between March 2020 and April 2020.

    The Division with the highest month-on-month inflation between April and March 2020 was Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas (4.3%).

    In the previous two months, the majority of Divisions recorded higher month-on-month inflation rates than the average month-on-month inflation rates between October 2019 and March 2020.

    Month-on-month Transport inflation was on average +0.3% between October 2019 and March 2020, but -1.7% between March and April and 0.6% between April and May. Within the Food Division, Vegetables (34.9%) and Fruits and Nuts (21.5% ) were the Subclasses with the highest rates of inflation.

    For the Housing Division, the Subclasses Rents Paid by Tenants (21.0%) and Refuse Collection (48.9%) recorded the highest inflation rates. Month-on-month Transport inflation was negative due to the month-on-month price indices decreases for Diesel (-10.9%) and Petrol (-8.7%).

    The national year-on-year inflation rate was 11.3% in May 2020, which is 0.7 percentage points higher than last month, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), has announced.

    Month-on-month inflation between April 2020 and May 2020 was 1.7%, the GSS added.

    This is lower than the 3.2% recorded between March and April 2020, but higher than the average month-on-month inflation recorded in the months October 2019 to March 2020 (0.7%).

    Only two of the thirteen Divisions had higher than average inflation rates; Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas (both 15.1%).

    Source: laudbusiness.com

  • Don’t participate in EC’s new registration exercise – Ofosu-Ampofo tells Ghanaians

    The Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo has charged members of the party to reject the call to participate in the Electoral Commission’s (EC) mass voters registration exercise scheduled to begin on June 30, 2020.

    Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said the party was against the compilation of the new voters’ register because the atmosphere in the country was not conducive for the exercise.

    “We say no to the new register and even if Parliament passes the legislation we will not accept it. We are not just against it because they will not accept the old voter card but because the whole atmosphere in the country is not conducive,” he said.

    The NDC National Chairman was addressing a gathering of party members and executives at the NDC headquarters in Adabraka in Accra on Wednesday.

    The gathering was to mark the 28th anniversary of the formation the NDC which contested its first national elections in 1992.

    The flag-raising ceremony had in attendance former President and flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr John Dramani Mahama who hoisted the NDC flag at the ceremony.

     

    Source: Peace FM

  • NDCs Sosu promises total development in Madina

    Popular human rights lawyer Francis Xavier Sosu, who is the Parliamentary Candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Madina Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, has given the assurance that he would bring total development to the area if elected as its Member of Parliament (MP) in the December 7 polls.

    He says he is capable of reaching out to people regardless of cultural differences or background to ensure development in the area.

    The renowned lawyer disclosed this on Yensempa on Onua FM on Tuesday, disclosing that he has already started supporting people just that he requires political potency to do more.

    Mr. Xavier Sosu told host Nana Yaw Opare that there are certain decisions that requires political influence hence his determination and inspiration to win the December 7 elections as an MP to empower him take bold decisions in supporting the vulnerable.

    He revealed that Madina has a voting population of about 130,000, yet it has infrastructural deficit in the areas of health, education and road.

    He stressed, however, that though MPs do not construct roads and build schools and hospitals, he could lobby through his office in ensuring these developments are brought to Madina.

    “I am looking at a day as a Member of Parliament, you could rally behind the people to demonstrate against a government for the purposes of social infrastructure and that is possible because you are the voice of the people.”

    Mr. Xavier Sosu took a swipe at the current Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for La-Nkwantanan-Madina Jenifer Dede Adjebeng, describing her performance as abysmal and appalling.

    He revealed that the Assembly at the time the NDC was leaving office was ranked 2nd in terms of performance but currently ranked at 13th, which proves that the government has failed woefully.

    Lawyer Sosu asserted the change Ghanaians voted for has turned out to be a change of tyrannical rule, economic doldrums and hardships, adding that about one million people have lost their jobs under this government.

    He thus entreated the general public especially those eligible to vote to oust the NPP government and bring NDC into power to continue its good works.

     

    Source: 3 News

  • Landlords threaten to evict health workers over fears of contracting Covid-19

    Some landlords at New Edubiase in the Ashanti region have threatened to evict health workers for fear of contracting Covid-19.

    According to the Medical Superintendent of the New Edubiase Government Hospital, the attitude of some landlords is worrying, especially at a time when health workers need the utmost support from citizens.

    Dr Allan Tiertoore indicated that the landlords are suspicious of potential spread of the virus by health workers to other tenants when they return home since they are in regular contact with patients.

    He threatened that if a single health worker is evicted it would compel the entire staff to boycott services and return to their various communities.

    “If they evict one health worker, they have evicted all of us from the hospital.”

    New Edubiase has so far recorded three Covid-19 cases which health workers say they are working tirelessly to prevent from spreading.

    Chief of New Edubiase Traditional Area, Oguahyia Oduro Panin Birikorang has also called on residents to unite and remain focus in order to be able to fight the disease.

    As part of measure by the traditional council to help the health facility fight the pandemic, the chief has donated ₵27, 000 worth of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to the hospital.

    The items include 4,000 facemasks, 1,000 hand gloves, 600 bottles of sanitizers, among others.

    Oguahyia Birikorang admonished residents to adhere to preventive measures outlined by health officials.

    Source: myjoyonline 

  • Koforidua: Bees chase away MP, DCE, others from event

    The Member of Parliament for New Juaben North, Nana Adjei Boateng, the Municipal Chief Executive, Comfort Asante and a host of other dignitaries including traditional rulers were forced to run for cover as a swarm of bees attacked them at the Koforidua community centre where a public function was being held.

    Two of the victims are said to be receiving treatment at the Koforidua St. Joseph Hospital.

    Some other persons who were not severely affected have since been treated and discharged.

    The incident occurred on Wednesday, June 10, 2020, when the dignitaries gathered to launch rehabilitation works at the Community Centre.

    Citi News gathered that the swarm of bees have been occupying portions of the ceiling at the Community Centre for years.

    The incident however brought the event to an abrupt end.

    Officials of Zoomlion Ghana Limited later helped to successfully disinfect the Community Centre and the Asokori Township following information about the attack.

    According to the Eastern Regional Manager of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, George Agudey, some persons at the meeting were fortunate to take cover in some offices.

    He said the community centre is now safe.

    “We received an emergency call from the MCE of the New Juaben North Municipal Assembly concerning bees that had invaded an ongoing program at the Asokori Community Centre. So I quickly called my men and then we picked the appropriate chemical and moved there. When we got there, there was no one there, everyone had run for their lives. We armed ourselves and made sure we were able to drive the bees away. As of now, the place is safe for any other business,” he said.

    He confirmed that two people were being treated at the hospital.

    “Two people are on admission at the hospital, while others were hurt, but they are not on admission. Those who were lucky were able to take shelter in some of the rooms, and after the exercise, they were able to come out,” he added.

  • #BlackLivesMatter vigil: Ernesto Yeboah charged, faces court today

    Convenor of the Economic Fighters League, Ernesto Yeboah, who was arrested at a Black Lives Matter vigil held in Accra last Saturday, will face the court today, Thursday, June 11, 2020.

    Ernesto Yeboah has been charged on two counts failing to notify the Police about the vigil and breaching E.I 64.

    “The charges were that I did not notify the Police which was a lie and that the E.I was also breached which was also false. Before anyone entered the space, we were hand sanitized, our ushers were there to do that and if you came without a mask, you will be given one.”

    “We were just about 60. We knew who and who was coming. There was a list. I have been charged on these two counts. On Thursday at 8.30, I will be in court and my lawyers will be there with me to begin the case,” he told Bernard Koku Avle on the Face to Face on Citi TV.

    I sat 14 hours throughout the night

    Ernesto Yeboah said he “sat for 14 hours throughout the night” at the Police Station, following his arrest.

    “The Police officers tried as much as possible not to make things difficult for me. Nobody questioned me. It was in the morning that charges were pressed [against me].”

    He pointed out that he has “no regrets for holding the vigil because the group did nothing wrong.”

    “All we did was to follow laid down procedure and it is not new to us. It is something we have been doing. If there is any dishonesty that we have been pointing at it is what you are seeing now, that the state and the Police all coming down to clamp down on good people. This is not an Ernesto Yeboah versus the state case. It is the people versus the system.”

    Mr. Yeboah was arrested and detained at the Accra Central Police Station after the police and military disrupted a vigil they were organizing at the Black Stars Square last Saturday.

    The Police had said the vigil was not authorised, a claim Ernesto Yeboah has denied.

     

    Source: citinewsroom 

  • New Register Saga: You can even petition NATO for all we care – Kwamena mocks NDC

    Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan has asked the National Democratic Congress to send their grievances about the Electoral Commission (EC) to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, popularly called NATO.

    The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has vehemently registered their displeasure with the posture of the Electoral Commission on the compilation of a new voters’ register.

