Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hearts of Oak, Frederick Moore has shared that his outfit will only sign former Black Stars midfielder, Sulley Muntari if he is available and affordable to the club.
Muntari was heavily linked with a move to Accra Hearts of Oak in the March transfer window since he has been a long-time fan of the Phobians and has on some occasions trained with them.
The former AC Milan midfielder has been without a club following his exit from Spanish lower-tier team Albacete in June 2019, where he signed a six-month contract.
Muntari in his first-ever Instagram conversation over the weekend indicated that he would not rule out a transfer to Accra Hearts of Oak
However, the CEO in an interview with Kumasi based Pure FM said, “Sulley Muntari is a very good player and if he is available and affordable we will be interested to sign himâ€
President of Tema Youth FC, Wilfred Kwaku Osei has urged clubs to boycott the upcoming Congress if the Ghana Football Association [GFA] fails to present its financial statement to all clubs.
With the 26th Congress scheduled for September 1, the country’s football governing wants new auditors to audit its accounts before it can furnish the clubs with its expenditure for the year according to reports.
But Wilfred Kwaku Osei has argued that the GFA should rely on it old auditors to audit its accounts and make them available to Congress.
He stressed that it’s mandatory for the GFA to furnish the various stakeholders of its expenditure before Congress can be held.
“Wilfred Osei Kwaku Palmer To the best of my knowledge, the auditors who audited the GFA’s previous account are still at post,” the former marketing committee member of the GFA told Asempa FM.
“Therefore, we cannot go to congress without the financial statement of the Association which is one of the mandatory items needed for the congress”, Osei Palmer added.
The Ghana Football Association has set Congress for September 1 at the Ghanaman Soccer Center of Excellence, Prampram.
The stakeholders have been notified of the date which coincidentally clashes with the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) ruling on the Ghana FA versus Wilfred Osei Kwaku ‘Palmer’.
Osei Palmer is battling the GFA at CAS over his disqualification from the last year’s GFA Presidential elections by the Normalization Committee.
Former Ashgold goalkeeper Fatau Dauda spoke on a wide range of topics in an interview from his next profession when he hangs his gloves to which club paid him the highest.
Dauda 35, has played in two other African countries aside Ghana namely Nigeria with Enyimba Aba and in South Africa with Orlando Pirates and Chippa United.
Speaking to local radio station Angel 102.9 the Legon Cities captain said the club takes good care of the players and they even use one of the best hospitals in Ghana.
“The hype around Legon Cities is not just lip service. Measures have been put in place to make sure the players are comfortable. The players are comfortable with their accommodation, feeding, salaries and even in terms of our health, we use one of the best hospitals in Ghana,”
He mentioned that if the management of Legon Cities signs a few players to boost the squad they will be able to compete for trophies.
“If Legon Cities can beef up the squad with 5 more players, the club can compete for the GPL trophy,”
Reacting to the trending Joseph Esso story he urged Legon Cities to sign him because he is a good player.
“Joseph Esso is a good player. If management of Legon Cities want him, I think they can go for him to beef up the squad,”
Professional footballers after they retire go into a lot of professions but Fatau revealed that he will go straight into jobs related to football and also mentioned that all the clubs he has played for the Miners paid him the most.
“When I finally hang my gloves, I will like to be a coach, a scout, or a football administrator. I will always love to do something in football,” he added.
“The club which paid me the highest amount was Ashgold. The first season I signed for them in 2004, they paid me 4,000gh. I actually used that money to build 2 chamber and hall. Ashgold is actually a very professional club,”
In the interview, he revealed that Sulley Muntari looked out for every player and wanted them to be treated equally especially with money disbursements.
“When I was in the National team, Sulley Muntari made sure that every player that goes for the tournament receives the same amount of money,” he concluded.
Gender Minister, Cynthia Morrison and members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Gender, Children and Social Protection have visited some witches camps in the Northern Region.
The visits to two prominent witches in the region are part of ongoing efforts to end prevalent accusation of mostly women as witches in the region.
The delegation visited the Gnani and the Kpatinga witches camps in the Yendi and Gushegu municipalities on Tuesday, August 25, 2020, where they interacted with the inmates to know their plight and concerns.
“Interacting with journalists during the visit, Mrs Morrison said the visit was to help the ministry come out with a well-informed policy and comprehensive strategy to help address the issue,†state-owned Daily Graphic reports.
According to the report, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee, Dr Kojo Appiah-Kubi, said he was concerned that accusations of witchcraft lead to human rights abuses, deprivation and poverty which was of great concern to the committee.
“Witchcraft is just a belief and figment of our own imagination, but the witchcraft is not the problem, but the witchcraft accusations, which in our part of the world have led to the creation of witches camps,” he stated.
“We are, therefore, here to inform ourselves about the environment, to get educated and to gather enough data which will be used to prepare our report to Parliament,” he is quoted in the Daily Graphic report.
The decades-old issue assault and human rights abuses against women accused of witchcraft came to fore again after a 90-year-old woman was lynched at Kafaba near Salaga in the Savannah Region.
Journalists covering the developments of a land dispute in Dome Faase near Obom Domeabra were heckled and harassed by military personnel deployed to the area.
This follows clashes between some civilians and personnel believed to be military officers over a land boundary dispute that occurred on Tuesday August 25.
GhanaWeb’s reporters just like other media personnel who visited the community on Wednesday, August 26 were prevented by the military personnel from capturing videos of their operations.
Mobile phones and video cameras of journalists were temporarily seized and thoroughly checked by the officers to ensure there was no secret recording of them before being allowed to leave the community.
Others who succeeded in recording footages earlier were harassed and had their visuals deleted by the officers.
Meanwhile, the coalition of Ga communities which makes up of over 20 communities that share a border with the Eastern Region have alleged that, the Mponuahene of Akyem Apadwa and the Akyem Traditional Council were taking their farmlands from them which has resulted in the resistance that led to the mayhem.