    The party leadership and members have dragged the Commission to the Supreme Court to seek clarifications whether or not the Commission is acting according to their constitutional mandate and also for the court to direct the EC to include the old Voter’s ID card.

    The NDC is also said to have petitioned the United Nations and ECOWAS about the conduct of the electoral management body as they accuse the Commission of planning to rig the 2020 elections for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the governing New Patriotic Party.

    Addressing the issue on Peace FM’s Wednesday edition of ”Kokrokoo”, Kwamena Duncan held that the NDC petitioning the UN and ECOWAS will not change anything, particularly when Parliament has approved the EC’s Constitutional Instrument (C.I) 126.

    Peace FM’s Parliamentary correspondent, Emmanuel Akorli, noted that Parliament, by a majority decision, approved the report of the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation on the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (C. I 126) to allow the Instrument to come into force after 21 sitting days of Parliament which matured on Wednesday, 10th June 2020, following the laying of the C.I 126 before Parliament on 31st March 2020.

    Ninety-two (92) members voted against the adoption of the committee’s report while 106 members of the Majority side of the House voted in support of the C.I.

    ”It gives legal backing to the plans by the EC to compile a new registration of voters. By C.I 126, the Electoral Commission is excluding or prohibiting the use of a driver’s license or the existing voter identification card as evidence of identity in the registration of a voter as contained in the existing Constitutional Instrument ( C.I 91 ) and allow the use of Ghana Card issued by the NIA and passport for registration as a voter”.

    In view of this, Kwamena Duncan ridiculed the NDC’s petition before the UN and ECOWAS asking ”have they sent some to NATO?”

    ”They should sent some to NATO…I’m not surprised that they have gone as far as to the United Nations. That’s all good but eventually, it is the law. If you go to the United Nations, if you go to the moon…wherever you go, it’s all the law. And the United Nations is not only in America, they have their representatives here. All the embassies are following proceedings in the country. Likely, for us, all the representatives that they have written those copious letters to them attend all the meetings, they know what is going on. So, it’s not going to the United Nations that will prove anything, it is the law. Abide by the law. You’re not above the law”, he emphasized.

    Source: Peace FM

  • Akufo-Addo will be termed as dictator if he runs Ghana like Rwanda – A Plus

    Talk of African countries with the most inspiring success story; and Rwanda will be on the top.

    Political activist, Kwame Asare Obeng, popularly known as A Plus, has been speaking about the Ghanaian perspective towards governance in the East Africa nation of Rwanda.

    According to the founder of The People’s Project (TPP), some Ghanaians prefer that President Akufo-Akufo runs Ghana same way Rwanda is being run by President Paul Kagame, a man whose reign has resulted into the country’s success stories some 26 years after genocide.

    But A Plus feels there will chaos in the democratic atmosphere should the Ghanaian leader copy the ‘undemocratic’ style of his Rwandan counterpart.

    He said Nana Akufo-Addo will be termed as a dictator if he rules Ghana the Kagame way, believing that there cannot be developments in a democratic dispensation without stepping on toes.

    Read his full write-up:

    Everybody wants a Rwanda in Ghana nobody wants a Kagame in Ghana. If HE Nana Akufo Addo should run Ghana like Kagame is running Rwanda, there will be serious uprising in Ghana. He will be called a dictator. But everybody wants Ghana like Rwanda.

    Wanting development and democracy at the same time is like wanting to stay a virgin and give birth through sexual intercourse.

    Wo p3 sisi mu d3 san p3 atiko nwhi at the same time. Boi.

    Source: Ghana Guardian

  • Taskforce formed to ensure safe re-opening of schools Education Minister

    The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has set up a special taskforce to ensure the safe re-opening of schools for final year students.

    Among other duties, the taskforce will oversee the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and also ensure strict enforcement of COVID-19 safety protocols.

    Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, who made the announcement, said this is to ensure a safe academic environment.

    “The President has set up a special team under the office of the Senior Minister with the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service,  Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, the Director-General of Military Logistics, the Deputy Director-General of Police welfare, the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Local Government to coordinate with the distribution of logistics and ensure that schools reopening happen safely and securely.”

    “We do know that COVID-19 has brought to bear the need to embrace blended learning because we are getting into a new normal and it is imperative that the universities and all Ghana Educational Institutions adopt blended learning.”

    Schools in the country were ordered to shut down in March 2020 as part of measures to limit a further spread of the novel Coronavirus [COVID-19] in the country.

    The President subsequently gave a directive on Sunday, May 31, 2020, for schools to be reopened for only final year students to prepare and enable them to take their final examinations.

    Final year SHS students will be in school on Monday, June 22, 2020, while final year JHS students will resume on Monday, June 29, 2020.

    Universities will also reopen for final year students on June 15, 2020.

    The Minister earlier issued some guidelines for the reopening of schools.

    Full guidelines for Junior High Schools

    • Re-opening on Monday, June 29, 2020
    • Final Year Students (JHS 3) only
    • Eleven Weeks of Academic work and then one week for BECE
    • All classes to be split No more than 30 students in a class
    • Classes will be from 9 am to 1 pm each day (Reduced School Day)
    • No breaks outside the classroom
    • Schools will have enhanced daily health protocols
    • Schools will be unavailable for religious activities
    • No sports or sporting events

    Guidelines for Senior High Schools

    • Re-opening on Monday, June 22, 2020
    • Final year students (SHS 3) and SHS 2 Gold Track only
    • Six weeks of academic work then five weeks for WASSCE
    • All classes to be split No more than 25 students in a class
    • All day students in Boarding Schools will be in boarding
    • Day schools will have enhanced daily health protocols
    • Dining will be in batches in boarding schools
    • No visitors allowed
    • Schools are unavailable for religious activities
    • No sports and sporting events

    Guidelines for Tertiary institutions 

    • Re-opening on Monday, June 15, 2020
    • Final year students only
    • Six weeks of academic work and four weeks for exams
    • Split all classes
    • Private tertiary institutions are to provide to NCTE
    • Number of Staff
    • Number of Final Year Students
    • All Non-MoE educational institutions are also expected to re-open on Monday, June 15, 2020
    • Foreign Students who are outside the country and are identified will be allowed to return granted their country will allow them to exit.

    Source: citinewsroom 

  • Ghana’s coronavirus case count now 10,358 with 3,824 recoveries

    Ghana has recorded 157 new cases of the novel Coronavirus.

    This has pushed the country’s confirmed cases to 10,358.

    As of Thursday, June 11, 2020, the official website of the Ghana Health Service indicated that 69 persons who tested positive for the virus have recovered pushing the recoveries count to 3,824.

    The death toll, however, remains at 48.

    The Ghana Health Service stated that active cases of COVID-19 is now at 6,486.

    Per the regional case count, the Greater Region has recorded 121 new cases bring the case count in the region to 6,642. The Eastern Region has also recorded 23 new cases sending the case count to 198 whilst the Volta Region has recorded 4 new cases of the virus sending the case count to 162.

    Oti Region has also recorded 9 COVID-19 new cases sending the total case count of the virus to 47.

    Find below the count of cases per Region.

    Greater Accra Region – 6,642

    Ashanti Region – 1,799

    Western Region – 778

    Central Region – 539

    Eastern Region – 198

    Volta Region – 162

    Western North Region – 74

    Oti Region – 47

    Upper East Region – 42

    Northern Region – 37

    Upper West Region – 22

    Bono East Region – 13

    North East Region – 2

    Savannah Region – 1

    Bono Region – 1

    Ahafo Region – 1

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

  • Good, quality wee; who is your pusher? – Baako asks prophet who threatened to kill EC boss

    A self-styled preacher, Prophet Kwabena Owusu Agyei who was recently arrested for threatening and castigating President Akufo-Addo and the Electoral Commission Chairperson, Jean Mensa has been remanded.

    In a video which is widely circulated on social media, the Prophet was arrested at what appears to be his home (coded location) during a live interview with Accra based Hot FM.

    In another video that came after the arrest, the prophet was seen in handcuff holding a substance suspected to be Indian Hemp wrapped in a brown paper; reportedly found in his bag.

    The Managing Editor of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Kweku Baako in a panel discussion on Peace FM morning show ‘Kokrokoo’, had an interesting remark.

    Watch his reaction below

    Source: Peace FM

  • Journalist narrates how prophet who threatened to kill EC boss was arrested

    Host of “Maakye’ morning show on Accra-based Hot 93.9FM; Isaac Boamah Darko has a given a vivid description of how the self-acclaimed Pastor and Sympathizer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) ‘Apostle’, Kwamena Owusu Agyei who threatened to kill the chairperson of the Electoral Commission(EC) Jean Mensa was arrested on Tuesday, 9th June, 2020.

    Apostle Kwamena Owusu Agyei, was arrested by some officers of the National Security while granting a live interview with Boamah Darko on Hot 93.9FM at a hideout at Greda Estate in Accra.