Public Relations Officer (P.R.O) of the Motor Riders Association, Setsoafia Pascal has entreated members as well as their customers to vote for politicians who have shown interest in making the commercial motorbike transport services, popularly known as Okada business thrive.
This comment comes after former President John Dramani Mahama while addressing the chiefs, people and party supporters at Kpando in the Volta Region on Friday, August 21, 2020, announced that he will legalise the Okada business should he win the December 7 polls.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, Mr Pascal called on “all members, their dependents, our clients and everyone who values the service we render to show up and vote massively for the politicians who have shown they care and not those who say one thing in opposition and another in government.â€.
He added that legalising and regulating the okada business will create an added opportunity for the state to fund its numerous projects promised Ghanaians.
Though many people, including members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), have poured scorn on the legalisation of the okada business because they think it is not sustainable and safe, others, on the other hand, believe it would create employment for the youth.
The P.R.O at the press briefing requested that government sets up a safety and training school to train and license Okada riders just as it is for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).
“This could provide an opportunity for local authorities to levy a small daily fee for our members, like what happens for others means of transport. Setting up a safety and training school which will train and license our members could also help raise funds like what the DVLA does for cars and trucks,†he said.
Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Cynthia Mamle Morrison has condemned the politicization of the “One hot meal†being given to final year Junior High School (JHS) students and teachers.
This follows a disturbing social media visual of a teacher asking final year students to say “4 More for Nana†before they are being served with food.
Other posts depicts some food packs embossed with the pictures of President Akufo-Addo.
In an interview with Kwaku Dawuro on Anopa Nkomo on Accra-based Kingdom FM, the Minister who expressed disappointment said, politicizing such national policies is inimicable to the object of intervention.
She therefore urged persons involved in the act to desist from such activities.
Responding to the same issue, the National Coordinator of School Feeding Programme, Gertrude Quashie stressed that the pictures circulating complaining about poor quality of food is a mere propaganda and falsehood to tarnish the image of the government.
Further, she gave an assurance that the government will provide various Junior High School Students and Teachers with nutritious meals.
A 16-year-old student of the Ghana Muslim Mission Senior High School at Beposo in the Sekyere Central District, was on Monday killed in a motorbike accident on the outskirts of the town.
Kwabena Wiredu died at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, where he was rushed for emergency treatment after the accident.
Inspector Frank Agyare, Station Officer of the Beposo Police Station told the Ghana News Agency that the accident occurred after the motorbike, which he was riding together with a friend, skidded off the road and ran into a ditch on the outskirts of Beposo.
They sustained multiple injuries and were rushed to the Beposo Health Centre but the deceased whose condition was critical, was transferred to the Asante Mampong Government Hospital but was again rushed to KATH, where he died later.
His friend Peter Mensah, was however, treated and discharged at the Beposo Health Centre.
The body of Wiredu has been deposited at the KATH morgue for autopsy.
The National Communications Authority (NCA) has asked the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) to pay a sum of GHS2000 in order to have access to information the Foundation requested.
In a letter written back to the MFWA dated, 20 August 2020, the NCA explained that the payment satisfies a requirement per Section 82 (1) (b) of the Electronic Communication Act 2008, Act 775 to facilitate the generation of the search report.
Responding to the NCA’s letter, the Executive Director of MFWA, Mr Sulemana Braimah, took to Facebook on Wednesday, 26 August 2020 to say: “NCA paaa! You shut down radio stations. We write to ask you under RTI for the full list of the stations you shut down and you say we should pay GHS2,000 for you to do a search to get us the list? A search for what? The list? OK, we hear.”
The MFWA wrote to the NCA requesting information under Article 12 (1) (f) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and section 18 of the Right to Information Act 2019 (Act 989).
The letter, signed by Mr Braimah and dated Wednesday, 22 July 2020, requested “the full list of all authorised FM stations as of the second quarter of 2020, indicating the dates of first authorisation, dates of last authorisation renewals, locations, and operational status (on-air or off-air).â€
The MFWA also requested “the full list of all authorised television stations as of the second quarter of 2020, indicating dates of first authorisation, dates of last authorisation renewals, locations and operational status.â€
Additionally, the MFWA demanded “an explanation for the recent replacement of your published 2020 second-quarter report titled: “List of authorised VHF-FM Radio Stations in Ghana as at Second-Quarter 2020†which contained columns of date of first authorisation and date for last authorisation renewal, with one that excludes the dates of first authorisation and dates of first authorisation renewals.â€
The letter also requested “the full list (name of the company, name of the radio station, location and frequency number) of all FM radio stations that were shut down following the 2017 FM spectrum audit and in line with the 2018 decision of the Electronic Communication Tribunal.â€
The exploits of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration is a great honour to the Zongo community in Ghana.
Alhaji Ali Suraj, a leading member of the Party in the Asawase Constituency who made the assertion, said Dr. Bawumia was serving as a worthy ambassador of Muslims and Zongos in the success story of the NPP since 2017.
He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi that the Vice President since his nomination by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as his running mate in 2008 had been a revelation and blessing to Ghana.
He said Dr. Bawumia was arguably the best Vice President under the fourth republic whose outstanding contribution to national development is not only impactful but also life changing.
“I have followed various Vice Presidents over the years and I can confidently say without any shred of ambiguity that, Dr. Bawumia stands tall among his peers,” he stated.
“His eloquence, deep understanding of governance and what it takes to bring development to the citizenry is simply unmatched,” Alhaji Suraj touted.
Alhaji Suraj said Dr. Bawumia’s in-depth knowledge of the economy, technology and governance which complemented the incisive and visionary leadership of President Akufo-Addo was taking the country to the path of growth and prosperity.
He said communicators of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) since the 2012 election petition had mounted a sustained smear campaign against the sitting Vice President but he continued to outshine them in all national discourse.
The incessant attacks on the then running mate of President Akufo-Addo led by the Zongo Caucus of the NDC, he said, was a deliberate attempt to discredit Dr. Bawumia who was a big threat to their political fortunes.
“It is unfortunate that our own Zongo people in the NDC were used to attack Dr. Bawumia because of politics, but today his performance in government has brought honour to the Zongo community,” he opined.
Alhaji Suraj who is a former Deputy Organizer of NPP-USA said the emergence of Dr. Bawumia on the political scene had always been a source of worry for the NDC because of his impeccable performance which had left the opposition badly exposed.
He said the NPP was destined to win the 2020 elections due to the numerous policy interventions implemented in the last three years and urged Ghanaians to renew the mandate of the party to consolidate the gains.
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama, has said the new Births and Deaths Registration Act, which has been passed by Parliament, will help improve the collation of vital information for national development.
An a Meet-the-Press engagement today, Wednesday, 26 August 2020, Hajia Alima Mahama said in 2019, the Registry registered 707,064 infant births (359,532 males and 347,532 females) out of the targeted 879,483, representing 80.40%.
On deaths, the minister said the Registry registered 51,159 deaths (27,480 males and 23,679 females) out of 309,955 as its target representing 17%.
“The new Births and Deaths Registration Act, 2020, seeks to integrate the registration system into the local administration setup.
“MMDAs will be responsible for the provision of registration facilities at the district level.
“This will ensure the decentralisation of the registration machinery and make registration of vital events accessible to the populace with pronounced functionality at the community level (urban, zonal and town councils),†she said.
The minster noted that under this protocol, there will be a digital interface between the Births and Deaths Registry and institutions like the National Identification Authority (NIA), the National Health Insurance Agency (NHIA), the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
Hajia Alima added that the new Birth and Death Registration Act will provide for the generation of community population registers, which will breed demographic data for the purposes of development planning at the district level.
She said this will address the issue of the registration of children born under surrogacy arrangement and address the requirement for the registration of all morgues, funeral homes, burial grounds and crematoria by the District Assembly.
“The Act introduces enforcement of registration system by mandating registration officers to inspect registration records at the household level within the electoral areas of the district.
“It also introduces the concept of notification and identifies primary notifiers of vital events to include persons in charge of health facilities where births/deaths occur; traditional birth attendants and managers of educational institutions (pre-school and basic schools)â€.
Armed men suspected to be robbers have attacked a young man (name withheld) who operates Mobile Money service in Navrongo township.
The vendor was attacked in his booth at Balobia around the Goil Fuel station along the Navrongo-Bolgatanga road late Tuesday evening, as he prepared to close business for the day.
It is not known the amount of money which was taken from the vendor but GhanaWeb’s correspondent learnt the victim was left with life-threatening gunshot wounds to his leg.
The wounded vendor was rushed to the War Memorial Hospital where he is currently receiving medical attention.
The armed bandits absconded on a waiting motorbike after the inhumane act.
The Minister for Local Government and Rural Development has said the Rural Development Policy, which seeks to guide and coordinate service delivery and investment in the rural communities has been formulated and approved by cabinet and currently at its implementation stage.
Addressing the media in Accra, Hajia Alima Mahama said the policy will significantly help modernise agriculture for rural growth and development, provide quality socio-economic infrastructure and services in a decent and secured environment, maximise the potential of rural areas towards rural enterprises development and industrialisation.
She further added that, the Rural Development Policy will promote sustainable management and utilisation of natural resources for the benefit of the rural population and promote financial inclusion in rural communities. This, she said, will help strengthen participation of the rural communities in the decentralised governance system.
“A total of 340 sub-projects are being delivered under a Labour Intensive Public Works (LIPW) programme. These include; 73No. Small Earth Dams and Dug-outs (SEDD), 60No. feeder roads of an average of 3.5km at an aggregate length of 235.6km, 209 Climate Change Interventions (Plantations) totaling 2,027 hectares,†she stated.
Hajia Alima Mahama said in line with this policy, the Ghana Productive Safety Net Project (GPSNP) has been designed and is being implemented with US$60 million funding from the World Bank, with total seedling production of 7.9million.
“The implementation of these sub-projects has created 29,959 (female 18,508 constituting 62%, male 11,451 constituting 38%) jobs and a total of approximately GHS19 million as wages has been transferred to extreme poor households across the country during the first season of work in 2020,†she said.
Development expert and political analyst, Michael Ebo Amoah says the recently launched manifesto by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is incomplete.
Speaking on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm, he said the manifesto failed to capture the timelines and cost of the various projects and policies.
He explained when political parties capture timelines and cost for each project, they will not be making so many promises.
Ghanaians he made mist demand for the breakdown of the promises so they will hold them accountable should they fail in delivering these promises.
To him, this is important because it will also allow Ghanaians to make informed choices.
He indicated that the reason why the NPP has failed to achieve some of the ideas to promises is that they failed to identify their sources of funding and cost for each project.
He also asked Ghanaians to pin former President Mahama to the well over some of his promises including the $10 million push for jobs especially when he failed to implement the much-touted hope project.
Meanwhile, he says the one village one dam policy initiated by the NPP is not fit for the purpose although it was a good idea.
The dams he opined are not good for irrigation farming.
“The dams are not enough. Of you understanding sustainable agriculture and iteration farming, what we see there are not enough and not sustainable.â€
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Saturday launched its election 2020 manifesto.
The launch was on the theme “leadership of service, protecting our progress, transforming Ghana for allâ€.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his address said the manifesto presented a solemn social contract between the electorate and the elected candidate which must translate into progress.
A Nigerian newspaper has condemned a former government minister for what it termed as a verbal assault on its journalist who had questioned the source of funding of his tour of the southern Cross Rivers state.