    Explaining what led to the arrest on his show “Maakye”, Boamah Darko stated that they wanted to make him retract his statement and apologize to Mrs Jean Mensa and President Akufo-Addo for the unpleasant statements he made about them but it ended up not as planned.

    The “Maakye” morning show host expressed his disappointments in some Ghanaians for saying he planned the arrest of Apostle Agyei because that wasn’t the motive behind the interview.

    He emphasized candidly that, “We made sure no one was aware of the location of Apostle Agyei during the interview and was even shocked when the BNI arrived at the Premises for the interview”.–adding that”, We even asked the security men who came to him for their arrest warrant and ID cards”.

    Watch below his narration on Radio.

    Source: hotfmghana.com

  • Remember this guy in Apocalypto? See recent pictures of him as he’s changed now

    The movie Apocalypto, was very famous in its early stage of release.. It’s about a young man, jaguar Paw who was captured together with his fellow kinsmen by another invading clan. They were brought to a Mayan city for human sacrifice and only Jaguar Paw escaped execution.

    The movie grossed over one hundred and twenty million dollars ($120M) worldwide and received Review mostly positive.

    Jaguar Paw, whose real name is Rudy YoungBlood was born in a small town in Texas, he grew up with his younger sisters. Their dad was not around so they were brought up by their mother.

    He also learned skills like brick laying, carpentry, brick laying and others. He was offered scholarships in art and also track and field but he instead choose native dance.

    Check out some of his recent pictures below.

    Rudy Youngblood arrested for being drunk and disorderly | Daily Mail Online

    Rudy Youngblood from Apocalypto. He was SO good in it, not sure why he's not in more stuff! So pr… | Rudy youngblood, Native american actors, Native american movies

    Source: Xttyfame

     

  • Two dead as fire rages after India gas well blowout

    Two workers have been found dead near the site of a huge fire ignited by gas that has been spewing from an oil field in India for two weeks, officials said Wednesday.

    A wall of flames and smoke continues to roar into the sky a day after the gas triggered an explosion at the well run by state-owned Oil India in the northeastern state of Assam.

    “Unfortunately, we have lost two dedicated oilmen in the line of duty. Their bodies were found from the pond nearby,” Oil India spokesman Tridiv Hazarika told AFP.

    Hazarika said the men were Oil India staff operating at the site as company firefighters and appeared to have jumped into the water at the time of Tuesday’s blast.

    Another firefighter suffered minor injuries.

    The military and national disaster response personnel along with around 200 engineers and workers – including experts from Singapore – are aiming to stem the leak within four weeks, Oil India said.

    Assam’s Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said he had briefed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the situation.

    There has been no official statement on how much gas has escaped but the company said it was flowing “uncontrollably”.

    The well was producing 100,000 standard cubic metres of gas per day from a depth of 3,870 metres (4,234 yards) before the blowout in late May, according to Oil India.

    Just one kilometre from the well is Maguri-Motapung wetlands, an ecotourism site. State-owned sanctuary Dibru Saikhowa National Park – an area known for migratory birds – is about 2.5 kilometres away.

    Locals and environmentalists say gas condensate is covering the wetlands and nearby waterways, and that dead fish along with the carcass of a dolphin has been found.

    A 1.5-kilometre exclusion zone has been created around the site of the blowout, with about 2,500 people evacuated from their homes.

    Source: france24.com

  • Shatta Wale and Joint 77: SM boss seizes car he gave ex-Militant after their clash on Hitz FM (video)

    Shatta Wale has seized a Toyota Camry car he bought for Joint 77, one of his sacked SM Militants, after their banter on Hitz FM on Wednesday, June 10, 2020.

    Shatta Wale earlier on Wednesday morning clashed with Joint 77 on Hitz FM’s Daybreak Hitz with Andy Dosty.

    Joint 77 had gone to the studio for an interview while Shatta Wale was called in on the phone to talk about the circumstances leading the sacking of the Militants.

    After a lot of back and forths and heated exchanges, it emerged that Shatta Wale had gifted Joint 77 a Toyota Camry before his sack.

    The Dancehall stalwart then went ahead to state that he was going to take his car back because Joint 77 had disrespected him.

    True to his words, Shatta Wale has gone ahead to order the seizure of Joint 77’s car.

    In a video sighted by YEN.com.gh, some uniformed policemen in the company of people known to be close Shatta Wale stormed the offices of Multimedia Group where the interview was being held to take back the car.

     

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    Shatta Wale sends police to seize car he bought for sacked SM Militant Joint 77 after they clashed on Hitz FM

    A post shared by Maame Adwoa Amponsaah (@sweet_maame_adwoa) on

    The clash on radio and the subsequent seizure of the car comes just a few weeks after Shatta Wale announced that he had sacked SM Militants namely Addi Self, Joint 77, and Natty Lee.

    In a Facebook live video, Shatta Wale revealed that the trio as mentioned above had been plotting evil about and it had taken one other SM Militant, Captan, to tip him off.

    Angered by the information, Shatta Wale came on social media to blast them and expose their ingratitude.

    Source: yen.com.gh

  • US cop show cancelled after George Floyd death

    One of America’s longest running reality TV cop shows has been cancelled amid nationwide protests against police brutality over George Floyd’s death.

    Cable network Paramount said it had no plans for Cops, which first aired more than three decades ago, to return.

    The future of another reality ride-along cop show, Live PD, is in doubt.

    The A&E cable TV network hit has been engulfed by controversy since the death of another unarmed black man who was heard pleading: “I can’t breathe.”

    Cops ran for 25 years after first being broadcast on Fox in 1989, before it was taken up by Paramount’s predecessor, Spike TV, in 2013.

    Its 33rd season had been due to air on the ViacomCBS-owned network on Monday.

    A Paramount spokesperson told US media on Tuesday: “Cops is not on the Paramount Network and we don’t have any current or future plans for it to return.”

    The show was temporarily pulled from air late last month as protests gathered pace over the death of Floyd, an unarmed black man who died on 25 May in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after a police officer knelt on his neck. He was heard saying: “I can’t breathe.”

    Since Floyd’s death, some activists and opinion writers have called for cop shows to be yanked from air.

    They have argued that the genre portrays police officers as action-heroes and stigmatises African-American communities.

    The future of Live PD, another programme that follows police on patrol around the nation, is also uncertain.

    Last week the A&E cable network pulled episodes and said it was evaluating whether to bring the show back.

    A&E said its decision was out of “respect for the families of George Floyd and others who have lost their lives”.

    Live PD is under scrutiny following last year’s death of Javier Ambler, a black man from Texas.

    The 40-year-old father-of-two died on 28 March 2019 following a 22-minute police chase that ended in the city of Austin.

    Live PD was filming sheriff’s deputies when the pursuit began.

    Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore has accused A&E of failing to hand over its video footage of Ambler’s death to investigators.

    Williamson County deputies reportedly began chasing Ambler because he failed to dim his headlights to oncoming traffic.

    Police body-camera video shows Ambler – who had been on his way home from a poker night with friends – on the ground with several officers.

    Ambler tells the sheriff’s deputies he has congestive heart failure and repeatedly says: “I can’t breathe.”

    A post-mortem examination said Ambler died of congestive heart failure and hypertensive cardiovascular disease associated with morbid obesity “in combination with forcible restraint”.

    The death was ruled a homicide.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Mumbai overtakes Wuhan peak as India Covid cases spike

    India’s financial capital, Mumbai, has recorded 51,000 cases of COVID-19, taking it past the peak in Wuhan, where the virus first emerged.

    The news comes amid a surge of infections in India, which has 266,598 confirmed cases.

    Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, has 90,000 of them.

    Infections are also spiking in the capital Delhi, where authorities have said they expect to see more than half a million cases by the end of July.

    The surge coincides with India’s decision to relax restrictions after three months of a stringent lockdown that was intended to curb the spread of the virus.

    On 8 June, shopping malls, places of worship and offices were allowed to reopen. Before that, shops, market places and transport services had all been allowed to operate as well.

    But experts say that there was no other option but to lift the lockdown, which exacted a massive economic toll on the country.

    Millions have already lost their jobs and livelihoods, businesses are shutting down, and the fear of hunger drove masses of daily-wage migrant workers to flee cities -mostly on foot because public transport was halted overnight.

    Many of them died of exhaustion and starvation, in what has been called a human tragedy.

    For weeks, India’s relatively low Covid-19 numbers had baffled experts. Despite the dense population, disease and underfunded public hospitals, there was no deluge of infections or fatalities.

    Low testing rates explained the former, but not the latter. The hope – which also encouraged the government to lift the lockdown – was that most of India’s undetected infections would not be severe enough to require hospitalisation.

    But the number of rising cases shows that the country could simply be witnessing a late peak in cases, experts say.

    What is concerning them however, is that even though states were using the lockdown period to ramp up health facilities, hospitals in major cities are being overwhelmed. There are allegations that many patients with Covid-like symptoms are being turned away.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Japan MPs pass record coronavirus budget

    Japan’s powerful lower house of parliament approved an emergency budget worth nearly $300 billion Wednesday, doubling the scale of measures to pep up the world’s third-biggest economy after the coronavirus tipped it into recession.

    Consumer spending has slowed to a crawl despite Japan’s relatively low infection numbers and the death toll from the pandemic, prompting the first economic downturn since 2015.

    In response, lawmakers approved a second exceptional budget of 31.91 trillion yen ($297 billion), including subsidies for smaller businesses and cash handouts for medical workers.

    The budget bill will be sent to the upper house and is widely expected to be enacted as early as Friday.

    The cash – to be raised by issuing bonds – will also be used to help finance rescue programmes and loans for struggling businesses.

    The government said the size of the package, including loans and investments in addition to actual fiscal spending, is worth about 117 trillion yen, nearly the same size as the first extra budget enacted on April 30.

    Combined with that initial stimulus package, Japan’s total measures amount to 230 trillion yen when loan schemes are taken into account.

    That is a whopping 40 per cent of GDP – trumpeted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as the world’s biggest virus programme – and pushes Japan’s debt-to-GDP ratio up to 257 per cent, noted Naoya Oshikubo, a senior economist at SuMi TRUST.

    “It will be worth it to drive the recovery,” said Oshikubo.

    “The two supplementary budgets alone should push up real 2020 GDP by three points. In addition, the state of emergency has now ended across Japan and the economy is set to improve,” added the economist.

    Rescue measures include subsidies to help small companies pay rent, subsidies for companies paying leave allowances to their employees, grants to medical workers and grants to help drug and vaccine development.

    Japan had recorded 17,251 coronavirus infections and 919 deaths as of Tuesday – a fraction of the toll seen in global hotspots.

    But a spike in infections prompted Abe to declare a nationwide state of emergency, handing regional governors the power to ask people to stay indoors and call for businesses to close.

    He lifted the emergency declaration last month but said it would take “quite a long time” for the country to fully return to normal.

    The first extra budget that passed on April 30 included cash handouts for every resident and money to help boost the production of much-needed masks for medical workers.

    Source: france24.com

  • George Floyd’s niece: ‘This is not just murder, but a hate crime’

    Brooke Williams, the niece of George Floyd, spoke at her uncle’s funeral in Houston, Texas.

    She remembered Mr Floyd as spiritually grounded and an activist and said that ‘justice would be served’ for him as long as she is breathing.

    Ms Williams added that the laws were designed to disadvantage black people.

    Mr Floyd died in Minneapolis in May as a white police officer held a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

    Derek Chauvin has made his first court appearance, where he faces charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. Three other arresting officers are charged with aiding and abetting murder. They have all since been fired.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Pakistan turns locusts into chicken feed to tackle the invasion

    Chickens in Pakistan have been feasting on captured locusts under an initiative to combat swarms of the insects that are threatening food supplies in the impoverished country.

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has endorsed plans to expand a pilot project in the breadbasket province of Punjab, where villagers earned cash by gathering locusts that were then dried out, shredded and added to poultry feed.

    Farmers are struggling as the worst locust invasion in 25 years wipes out entire harvests in Pakistan’s agricultural heartlands, leaving people scrambling for income.

    Muhammad Khurshid from Pakistan’s food ministry and biotechnologist Johar Ali set up the programme, drawing on efforts in war-ravaged Yemen, where authorities have encouraged people to eat the protein-rich locusts amid famine.

    The pair chose Punjab’s Okara district, where farmers had not used any pesticides that would make locusts unsuitable for consumption.

    “We first had to learn, and then teach the locals how to catch the locusts. Nets are useless against them,” Khurshid told the AFP news agency.

    At night, locusts cluster on trees and plants, making them easy to scoop up as they lie motionless in the cooler temperatures until the sun begins to rise.

    For a reward of 20 rupees (12 cents) per kilogramme (roughly two pounds) of locusts, locals worked all night to collect them.

    One farmer who lost all her crops to the insects said she and her son earned 1,600 rupees ($10) during a single locust-gathering outing, helping to offset the financial damage.

    Organisers struggled at first to convince farmers to join the hunt but, by the third night, word had spread, and hundreds joined in – turning up with their own bags to stuff full.

    With 20 tonnes of captured locusts, authorities ran out of money to pay the collectors and the programme was paused.

    The ministry, which recently announced the results of February’s pilot, is now preparing to expand the project to other locations.

    The harvested locusts went to Hi-Tech Feeds – Pakistan’s largest animal-feed producer – which substituted 10 percent of the soybean in its chicken food with the insects.

    “There was no issue with the feed, the locusts have a good potential for use in poultry feed,” general manager Muhammad Athar said, after trying the modified product on 500 broiler hens.

    Nationwide emergency

    While the project is not a solution to the devastation inflicted on crops, it can provide hard-hit farmers with a fresh revenue stream and relieve pressure on authorities struggling to distribute locust-beating pesticides.

    Locust swarms have gnawed their way through crops across East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and parts of India this year, and experts fear their numbers will explode as monsoon rains arrive this month.

    The crisis is so severe that the government has declared a nationwide emergency and appealed for help from the international community.

    Bananas, mangoes, vegetables and other crops are all vulnerable – raising fears of food shortages – as are the wheat and cotton harvests that provide Pakistan with vital revenue.

    According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, Pakistan could suffer about $5bn in losses if 25 percent of its crops are damaged.

    A reduced harvest could also push prices up and risks worsening food insecurity.

    About 20 percent of the population are already undernourished, with almost half of all children under five stunted, according to the World Food Programme.

     

    Source: aljazeera.com

  • Sweden identifies man who killed PM in 1986

    Swedish prosecutors have named the man who they say killed former Swedish prime minister Olof Palme in 1986, ending years of mystery.

    They identified the suspect as Stig Engstrom, also known as “Skandia Man”, who killed himself in 2000.

    As a result they are closing the investigation into Palme’s death, Chief Prosecutor Krister Petersson said.

    Palme was shot in the back as he walked home from the cinema with his wife Lisbet in Stockholm.

    He had dismissed his security team earlier in the day. The assassination took place on Sweden’s busiest road and more than a dozen witnesses saw a man fire the shots before fleeing the scene.

    Thousands of people have been interviewed over his death. A petty criminal was convicted of the killing but the verdict was later dismissed.

    What did the prosecutor say?

    “The person is Stig Engstrom,” Mr Petersson told a news conference. “Because the person is dead, I cannot bring charges against him and have decided to close the investigation.”

    “How he acted was how we believe the murderer would have acted,” he added.

    Mr Petersson said Stig Engstrom had not initially been a focus for the investigation, but when investigators looked into his background they found he was accustomed to using weapons, having been in the army, and was a member of a shooting club.

    In his local area he was also part of a circle of critics of Palme’s policies and relatives said he had a negative view of the prime minister.

    Engstrom had long running financial problems and a growing problem with alcohol, Mr Petersson said.

    Who was Stig Engstrom?

    Stig Engstrom became known as Skandia Man as he had worked for the Skandia insurance company. He had been working late on the evening of the murder at the the firm’s HQ close to the crime scene.

    Engstrom, who was one of some 20 people who witnessed the assassination, eventually killed himself in 2000.

    He was first identified as a suspect by journalist Thomas Pettersson, and police started looking into Engstrom 18 years after his death. It was suggested Engstrom had killed Palme because of the prime minister’s left-wing views.

    He lied about the moments after the murder, even claiming he had tried to resuscitate Palme. It later emerged he had had weapons training.

    Stig Engstrom’s ex-wife told Expressen newspaper in 2018 that she had been questioned by detectives in 2017. At the time she said the suspicion of his guilt was out of the question.

    “He was too much of a coward. He wouldn’t harm a fly,” she said.

    How was Olof Palme murdered?

    The Swedish prime minister had discharged his guards on a Friday night on 28 February 1986 and had gone to the cinema with his wife Lisbet, their son Marten and his girlfriend.

    Walking with his wife after the film on Stockholm’s busiest street, Sveavagen, they were attacked by a gunman from behind.

    Palme, 59, was shot in the back and died instantly. Bullets were recovered at the scene from a .357 Magnum handgun, but the gun was never found.

    Why was no-one caught?

    One man did go to jail. Convicted criminal Christer Pettersson – who has no connection to the prosecutor – was identified in a line-up by Lisbet Palme and jailed for life in 1989.

    But he was quickly released on appeal as no motive had been established and no weapon retrieved. Pettersson died in 2004.

    Who were Palme’s enemies?