Femi Fani-Kayode, who served as the aviation minister in 2006, took offence to the questioning and was filmed giving an angry response.
A video clip of the incident has circulated widely on social media:
The Daily Trust newspaper, in a statement by its editor-in-chief , said the reporter had “simply sought clarification and information, like good journalism should”.
It said it would hold Mr Fani-Kayode accountable if anything happened to the reporter.
But the politician has denied threatening the reporter and accused him of “being part of premeditated plan to embarrass him”.
Kenya’s education minister has hinted at reopening of schools earlier than his initial proposal of January 2021 if coronavirus cases continue to reduce.
George Magoha has said tertiary institutions may also reopen earlier than was planned.
Kenya scrapped the entire 2020 academic year in March because of the pandemic.
The minister said it would be in the interest of learners to reopen schools early if the infection rate maintains its recent downward trend.
The ministry of health has been reporting lower numbers in its daily updates, with the director general saying the rate needs to be below 5% for a period of two weeks for the curve to be said to be flattening.
The World Health Organization and Unicef last week urged African countries to consider reopening schools but with strict guidelines.
The agencies said children were being exposed to violence, teenage pregnancies and poor nutrition while at home during the pandemic.
The International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) has suspended Mali from its membership, the latest body to take action following last week’s overthrow of Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta’s government by the military.
The decision, by the body that represents countries where people speak French, comes days after the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) – which also suspended Mali from its membership – held unsuccessful talks with the military junta over a return to democratic rule.
The coup leaders have said they were not interested in holding power and would hold fresh elections within a “reasonable time”.
A demand by African heads of state to reinstate former President Keïta is now off the table after he withdrew interest to return as leader.
The OIF has said it will send its own delegation to Mali in a matter of days.
A civil society group in Malawi wants MPs to be allowed to debate in their vernacular in parliament.
The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) says the legislators would better express themselves in vernacular than in English.
The centre director Sylvester Namiwa said the people would also understand the debates better if they were in their language.
“We have noted with concern on how some MPs are struggling to express themselves in English, and yet the same people were trusted by their constituents to represent them in the national assembly,” Mr Namiwa was quoted as saying by Malawi 24 website.
The Malawi constitution requires one to be able to speak fluent English to qualify to run for MP.
Zambia’s state investment group is considering buying more shares in Mopani Copper Mines, which is controlled by Glencore.
It comes despite tense relations between the mining giant Glencore and the government in Lusaka over the running of Mopani.
The state investment group already owns 10% of the copper mining business, but the Zambian mining minister, Richard Musukwa, says the government will negotiate with Glencore to increase its stake, although he did not reveal by how much.
In April Zambia threatened to revoke Glencore’s licences, after the company announced plans to put Mopani into care and maintenance, industry jargon for suspending production.
The global miner wanted to close the copper operation for three months, because of low commodity prices and the coronavirus pandemic.
Mopani had been expected to produce between 50,000 and 70,000 tonnes of copper this year, but it has struggled because of problems in Zambia.
The government in Lusaka will be aware that squaring off against an international mining giant, which is ready to play hardball, could damage the Zambian economy.
Glencore has a record of leaving unprofitable resources in the ground, for example in 2015 it cut its annual production of zinc by a third.
Zambia depends on copper mining for revenues and it needs to make payments on loans, as the country’s foreign debt has soared.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says more than 40,000 people across Africa are registered as missing as a result of conflict, migration and climate shocks.
It says almost half of them are children.
Conflicts in Ethiopia, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya and Cameroon are having a big impact.
But the situation is most severe in north-east Nigeria and the coronavirus pandemic has made the job of finding missing relatives even harder.
In north-eastern Nigeria, the ICRC says more than 20,000 people are registered as missing.
Its teams are also searching for more than 5,000 people in South Sudan – they are trying to help mothers like Juma Kedai Korok whose son was abducted by an armed group four years ago. She hasn’t heard from him since.
The ICRC says there’s been an increase in the number of people whose relatives are missing in Libya – most of them young men who entered the country on the migration route to Europe.
The ICRC says more than 20,000 people are registered as missing in north-eastern Nigeria
Rwanda has issued an international arrest warrant for a former senior Rwandan military official, Aloys Ntiwiragabo, who is under investigation in France for his alleged role in the country’s 1994 genocide.
France opened a probe after a French publication, Mediapart, found Mr Ntiwiragabo in the city of Orleans.
He had been identified by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) as one of the architects of the genocide.
Neither the ICTR, Interpol, France nor Rwanda were actively seeking him, having dropped arrest warrants years earlier.
The revelation of Mr Ntiwiragabo’s whereabouts came barely two months after another suspected genocide architect, Felicien Kabuga, was arrested on the fringes of Paris.
The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo say the world’s largest measles outbreak that killed more than 7,000 children has now ended.
Efforts to stop its spread were hampered by an under-resourced health system as well as conflict.
Health experts say the actual number of deaths from measles could be far higher as many cases go unreported.
At a press conference in the capital, Kinshasa, Health Minister, Eteni Longondo, said measles no longer existed in the country.
He said a formal declaration about the end of the epidemic “will be made soon”.
Whilst international health partners are yet to confirm this, the announcement comes after a huge vaccination campaign that reached at least 18 million children last year.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has been experiencing recurring outbreaks for the last decade but the infections increased significantly in June last year and quickly overwhelmed the country’s under resourced health system.
Health workers have over the last year simultaneously battled measles, vaccine-derived polio, cholera, coronavirus, two Ebola epidemics and the bubonic plague.
The daunting task made even harder by the country’s poor infrastructure and numerous conflicts.
Ghanaian midfielder, Winful Cobinna played a role as Albanian champions KF Tirana suffered a 1-0 defeat to Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade in the second round of the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds.
The attacking midfielder lasted 73 minutes as Tirana lost narrowly lost at home.