    A charismatic prime minister who led Sweden’s Social Democratic party, Plame was also outspoken on several international issues.

    At home he had infuriated business owners with reforms and spoken out against nuclear power.

    He was critical of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and the US bombing of North Vietnam and had attacked South Africa’s “gruesome” regime of apartheid.

    What theories have there been?

    The case has dogged Swedish police for decades. For years it obsessed renowned author Stieg Larsson, who wrote The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

    Among the theories put forward over the years, Palme was assassinated because:

    -He stood up against apartheid and funded the African National Congress (ANC) – Swedish police travelled to South Africa in 1996 to investigate the claim

    -Palme had discovered that Swedish arms firm Bofors had used bribery to set up an Indian weapons deal

    -Palme’s government had declared the Kurdish militant PKK group terrorists

    Lisbet Palme died in 2018 without knowing conclusively who murdered her husband.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Bulldog reportedly arrested over unhealthy remarks against the Ghana Police Service

    Artiste manager, Hanson Asamoah known as Bulldog has been reportedly arrested over derogatory comment about Ghana police service.

    The popular entertainment pundit who doubles as an artiste Manager disrespected the police service during an interview on Okay Fm.

    According to the loudmouth commentator, he explained that his 9 month old daughter has knowledge and smarter than the law enforcement agency.

    His unhealthy comment about the police came up after his encounter with police personnel sometime back.

    Our sources reveals that he was picked up by the police and still in the grips of the police service.

    He has however been instructed to retract his unhealthy comment which was spewed and signed a bond not to repeat such statement.

    Source: ghgossip.com

  • China reports progress in swine fever vaccine trials

    A vaccine developed in China for African swine fever, which devastated the country’s pig herd and caused pork prices to soar, is progressing smoothly, according to results reported on Wednesday.

    The widespread outbreak of swine fever since August 2018 has disrupted the supply of pork in China, where it is a staple meat, with millions of animals culled.

    The disease wiped out about 40 per cent of the country’s pig herd, causing prices to rocket as officials struggled to stabilise supplies.

    Authorities have since been looking into means of preventing the disease, and the vaccine strain passed a national review in December 2019, according to a report by the China Science Daily posted on the website of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS).

    In March, the vaccine was approved by the agriculture ministry for clinical trials in northern Heilongjiang province, central Henan province and northwest Xinjiang region.

    Clinical trials of the vaccine developed by the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute were seeing “smooth progress”, according to the CAAS.

    About 3,000 pigs are involved in the ongoing trials, launched between April and June, with the animals in “good condition”, said the report.

    Vaccinated sows have not shown abnormal clinical conditions or miscarriages, and the pigs have not made any toxic discharge of the vaccine.

    Since the immunisation, the fatality rate has been under one per cent, and the immunised herd has not shown significant differences to the control group.

    The CAAS is expected to “accelerate the development of the vaccine” in the next step.

    Source: france24.com

  • US dictionary Merriam-Webster to change its definition of racism

    The American reference dictionary Merriam-Webster will change its definition of the word racism at the suggestion of a young black woman, who wanted it to better reflect the oppression of people of colour.

    Kennedy Mitchum, a recent graduate of Drake University in Iowa, contacted Merriam-Webster, which has published its dictionaries since 1847, to propose updating the term.

    “I basically told them that they need to include that there’s systematic oppression upon a group of people,” she told the local CBS affiliate KMOV. “It’s not just, ‘Oh, I don’t like someone.’”

    Merriam-Webster’s editorial manager Peter Sokolowski confirmed to AFP that the definition would be modified after Mitchum’s request.

    The dictionary currently offers three definitions of racism, and Sokolowski said that the second definition touches on Mitchum’s point — but that “we will make that even more clear in our next release”.

    In the current version of the second definition, racism is “a doctrine or political program based on the assumption of racism and designed to execute its principles,” and “a political or social system founded on racism.”

    “This is the kind of continuous revision that is part of the work of keeping the dictionary up to date, based on rigorous criteria and research we employ in order to describe the language as it is actually used,” Sokolowski said.

    One of the dictionary’s editors told Mitchum that the definitions of other words “related to racism or have racial connotations” would also be updated, without specifying which ones.

    “We apologize for the harm and offence we have caused in failing to address this issue sooner,” the editor wrote, according to a message published by Drake University and retweeted by Mitchum.

    The Merriam-Webster site, where the definitions are available for free, had nearly 50 million unique visitors in May, according to the SimilarWeb site.

    Merriam-Webster’s Twitter account has also become a viral hit in recent years, with Buzzfeed calling it “the sassiest dictionary on Twitter”.

    Source: france24.com

  • Renewables booming but not enough to meet climate targets – UN

    The world added 12 percent more clean power capacity in 2019 than the year before, but new renewable energy planned over the next decade falls far short of what is needed to forestall dangerous global warming, the UN warned on Wednesday.

    An additional 184 gigawatts (GW) of renewable power – mostly solar and wind – came online last year, according to the Annual Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment report, jointly issued by the UN Environment Programme and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

    One gigawatt is similar to the capacity of a nuclear reactor.

    Total investment in renewables in 2019 was $282.2 billion, led by China ($83.4 bn), the United States ($55.5 bn), Europe ($54.6 bn), Japan ($16.5 bn) and India $9.3 bn), with a record 21 countries each spending at least $2 billion.

    Developing nations – not including China and India – poured an unprecedented $59.5 billion into clean energy.

    The rapidly falling cost of solar and wind power – less expensive in most electricity markets than coal – means more bang for the buck, the report showed.

    Investment in 2019 was the same as the year before but yielded an additional 20 GW of installed capacity.

    But measured against the Paris climate treaty target of capping global warming at “well below” two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the transition to clean energy is not happening nearly fast enough, the report said.

    The 826 GW of new renewables planned by 2030 – at a cost of about $1 trillion – is only a quarter of the roughly 3,000 GW required to keep us on track for a 2C world, it concluded.

    Investment is lagging as well – more than $2.7 trillion were committed to renewables during the last decade.

    “Clean energy finds itself at a crossroads in 2020,” said BNEF chief executive Jon Moore, one of the report’s authors. “The last decade produced huge progress, but official targets for 2030 are far short of what is required to address climate change.”

    ‘Ever-falling price tag’

    When the current health crisis eases, he added, governments must not only boost renewable power but the decarbonisation of transport, buildings and industry.

    The huge amounts of cash mobilised to jump-start economies stalled by COVID-l9 lockdowns is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to close this “renewables gap” in investment, the authors argue.

    “If governments take advantage of the ever-falling price tag of renewables to put clean energy at the heart of COVID-19 economic recovery, they can take a big step towards a healthy natural world,” said UNEP executive director Inger Andersen.

    “This is the best insurance policy against global pandemics.”

    But the transition from a brown global economy to a green one is strewn with obstacles.

    Investment in renewables last year, for example, was barely half the amount governments spent to subsidise fossil fuels, according to a report last week from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

    Combined subsidies for both consumption and production last year totalled $478 billion in 77 economies, the two intergovernmental agencies found.

    That’s an 18 percent drop compared to 2018, but the decrease was due mainly to lower oil and gas prices.

    Indeed, subsidies for fossil fuel production in 44 countries increased 38 percent last year, OECD figures showed.

    “I am saddened to see some backsliding on efforts to phase out fossil fuel support,” OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria said in a statement.

    Source: france24.com

  • Australia goes 24 hours without a local transmission

    For the first time since the crisis escalated, the country has avoided seeing any locally-spread cases.

    Official statistics for yesterday recorded only two new infections in the previous 24 hours.

    Both involved people in quarantine in New South Wales who recently returned from overseas, local media reported.

    Since imposing a lockdown in March, Australia has successfully curtailed the virus. In total, it has had 7,267 cases and 102 deaths.

    Restrictions are steadily being lifted – this week will see the return of the Australian Football League (AFL), a week after the National Rugby League restarted. Small numbers of fans will be permitted to attend two AFL games.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Remains found in Idaho missing children case

    Police investigating the disappearance of two children in Idaho last year have found what they believe to be human remains.

    Joshua “JJ” Vallow, who was then seven, and his sister Tylee Ryan, 17, have not been seen since September 2019.

    Their mother, Lori Daybell, was arrested in Hawaii in February.

    The remains were discovered at the home of Mrs Daybell’s current husband, Chad Daybell, but have not yet been identified.

    Mr Daybell was taken into custody on Tuesday in Rexburg, Idaho, police said.

    He is an author who has written several apocalyptic novels loosely based on Mormon religious teachings, and the couple have been involved in a group that promotes preparing for the apocalypse. The organisation, Preparing A People, has denied being a “cult”.

    Three suspicious deaths have also been linked to the case.

    US mother held in bizarre missing children case
    The children’s mother Lori moved to Idaho from Arizona in late August 2019 after her then-husband, Charles Vallow, was shot dead by her brother, Alex Cox.