Midfielder Barbara Adu Gyamfi has signed a one-year deal for Women Latina Calcio, GHANASoccernet.com can exclusively.
The 21-year-old is capable of playing in a defensive and offensive midfield roles.
The Kumasi-born has been playing in Italy’s lower-tier for the past three years.
”I play mostly as a defensive midfielder, for my role models I don’t have one particular because I learn from a lot (Makelele, Viera, Zidane) who are my role models,” she told GHANASoccernt.com
Adu Gyamfi never featured for any of Ghana’s national teams but looks forward to earning her first international cup.
”It will be a privilege and an honour to join the Black Queens in the near future.”
Wilfred Osei Kwaku ‘Palmer’ has dropped a massive bombshell by revealing that ‘a person very active in football administration’ in the country altered a report and specifically designed it to disqualify him from the recent Ghana FA Presidential election.
The owner of Division One League side Tema Youth rejected widespread claims that government was behind the decision insisting that the higher authorities had no hands in the decision to bar him from the GFA’s Presidential election race.
He also somewhat absolved the Normalization Committee from full blame revealing that some key active members of the Ghana football fraternity plotted decision to disqualify him.
Palmer was among the favourites to win the Ghana FA presidential election in October last year but a decision from the Vetting Committee for the Normalisation Committee banned him from the contest.
The Vetting Committee, chaired by lawyer Frank Davies, disqualified him from the race claiming he had breached the Ghana FA financial regulations for failing to pay the 10% fee to the federation over the transfer of Joseph Paintsil.
The Vetting Committee ruled that Palmer’s failure to pay the 10% due the GFA over the transfer of his former star winger from Tema Youth to Belgian giants Genk shows he doesn’t have the integrity to lead the federation.
Palmer subsequently dragged the Normalisation Committee of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland claiming he was unfairly disqualified from the race.
With just under one week before CAS delivers its verdict on the decision to disqualify him from the race, Palmer says there some there were some unseen forces within the football fraternity at play to exclude him.
“My disqualification was an agenda that was deliberately championed by ‘some football people’ and not the government,†Osei Palmer told Angel FM.
“My disqualification from the GFA presidential election was a grand scheme to take me out. I know those who wrote the report to disqualify me. It was not from any member of the Normalisation Committee.
“A very active respectable person in the football fraternity altered the document.”
Kurt Okraku subsequently won the race to become the new Ghana FA president and has been in charge of the federation since October last year.
His administration has been left with the burden of defending the decision of disqualifying Palmer from the race at CAS even though they were not charge of the GFA when the decision was taken.
CAS is expected to rule on the decision by 1 September – the same date that the GFA holds its congress in Prampram.
Bernard Mensah had a debut to forget for Besiktas after they were smashed 3-1 by PAOK in the qualifying round of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League on Tuesday evening.
Mensah joined the Black Eagles on a loan deal with the obligation to purchase at the end of next summer.
The 25-year-old demonstrated his qualities in training which informed coach Sergen Yalcin to hand him a starting place in the Champions League encounter against Greek giants PAOK at the Toumba Stadium.
Despite the Ghana international’s presence in the Turkish side’s midfield, PAOK run-riot them 3-1 to book their ticket to the quarterfinal of the qualification round.
PAOK finished the game under first 30 minutes of the match following a brace from Christos Tzolis and a sole strike by Dimitrios Pelkas.
Besiktas netted a face-saving goal through Canadian forward Cyle Larin in the 37th minute of the game.
Mensah was replaced with Dorukhan Tokoz in the 69th minute.
The Ghana Football Association has launched a new policy to unearth the talent of young people interested in officiating.
The “Catch Them Young Policy” is designed to identify, educate and train young talents between the ages of 13-16 to officiate juvenile matches within their regions.
Speaking at the launch at the Ghana FA Secretariat, President of the FA Kurt Okraku said the policy is intended to instil the values in referees at an early stage and train them to attain the highest level in referee.
“If we want good referees who can compete with the best in the world at male and female competitions, then it is important to identify and start training them at an early“.
“We want to comb every corner of the country to find boys and girls with a passion for refereeing and add value to themâ€, he emphasized.
He also mentioned that the policy would enhance the morals and integrity of young prospective referees and build their ambitions in refereeing.
Ghana FA Referees Manager Alex Kotey disclosed at the launch that a Centre for Refereeing Excellence (CORE) will be created at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre in Prampram as well as an Online-learning platform to support the education of referees at the Grassroots level.
“Catch Them Young Referees are persons trained and qualified to officiate competitive, small-sided or recreational youth matches and amateur matchesâ€.
“The Grassroots Referee course will be split into two parts: one online and the other in-person instructed by the GFA/RFA Refereeing Departmentâ€, the Ex FIFA/CAF referee explained.
Minister of Inner-city and Zongo Development, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid has applauded the Akufo-Addo administration over its pledge to construct a new harbour and airport at Cape Coast, Central Region.
The NPP, on Saturday, August 23, 2020 launched its 2020 manifesto in Central Region and made a solemn promise to the residents in the Region.
They have outlined in their manifesto to establish harbour and airport in the next four years of President Nana Akufo-Addo.
However, some people believe the campaign promise is only a ploy for votes since it’s an electioneering year but won’t be fulfilled.
Speaking on Peace FM’s ”Kokrokoo”, the Minister justified the importance of the two facilities in the Region, particularly an airport.
According to him, the Region has evolved to become a hub where many people commute to and fro for various reasons including tourism.
To him, constructing an airport in the Region ”is a very wise decision and I think that it will open Central Region”.
”As one of the poorest Regions in Ghana, there is no doubt in my mind that a port and an airport will open up the economic potential of the Region”, he added.
He assured the people of Cape Coast that President Nana Akufo-Addo will deliver on his promise and asked them to have confidence in the government.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government has managed the public sector debt with prudent spending.
He told Kwame Sefa Kayi on Peace FM Tuesday, August 25 that even despite a total debt of around ¢9 billion, Ghana went into HIPC.
“At that time inflation was around 40 per cent, interest rates were in that range, exchange rate,” he said. “Today, you are having a debt stock of GH¢200 billion. We inherited a debt of GH¢122 billion but if you look at the rate of increase in the debt stock between 2016 and 2019, it is the lowest in the decade between 2009 and 2019.”
“If you include the banking sector bailout you have an increase in the debt stock of 9.3%, if you exclude the banking sector it is at 3.9 percent.â€
“In all the sectors our records are superior,” Dr. Bawumia noted.
He further explained that the government has been able to stabilize the economy in all sectors, slowed down the rate of debt accumulation and also reduced lending rate.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has superior records in all sectors of the economy as against the records of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.
Dr Bawumia told Kwame Sefa Kayi on the Kokorokoo porgramme on Peace FM Tuesday, August 25 that “in all the sectors our records are superior.â€
He further explained that the government has been able to stabilize the economy in all sectors, slowed down the rate of debt accumulation and also reduced lending rate.
“When we came into office, Ghanaians were saddled with a lot of difficulties but we have been able to manage the economy, delivered a few solid records.
“Our fiscal deficit between 2016 and 2019, we brought it down, 6.8 to 4.8 per cent. Between 2016 and 2017 and 2019 , we had surpluses for three consecutive years and that was the first time in a decade; first time in a decade that we have had that then the rate of debt accumulation, increase in our debt stocks has also slowed down, decline in inflation, interest rate, we have also seen a decline in lending rate from 32 to 23 per cent.
“The monetary policy rate came down from 25 to 14.5 per cent, our trade surplus between 2017 and 2019, this is the first time in two decades that we have had trade surplus three consecutive years.
“Our exchange rate depreciation, the rate of depreciation has been halved to 50 per cent less compared to what we inherited. That is a major achievement.â€
The Ghana Police Service has announced that it is looking for the relatives of 35-year-old Kojo Ahe Mensah, who was allegedly knocked down by a hit-and-run vehicle months ago.
A statement signed by the Head of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Hospital, DSP Yaw Nketia-Yeboah, on 24 August 2020 intimated that Mr Mensah was rushed to the Ghana Police Hospital on 10 May 2020 by the Adentan Police, adding that: “He has since been on admission with efforts to trace his relatives unsuccessful.â€
The statement said: “His mother’s name is Vida Awudzi. She sells second-hand clothing at Teshie in Accra”.
Kojo Ahe Mensah is believed to come from Kotokuraba in Cape Coast and has relatives there.
The statement admonished relatives of the victim “to report at the Ghana Police Hospital in Accra during working hours for assistance or to get into contact with him.”
When you’ve just won promotion back to the top division for your country’s most successful female football team, you’d imagine that heady days are around the corner.
That may have been the case for Chinenye Okafor but far from the way she imagined.
Okafor, a vice-captain of Pelican Stars, quit football in July to take up a job as a hairdresser after going without pay for over a year.
While some of this was caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the rest was caused by officials at the club owned and run by Cross River State, located in southern Nigeria.
“I can’t even tell someone that I’m a footballer because I’m ashamed that after loving football for 22 years, there is nothing to show for it,” the 28-year-told BBC Sport Africa.
“I’m now a hairdresser and I can see that with this, I can go on with my life. I work from 8.30 to 5.30, Mondays to Saturdays. It’s tough but thank God I’m making it.”
It is quite a contrast to when she was pursuing her lifelong passion of playing football yet suffering deeply because of it, as club officials simply failed to pay the women’s team.
Not just any women’s team but Nigeria’s most successful with 8 league titles, two better than their nearest rivals, and which counts two former African Players of the Year in Perpetua Nkwocha and Mercy Akide-Udoh as past stars.
Six titles came in nine years at the turn of the century but Stars’ fortunes have hugely dimmed since following years of underfunding and poor administration.
“I sometimes cried at night because the next morning, I didn’t have anything to eat. After two-three times, I made up my mind to come back to Lagos – because I can’t keep suffering,” she said.
Bright Stars’ start
In 2019 Chinenye Okafor and Pelican Stars’ earned immediate promotion back to the top-flight of women’s football in Nigeria
Okafor joined Stars in 2018 and although her first season with the club ended in relegation, she relished the experience and lifestyle.
“Everything was going fine and I was happy that this was my breakthrough,” the defender explained.
“The payment was coming in, management were kind but at the end of the season, we were relegated.
“We decided that as players that since we were the ones that took the team to relegation, we would take the team back to the Premier League.”
They were as good as their word, bouncing back with an immediate promotion that was even celebrated at Cross River State’s Government House.
But the waters were muddying.
Midway through the season, a club that regularly paid salaries – which ranged from $78-182 – to its players by the end of every month started falling behind with payments.
The first time it happened was when February’s wages came in March. By June 2019, the payments simply stopped coming altogether.
Fall to earth
The Pelican Stars team hav been forced to protest outside Cross River State’s Government House.
Even before Covid-19 struck earlier this year, the situation had been rapidly deteriorating for Okafor and her team-mates as they held out for their delayed payments.
“Our club vice-chairman brought bags of rice and beans for us to have at home before the pandemic started,” she recalled.
“It was so bad in camp that we shared food. We also got mocked by local traders because sometimes we had to buy things on credit.”
A state commissioner brought more rice once coronavirus made its unwelcome entrance but Okafor’s challenging existence grew intolerable after Cross River State officials continued to fund men’s teams while ignoring the Stars’ pleas.
“I feel that women are discriminated against. They paid the men’s team, Unicem Rovers, and even the junior team, without paying us – even though our salary had been outstanding since June 2019.