    Cox claimed the shooting had been in self-defence. He died of unknown causes in December.

    Lori then married Chad Daybell in October, just two weeks after the death of Chad Daybell’s wife Tammy.

    According to her obituary, Tammy Daybell died of natural causes, but police ordered that her body be exhumed after Mr Daybell’s quick remarriage.

    In November, police were called by the grandparents of one of the children to check on the family at their home in Rexburg. Officials say they later learned that Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan had not been seen for months.

    Authorities say Mrs Daybell gave misleading answers to investigators’ questions and outright lied about their whereabouts and even their existence. She left town the following day. Authorities searched a nearby storage unit, and found clothes and toys that appeared to belong to her children.

    She was arrested in Hawaii on charges including child abandonment and contempt of court in February, after missing a January deadline to deliver her children to authorities. Police at the time warned that the children were in danger.

    According to divorce documents filed by her late husband, Charles Vallow, before his death, Mrs Daybell believes she is “a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming in July 2020”.

    She also allegedly threatened to kill him if he got in her way, claiming she had “an angel there to help her dispose of the body”. He took out a protection order following the threat, court documents show.

    He described her as “infatuated and, at times, obsessive about near-death experiences and spiritual visions”, and said she refused to see a therapist because “they would discover that she is a translated being”.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Freed Taliban prisoners eye return to the battlefield

    Afghan authorities are opening prison doors for thousands of Taliban inmates in a high-risk gambit to ensure the insurgent group begin peace talks with Kabul.

    Security concerns are mounting as many of the newly liberated fighters say they are ready to resume their holy war.

    “If the Americans do not pull out, we will continue our jihad, because they have killed many Afghans in their operations,” said Mohamed Daud, who was freed from Bagram jail north of Kabul last month.

    “We do not want foreign forces in our country anymore,” he told AFP, dressed in a traditional shalwar kameez, before taking a taxi back to his village with a cash handout from authorities worth $65.

    US forces arrested Daud, 28, in the northwest province of Faryab nine years ago.

    Afghan authorities accelerated the planned release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners, including Daud, as a “goodwill gesture” after the insurgents called a three-day ceasefire to mark the Eid holiday.

    Those released include members training to be suicide bombers, suicide vest makers, kidnappers and even foreign fighters, a security official said.

    The move is part of a larger prisoner swap agreed as a precursor to peace talks starting.

    Before their release, inmates were required to sign a pledge that they would not pick up arms again. It is increasingly clear such commitments mean little.

    A Taliban commander in Pakistan told AFP there should be “no ambiguity” that the released men will eventually be deployed to Afghanistan’s front lines.

    “It’s an ongoing jihad, and will continue until and unless we reach some sort of agreement with the Kabul government,” he said.

    Several other freed insurgents say they remain angry at US troops, but under a US-Taliban deal signed in February, the insurgents committed to stopping attacking American and foreign forces as they withdraw from the country by next year.

    The immediate enemy is instead the struggling Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF), with whom no such pledge has been made.

    ‘Additional leaders, fighters’

    A key concession Washington extracted from the Taliban during negotiations was the requirement to begin peace talks with Kabul.

    In return, the Afghan government must release 5,000 insurgent inmates while the Taliban pledged to free 1,000 security force prisoners.

    Since the swap started, Afghan authorities have freed 3,000 Taliban inmates while the insurgents have released more than 750 government prisoners, officials said.

    It could represent a boost of up to 10 per cent for the Taliban’s fighting force, with estimates on the number of insurgents ranging between 50,000 and 100,000.

    Afghan security officials said the US did not consult them as Washington and the Taliban finalised the prisoner swap.

    The Taliban heralded the US deal as proof they have defeated America in its longest war, and the bluster has only grown in recent months.

    “Politics and negotiations should not be taken to mean that we will neglect jihadi affairs and the strengthening and development of our jihadi military force,” Taliban deputy leader Sirajuddin Haqqani said in a broadcast last week.

    The Taliban now find themselves in a win-win situation – even if peace talks with Kabul fail.

    With its key donor calling the shots, the Afghan government had no choice but to yield to Washington’s demand to proceed with the exchange.

    Still, some observers hold out hope for successful peace talks that would bring an end to Afghanistan’s 19-year-old war.

    “These talks hold a better hope for a lasting ceasefire than any other current approach,” said Andrew Watkins, an analyst with International Crisis Group.

    “Swift initiation of talks is the best way to eliminate that threat.”

    No start date has been set for the talks.

    Source: france24.com

  • George Floyd’s funeral hears calls for racial justice

    The funeral of George Floyd, an African American whose death in police custody spawned global outrage, has heard impassioned pleas for racial justice.

    Speakers in the church in Houston, Texas, lined up to remember a man whose “crime was that he was born black”.

    Mr Floyd died in Minneapolis last month as a white police officer held a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes, his final moments filmed on phones.

    Four police officers involved have been sacked and charged over his death.

    His coffin was taken from the church driven in a motorcade to the Houston Memorial Gardens where he was to be buried beside his mother.

    One of Mr Floyd’s nieces, Brooke Williams, called for a change in laws which, she argued, were designed to disadvantage black people.

    “Why must this system be corrupt and broken?” she asked. “Laws were already put in place for the African-American system to fail. And these laws need to be changed. No more hate crimes, please! Someone said ‘Make America Great Again’, but when has America ever been great?”

    Republican President Donald Trump’s Democratic opponent in the November presidential election, Joe Biden, addressed the service in a video message, saying: “When there is justice for George Floyd, we will truly be on our way to racial justice in America.”

    Mr Biden has sharply criticised Mr Trump, accusing him at the weekend of making “despicable” speculative remarks about Mr Floyd.

    But the Democratic politician was himself recently accused of taking black American votes for granted when he said African Americans “ain’t black” if they even considered voting for Mr Trump.

    What did they say at the funeral?

    The service was held at the Fountain of Praise church, attended by some 500 guests including politicians and celebrities.

    “George Floyd was not expendable – this is why we’re here,” said Al Green, the local Democratic congressman. “His crime was that he was born black.”

    Veteran civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton told the service: “All over the world I see grandchildren of slave masters tearing down slave masters’ statues.”

    Talking about Mr Floyd’s difficult life, he said: “God took the rejected stone and made him the cornerstone of a movement that’s gonna change the whole wide world.”

    In Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz called on people to honour the funeral by observing silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the time Mr Floyd was pinned to the ground before he died.

    Mr Floyd’s coffin was taken to a cemetery in Pearland, south of Houston for a private burial ceremony. For the last mile of the procession, it was conveyed in a horse-drawn carriage.

    Barriers were erected along the route to allow members of the public to pay their respects safely as the procession passes.

    His body was on display at the church for six hours on Monday.

    Memorial services were also held in Minneapolis and North Carolina, where Mr Floyd was born.

    What did Biden say about Floyd’s family?

    After visiting the family on Monday, the Democratic candidate told CBS: “His little daughter was there, the one who said ‘daddy’s going to change the world’, and I think her daddy is going to change the world.”

    “I think what happened here is one of the great inflection points in American history, for real, in terms of civil liberties, civil rights and just treating people with dignity.”

    Floyd family spokesman Benjamin Crump, who tweeted a photo of the meeting, said Mr Floyd’s relatives welcomed Mr Biden’s comments.

    “That compassion meant the world to this grieving family,” he added.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Boy with autism found after Australian mountain ordeal

    An Australian boy who was missing for two nights on a mountainside in near-freezing conditions has been found safe and well, police say.

    William Callaghan, a 14-year-old with non-verbal autism, became lost during a family walk at Mount Disappointment, in Victoria, on Monday.

    His family had raised concerns that his inability to verbally communicate may hinder search efforts.

    He was found on Wednesday near the peak of the mountain.

    Rescuers said William had been located about 10 minutes off a bush track – he did not have his shoes but was wearing tracksuit bottoms and a hooded sweatshirt.

    It was not yet known if William had access to food, water or shelter on the mountain, located 80km (50 miles) north of Melbourne. Temperatures had neared 0C in the past two nights.

    He appeared to be “remarkably well for the time that he’s been out there”, said Insp Christine Lalor of Victoria Police.

    She told reporters he had been taken to hospital for monitoring, adding: “He’s alert, warm, eating and drinking and he actually asked for McDonald’s.”

    William’s mother, Penny Callaghan, thanked volunteer rescuers and police.

    “I can’t imagine what he’s been feeling and going through and I’m just so grateful and so relieved,” she told reporters.

    Police had asked locals to lay out feta cheese, peanut butter and other condiments in a bid to attract his attention. They were also encouraged to play the Thomas the Tank Engine theme.

    An autism advocacy organisation praised authorities for adapting their search.