“That was when I got angry. It was too much. We needed to do something for the state governor to know that something is going on.”
In April this year, after ten months without pay, the Stars players held their first protest outside state headquarters.
“The security at Government House harassed us and even brought out guns, saying we should all leave the premises. They said that because of Covid, we were not supposed to be there.
“I felt embarrassed. We had a team-mate that was sick, because she hadn’t had food to eat. She got a chronic ulcer and even now, I don’t think she (is in a state to) play football again.
“They did not even say: ‘Because of her, let us release one-two months’ salaries’.”
A second protest followed shortly after, whereupon the club management said all arrears would be settled by the end of April.
None ever came.
In order to feed themselves, Okafor and some team-mates started looking for other ways to make money while also having to ask others for help.
“Some of us were doing hair for a living or sewing clothes. We also had help from our family and from some fellow female professional footballers,” she said.
Meanwhile, the head of Nigeria’s Women’s League barred Pelican Stars from playing in the league until the salaries are paid – a situation that still stands today.
From heady to head days
Chinenye Okafor dreams about being able to play football again
Ultimately, the lack of pay and regrettable living conditions eventually caused Okafor’s family to step in more forcefully.
“My dad began to call me to come back home, so I left the club in July. I’m now a hairdresser in Lagos,” she said.
“Nothing can be as fulfilling as playing football. to me, football makes me happy whenever I’m on the field of play
“I never saw myself hairdressing so I think I can say at the moment it is a chore.
“I am slowly getting to like it now and am even thinking of having my own salon sooner or later.”
Chinenye Okafor is managing to make a living by being a hairdresser rather than a footballer
But while she concentrates on styling her clients, the bounce Okafor is after is really that of a football – whose lure is irresistible for this fighter.
“If the 2021 season starts, I will for trials with another club,” she rallies. “I still do evening training after work to keep myself fit.”
Okafor’s former team-mates, meanwhile, have now gone 14 months without being paid, despite Cross River State’s Sport Commissioner promising to pay them last week.
“I will never give up on by career because of Pelican Stars,” says Okafor.
“My dream is to play for the Super Falcons of Nigeria and I know my dreams will come true one day. Football has been my joy, my life, my everything and I’ll keep fighting for it.”
Angolan security forces have killed at least seven people – all of them teenagers – between May and July while enforcing measures to curb the spread of coronavirus, an investigation by international rights body Amnesty and Angolan campaign group Omunga has found.
The youngest victim was 14-year-old Mário Palma Romeu, known as Marito, who was shot on 13 May while out on a shopping errand.
“One teenage boy was shot in the face while he lay injured; another was killed when police fired on a group of friends practising at a sports field. A state of emergency is no excuse for such outrageous human rights violations,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.
All the killings took place in poor neighbourhoods of the capital, Luanda.
In one incident a young man with pre-existing health problems was stopped by police because he was not wearing a mask, he was forced to do a somersault as a punishment, when he refused a policemen fired a gun over his head, the rights groups say.
He was taken to hospital where he died. Neighbours told officers that the young man had problems with his heart and hypertension. The results of the autopsy have not yet been released.
Angola: Police kill at least seven teenagers during lockdown enforcement – investigation https://t.co/zBkpDKrtRf
“The ultimate aim of combating the spread of Covid-19 should be to save lives and protect livelihoods. When state agents are responsible for the killing of people, it defeats this purpose,” said João Malavindele, executive director of Omunga.
Amnesty said in a statement that the investigation was done by piecing together accounts of families and friends.
It alleges that officers from the Angolan National Police and Angolan Armed Forces are suspected to be responsible for the killings.
The rights body urged Angolan authorities to ensure their ongoing investigations are swift, independent and impartial.
They also called for those suspected to be responsible for human rights violations and abuses be held to account and families provided justice, truth and reparation.
Malware which signed users up to subscription services without their permission has been found on thousands of mobiles sold in Africa.
Anti-fraud firm Upstream found the malicious code on 53,000 Tecno handsets, sold in Ethiopia, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana and South Africa.
Manufacturer Transsion told Buzzfeed it was installed in the supply chain without its knowledge.
Upstream said it was taking advantage of the “most vulnerable”.
“The fact that the malware arrives pre-installed on handsets that are bought in their millions by typically low-income households tells you everything you need to know about what the industry is currently up against,” said Geoffrey Cleaves, head of Upstream’s Secure-D platform.
The Triada malware found by the firm on the Android smartphones installs malicious code known as xHelper which then finds subscription services and submits fraudulent requests on behalf of users, doing so invisibly and without the user’s knowledge.
If the request is successful, it consumes pre-paid airtime, the only way to pay for digital services in many developing countries.
In total, Upstream found what it described as “suspicious activity” on more than 200,000 Tecno smartphones.
According to research firm IDC, Transsion Holdings is one of China’s leading phone manufacturers and in Africa it is the top-selling mobile manufacturer.
The BBC contacted the firm for a statement but did not receive a response.
It told Buzzfeed that it was unaware that the malware was on its smartphones, blaming an unidentified vendor “in the supply chain process”.
On its website it writes: “Each link of the supply chain is crucial to ensure high quality products,” adding that it has “strict quality standards and rigorous criteria for suppliers”.
And in 2016, researcher Ryan Johnson found that more than 700 million Android smartphones had malware installed.
Google, which developed the Android operating system, is aware of the issue.
In a blog written last year it blamed third-party vendors, used by manufacturers to install features such as face unlock, for pre-installing Triada malware.
It said it had worked with manufacturers to remove the threat from devices.
English Championship side Wycombe Wanderers have shown interest in Black Stars winger Albert Adomah according to reports.
The 32-year-old with his experience in the Championship will be a good addition to the newly-promoted team as they look to strengthen their squad ahead of next season.