    “We really need to adapt ourselves to the needs of autistic people rather than expecting them to behave as we do, or as neuro-typical people do,” Amaze chief executive Fiona Sharkey told the ABC.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Ghana lost ¢100m at the port in 3 days Isaac Adongo

    Ghana lost ¢100 million at the ports in three days due to errors in the switch from port management system GCNET to UNIPASS.

    Isaac Adongo, the Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central who made this claim says the anomaly occurred from April 28 to April 30.

    The National Democratic Congress (NDC) legislator said the revenue loss has continued till June causing huge financial loss to the country.

    According to Adongo, following all protocols for a transition and conducting “a pilot would have cleared the way for a seamless transition from an end to end digital system to an end to end digital system.”

    Due to the irregularity, however, Ghana gained no revenue for clearance of goods within the period.

    The MP is calling on government to allow GCNET to continue running operations at the Ghana ports instead of handing over to UNIPASS entirely.

    Port operations revert to pre-2002 era

    Policy think-tank IMANI has also denounced the new port management system.

    IMANI, for instance, stated that “UNIPASS system has no pricing data against which they could determine current prices and respective taxes [on goods] that must be paid to the state.”

    One of the effects of this, IMANI claimed is that “a vehicle that cost ¢12,000 to clear on the GCNET platform now clears for GH¢6,000 on a very manual UNIPASS.”

    A 2016 model Chevrolet could be processed for as low as ¢14, IMANI said in a statement.

    But the Ghana Revenue Authority has rejected these claims.

    According to the GRA, it has no evidence on a transaction where “a vehicle that was purportedly valued at ¢12,000 in GCNET, but was valued at GH¢6,000 in ICUMS/UNIPASS.”

    “In reference to the vehicle that was valued at ¢14 it is a case of fraudulent activity by an agent,” GRA said.

    Measures have been taken to block the said agent, GRA said.

    The Authority also rejected claims the new management system has reverted port operations to pre-2002 era.

     

    Source: myjoyonline 

  • Officials remove statue of 18th century slave trader in London

    A statue of Robert Milligan, an 18th century slave trader, was being removed from its plinth outside a London museum on Tuesday after officials decided it was no longer acceptable to the local community.

    The previously obscure statue, which stands in front of the Museum of London Docklands, came into focus after demonstrators taking part in a global anti-racism protest movement tore down the statue of a slave trader in Bristol, southwest England.

    Source: reuters.com

  • Noguchi tests herbal medicines for COVID-19 treatment

    The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) of the University of Ghana has indicated that it has received a number of local herbal medicines which are being considered for the possible treatment of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

    The Director of the NMIMR, Professor Abraham Kwabena Annan, told the Daily Graphic that the institute had set up a platform to test and determine whether the local herbal preparations presented to the centre had the efficacy to treat COVID-19 and also determine the possible side effects of the medicines.

    After testing, he said, the results would be handed over to the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), the main regulatory agency for herbal preparations.

    Hope

    Prof. Annan welcomed innovations by traditional medicine practitioners and the development of new therapies in the search for potential treatments for COVID-19.

    He said so far, looking at the number of local herbal medicines received, “there is a lot of hope because we have received a number of local medicines that are being screened for COVID-19 treatment”.

    He observed that it was likely that some of the  products would turn out to be very promising and perhaps offer a complete solution.

    Although he could not indicate the exact time frame the testing would take, he said the testing of the traditional medicines would take a few weeks to complete.

    Touching on the development of COVID-19 medicines in Ghana, the director said the institute, the FDA and the Ghana Health Service were all working together to ensure the country found a solution.

     

    Source: Graphic.ocm.gh 

  • Reject calls to participate in EC’s new registration exercise – Ofosu-Ampofo

    The Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo has charged members of the party to reject the call to participate in the Electoral Commission’s (EC) mass voters registration exercise scheduled to begin on June 30, 2020.

    Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said the party was against the compilation of the new voters register because the atmosphere in the country was not conducive for the exercise.

    “We say no to the new register and even if Parliament passes the legislation we will not accept it. We are not just against it because they will not accept the old voter card but because the whole atmosphere in the country is not conducive,” he said.

    The NDC National Chairman was addressing a gathering of party members and executives at the NDC headquarters in Adabraka in Accra on Wednesday.

    The gathering was to mark the 28th anniversary of the formation the NDC which contested its first national elections in 1992.

    The flag raising ceremony had in attendance former President and flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr John Dramani Mahama who hoisted the NDC flag at the ceremony.

    Source: Graphic.com.gh 

  • MMDAs receive GH¢911 million in District Development Facility financing

    To sustain these gains however, the Auditor-General has recommended to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development on the need to deal with some deficiencies in the areas of planning and budgeting; project implementation and project administration and payment for work done.

    The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development has duly declared its intention to tackle such deficiencies. The DDF has been made all the more critical to beneficiary MMDAs since government, in 2017, put a ceiling on the proportion of monies from the consolidated fund that is allocated to statutory funds including the District Assemblies Common Fund which is the primary source of revenues for local governments. That move aims to give government more flexibility in its budgetary allocvations.

    In all, three projects each from 30 MMDAs constructed between 2008 and 2019 were used in the performance audit to determine whether they meet the desired standard specifications..

    This falls in line with Section 13e of the Audit Service Act, (Act 584) to find out how the Assemblies initiated, planned and implemented DDF funded infrastructure projects as well as to ascertain whether Assemblies were capable of planning, procuring contractors, supervising and monitoring the delivery of selected projects in accordance with laid down principles and practices to ensure value for money.

    Various assessments of DDF projects have indicated significant impact including higher completion rates compared to those funded by the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) and Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund). The better completion rates, the report noted was due to DDF projects quicker fund disbursement mechanisms.

    The Facility was designed to spend about 88 percent of the annual allocation on infrastructure projects and the remaining on capacity building.

    Out of these projects, 97 percent have been completed and handed over to beneficiaries and are currently in use with educational facilities accounting for 40 percent, followed by sanitation and health with 15 percent and 12 percent respectively.

    By the end of 2018, more than GH¢848 million had been invested in 6,490 small scale infrastructure projects across MMDAs while close to GH¢63 million had been spent to build the capacity of MMDAs staff.

    Importantly, “No MMDA should use DDF funds to award any new contract when their work plan and budget are not approved by the Ministry”, report indicates.

    Background

    The DDF was set up with an objective to improve the performance of MMDAs in Ghana by providing incentives to MMDAs that comply with existing legal and administrative procedures.

    Source: goldstreetbusiness.com

  • Meet young female billionaire and her expensive car collection (photos)

    Kylie Jenner is an American model, entrepreneur, socialite, and social media personality.

    At the age of 19, she bought her first house, a mansion. At 20, she became the youngest person on the Forbes list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women.

    The title was previously held by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 1987 at age 31, and later by Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in 2008, on August 10.

    Kylie Jenner, who happens to be one of the most famous Instagram celebrities, is a successful entrepreneur, she is the life behind the makeup empire and brand, Kylie Cosmetics.

    Kylie Jenner has an obsession for luxury cars. Her garage is a repertoire f luxury automobiles.

    She has in her excessive car pool luxury cars like maroon Bentleys, orange Lamborghinis, Spider Ferraris, vintage Rolls-Royce, Mercedes G-Wagons, Lamborghini Aventador, a Rolls-Royce Ghost, and much more.

    It is said that her garage gets a constant upgrade on a monthly basis

    Henry011 present to you the ultra-sexy car collection of Kylie Jenner.

    Source: opera.com

  • I use to Masturbate-Freelove of TV3’s Date Rush confesses

    A participant on TV3’s Date Rush show,Portia Freelove has revealed something she did to please herself as a woman.

    She couldn’t lie about a question asked by Zion Felix when she appeared on the ‘Uncut Show’.

    During the interview,Zion Felix asked Freelove whether she has masturbated before or not-and she gave an affirmative answer.

    The outspoken ‘Date Rush’ contestant confessed she has masturbated before. Freelove stated that she regretted her action following the masturbation. After the act,she vowed not to do it again and she was able to put an end to it.

    She elucidated certain things are not right for all women and just as she didn’t enjoy masturbating,others enjoy it to the extreme.

    The discussion was on the back of Freeloves revelation about her new endeavor of launching a show to educate woman on certain things in their lives.

    She said the show dubbed’I Am Every Woman’ will be showed via her social media accounts to empower to talk about things they are scared to talk about.

    Source: Moshoshotv.com

  • Pastor who allegedly threatened EC Boss still in custody, awaiting COVID-19 test

    The General Overseer of the Hezekiah Prayer Ministries, Kwabena Owusu Adjei is still in the custody of National Security.

    According to Citi News sources, the accused was held overnight at the facility to enable him to be tested for COVID-19.

    He was picked up during a live interview with Accra-based Hot FM on Tuesday morning.

    Sources within National Security said the testing process is required before the accused can be accepted by any prison facility.

    He was remanded by an Accra Circuit Court to reappear on June 23, 2020.

    Owusu Adjei is facing three charges; threats of death, offensive conducive to the breach of peace and possession of narcotic drugs.

    This follows his alleged threats against the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa.

    The self-acclaimed prophet is also being held over allegations he made against the President regarding the death of Abuakwa North MP J.B. Danquah-Adu.

    As of June 9, the lawyer for the suspect, Victor Adawudu said he was yet to see his client.

    The pastor reportedly warned Jean Mensa to stop the compilation of the new register or risk being killed.

    His threat has sparked calls by groups and individuals for his arrest.

    A group called Okyeman Youth For Development in the Eastern Region called on the National Security to sanction the pastor for threatening the EC boss.

     

    Source: citinewsroom 

  • Coronavirus has frustrated contracts but negotiate in good faith NLC to employers

    The National Labour Commission (NLC) has advised employers to negotiate pay cuts, salary suspension, partial layoffs and others in good faith with their employees, so as to reduce the acrimony that will ensue as a result of frustration of contracts due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

    According to the NLC, there is little resolution for contract frustration; and therefore employers and employees must resort to negotiation to address the employment challenges induced by COVID-19.

    Executive Secretary of the NLC, Samuel Ofosu Asamoah, said without any fault from either party, many contracts in the media, hospitality, private educational institutions and others are incapable of being continued a situation that has already resulted in massive layoffs and pay cuts.

    “What I normally advise is negotiations. This has come as a challenge, and it faces both parties. Everyone knows and understand what is happening. Revenue streams are drying-up, and there is little to be done about that. So, what we are saying is that negotiations are needed to prevent chaos. These negotiations, though, must also be done in good faith,” Mr. Ofosu Asamoah said in an interview with the B&FT.

    He added that the NLC is monitoring situations across the country, and wants to warn booming sectors during the outbreak of COVID-19 not to do anything that would amount to squeezing employees. He believes that players in the garment and pharmaceutical sectors are cashing-in on the outbreak, and therefore it would be heartless if any employee reports an employer to the Commission as a result of salary cuts attributed to COVID-19.

    “The sale of hand sanitisers have gone up in price and quantity. Nose masks have also had price and quantities go up as well. If you are in any of these sectors and say because of COVID-19 you want to slash the salaries of your staff, that is not fair,” Mr. Ofosu Asamoah said.

    He however reveled that, so far, three complaints have been lodged at the Commission. With this, about 500 people are at risk of losing their jobs. He indicated that the Commission is however preparing to listen to the cases and find some amicable resolutions, but the fear of job loss is eminent even after talks are over.

    Meanwhile, the NLC has adjusted its operations to ensure it is able to hear labour cases while protecting the parties in the case from being exposed to the virus. Among the measure the NLC adopted is timing cases resulting in parties being told the exact time for a case to be heard, a means to reduce numbers at their premises to offer enough space to observe the social distancing protocols.

    Also, the number of cases that can be heard in one day has been reduced from 14-20 to less than 10 while representation at every case has been reduced to three.

    Source: B&FT Online

  • Chris Oyakilome is a disgrace to the body of Christ – Angry commenters on Instagram writes

    Chris Oyakhilome is the founder and president of LoveWorld Incorporated, also known as Christ Embassy, based in Lagos, Nigeria.

    Chris Oyakhilome who is now known for his teachings and attacks on the government .

    His recent video was posted on Instagram via @Tundeednut , a famous Entrepreneur and entertainer which caused a huge stir and the comments were ungodly .

    Instagram user writes -👇👇

    This man no get sense finally, I used to adore him and read Rhapsody of Reality back to back. doing all the tastings .. 😭😭 God forgive me , forgive your daughter for listening to this trash

    @icekrim25

    What happened to this pastor gaaan. How can you say the leaders of churches are controlling the govt to lockdown churches, when the government is only controlling the gathering of people… The church is not the building but their gathering of the brethren, which can also be done online. Not necessarily physical. Even Mecca is shutdown , Jerusalem is shut down . Then who the f**k sake are you to condemn the act. The govt should make his place an isolation center, let him preach to them. I do respect the Chris of Atmosphere of Miracle, but you see this version of Chris is not from this planet .

    @samkj007

    Going bankrupt 🤣🤣

    @meksdigital

    Why is this man so pained with the lockdown, instead of using this platform to communicate with your members, praying for them and asking them to keep up the Faith . Why is he more concerned with the church building, forgetting the Bible said your body is the temple of the Lord, this period has exposed the other side of this men.

    @unusual_sound_

    I’ve lost total respect for this man , WTF, you tag people as sinners because they don’t believe in your religion and yet you still sin 🤣🤣🤣 “Pot calling a kettle black” 🤣. Ode no Bobo to mehn, no worry Dem don open church now so we go hear word . Awon Ole !!!

    @kalliente007

    Source: News Hub Creator

  • Two men commit suicide in Eastern Region

    Two men have committed suicide by hanging in the Eastern region.

    The two incidents involving a 48 and 19-year-old men happened separately at Akyem Akroso and Nsawam respectively.

    At Akyem Akroso, a 48-year-old man Shaibu Musah, a former Community Police Assistant (CPA) was found hanging Wednesday morning on a tree

    The deceased who was a member of the Community Watchdog Committee is believed to have committed the act over marital issues.

    He left behind a wife and four children. His body has been deposited at the Oda Government Hospital Morgue for preservation and autopsy.

    At Nsawam, a 19-year-old form-one Junior High School student Joshua Mensah was also found hanging with a nylon rope on a pear tree in a garden.

    According to the Deputy Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Regional Police Command, Sergeant Francis Gomado, homicide detectives dispatched to Asante Akora near Nsawam where the incident happened reported that “the deceased was found wearing a light blue sweater and deep blue shorts. On inspection, bruises were seen on the neck, with a protruding tongue. The distance between the tree and the neck measured 6 inches”.

    He continued, “preliminary investigation reveals that the deceased lived with his parents and four other siblings but about 11:00 pm the deceased went to bed with the family as usual. On the next day, on June 6, 2020, at about 5:30 am the complainant woke up only to detect that the son was not in bed. He started looking for him only to find the body hanging on a tree in the house”.

    The body was conveyed and deposited at Nsawam Government Hospital morgue for preservation.

    In March this year, two persons also committed suicide by hanging in separate incidents in Akyem Agyapomaa and Koforidua in the Eastern Region.

    These incidents and many others recorded this year raises serious concerns about the state of mental health services in the Region.

     

    Source: Starr FM

  • Police nab Islamic scholar who cut off boys finger

    The Takoradi Divisional Police Command has arrested Islamic Scholar Abubakar Mustapha, popularly known as Mallam Bawa, who allegedly cut off the finger of an 18-year-old boy accused of stealing a wall clock and other items from an Islamic school.

    Mallam Bawa was brought in by some Muslim clerics and family members after efforts by the police to trace him proved futile.

    They arrived at the police station around 11:00am on Wednesday, a few minutes after the police had returned from his house to try to effect his arrest.

    The brother of the victim had earlier led the police to the house of the four other accomplices including a 15-year-old, who was later released when the complainant informed the police that he was innocent.

    Police investigations are underway and it is expected that Mallam Bawa would soon be arraigned before court.

    Mallam Bawa is the prime suspect behind the cutting off of the finger of 18-year-old Abubakar Sadick, popularly known as Bin Ladin, whose offence was stealing a wall clock from an Islamic school at Collins Avenue, a suburb of Takoradi.

    Mallam Bawa, together with his accomplices, tied the victim with an electric wire, placed his hand on a wooden cluster and cut off the little finger on his right hand.

    They then dipped the wounded hand in hot oil.

     

    Source: 3 News

  • Heavy downpour destroys Bawumias primary school in Tamale

    Sakasaka Primary School, the Alma mater of Vice President , Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has been destroyed by heavy downpour in Tamale in the Northern region.

    The heavy downpour ripped off the entire roof of the school building which resulted in the destruction of furniture and learning materials belonging to the school.

    The Sakasaka Primary School Headmistress , Ms Olivia Wadzari told DGN Online that the school was established in the 1970s in a pavilion and was later developed into a wooden structure by the Parent Teacher Association or the school.

    “In 2013 when I took over I managed to develop the wooden into a block building and the school has been hit by rainstorm twice.”

    She indicated that the learning materials that were salvaged from the downpour has been moved to a save location.

    Ms. Waszari said a report has been sent to the Metro Education Director to find solution to the problem.

    She appealed to individuals, institutions to come to the aid of the school to enable them fix the problem before school reopens.

    Schools across the country especially at the basic level have been compelled to shutdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

    Meanwhile, officers from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) have visited the school to ascertain the level of damage caused by the rain for onward action.

     

    Source: Daily Guide Network