Albert Adomah was loaned to Cardiff City in the January transfer window by his parent club Nottingham Forest but return after the season was halted due to the Coronavirus.
It has been reported that talks are underway between the two parties over the player and an agreement could be reached soon.
He made nine appearances in the last campaign for Cardiff scoring two goals but missed out on the Championship play-offs.
English side Birmingham City has also shown interest in the Ghanaian International.
Adomah has had stints with Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Cardiff City, Middlesbrough in the English Championship.
Ghana defender, Abdul Mumin, trained with his new teammates for the first time at Victoria Guimaraes on Monday August, 24 since joining the club in the ongoing transfer window.
The 22-year-old joined the Portuguese outfit on a four-year deal from Danish side Nordsjaelland.
Nordsjaelland were keen on extending the contract of the towering defender after an impressive season.
Mumin had offers from English Premier League side Sheffield United and Monaco in France, but due to his preference of regular playing time, he decided to sign for Guimarães.
Abdul Mumin joined Guimaraes as a free agent after failing to extend his deal with Nordsjaelland at the end of his contract.
Mumin trains with the side for the first time and will be eyeing a good campaign ahead of the start of the 2020/21 Premiera Liga season.
Former Ghana midfielder Mohammed Gargo insists Thomas Partey should make the move to England and join Arsenal in the summer transfer window.
Gargo believes a move to the Gunners will be a huge leap in his career, insisting it is a step forward for the 27-year-old in-demand midfielder.
Thomas Partey is yet to extend his contract with Atletico Madrid, but the Rojiblancos have already rejected two bid from the English giants.
“I think he should move,” said Gargo. “I think the subject of where he should be is going to even hype him up. It is going to make him a better player than he is now,” he added.
“Who would want to move from class three to class four instead of class four ?,’ he quizzed.
“I mean, he moving to Arsenal is going to giving him an opportunity to take a step further.It’s going to help him up and it will make him a better player for the Black Stars,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, head coach of the Black Stars Charles Kwablan Akonnor has advised against the move to Arsenal, insisting the midfielder has the chance to play in the UEFA Champions League at Atletico Madrid.
Italian giants Juventus have joined the race for the midfielder’s signature.
Accra Hearts of Oak have vehemently rejected the chance to re-sign former midfielder Leonard Tawiah after making himself available.
Tawiah parted company with the Phobians in 2017 after refusing to renew his contract just after the FA Cup final defeat to sworn rivals Asante Kotoko SC.
The lanky midfielder left the club with other key players like skipper Thomas Abbey, Kwame Kizito and Vincent Atinga as they all rejected new deals from the Rainbow club.
Tawiah signed for Lebanese side Ahkaa Ahli Aley FC on a free transfer in January 2018 and later joined Futuro Kings FC in Equatorial Guinea.
The 27-year-old has returned to Ghana in search for a new club and he offered himself to rejoin the Ghanaian giants.
GHANAsoccernet.com understands that Hearts of Oak remain bitter about Tawiah’s departure in 2017 and have vowed not to take him back at the club.
Anderlecht teenage sensation, Jeremy Doku, has been called into the Belgian senior national team for the first time in his young career as they prepare for a clash against Iceland.
Few months ago, CK Akonnor went to visit him in Belgium during a tour to convince some European based talents to join the senior national team in Ghana.
It looks like he has chosen the country he will represent and it happens to be Belgium with a team featuring the likes of Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne.
Former Ghana great Mohammed Polo says that former Hearts of Oak player Joseph Esso cannot not be blamed for leaving the club when his contract has expired.
The Accra-based club announced not long ago that they had parted ways with key striker Joseph Esso and four of his teammates namely Bernard Arthur, Christopher Bonney, Benjamin Agyare and Abubakar Traore.
According to the dribbling magician, the management of the club should be blamed for the player’s exit as they were not proactive.”You can’t blame Esso for leaving Hearts of Oak, if the management were proactive, he would have stayed,†he told Kuamsi-based Akoma FM
“I disagree with anyone who says Hearts gave Esso a platform to stardom so he should have stayed, he has proven his value and so he deserved some recognition.â€
“You can’t blame the player, any other player would have done same.â€
It is widely reported that the player wanted to sign for just a year while the club wanted to tie him down for more than a year’s contract.
Meanwhile the Managing Director of the club, Mr Frederick Moore has accused the player and his guardian for being economical with the truth.
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) is determined to start the 2020/21 season amid Coronavirus pandemic and have reportedly set aside a total of GHS2,656,800 to test players.
The GFA want to test all players in Ghana Premier League, Division One League and Women’s Premier League.
According to the report, the amount will cover the cost of testing all the players, technical handlers and management members before the season gets underway. A total of 3,444 people will be tested.
Football activities have been banned since the outbreak of the deadly virus in March. This forced the GFA to cancel the 2019/20 season.
However, the GFA has set October 31 as the start date for the season to commence.
Their proposed date, is, however, subject to the government lifting the ban on football.
Ghanaian midfielder Moritz-Broni Kwarteng is expected to stay at Bundesliga ll side Hamburger SV in the on-going summer transfer window.
The 22-year-old was determined to leave the club for Danish Superligaen side Randers FC in search of first-team action this season.
German Newspaper Bild has claimed that Hamburger SV sporting director Horst Hrubesch and U-21 manager Pit Reimers held fruitful talks with Kwarteng and his agent Nochi Hamasor and a consensus has been reached over his first-team ambition ahead of the new football season.
Kwarteng scored two goals and provided two assists in nine league appearances for Hamburger SV ll in the Regionalliga Nord last term.
His current contract with the Volksparkstadion outfit will expire in June 2021.
The Stuttgart-born midfielder is still eligible to play for the Black Stars of Ghana at the international stage as he is yet to be capped by the Germany senior national team.
Former Asante Kotoko goalkeeper, Anthony Osei Kwadwo Mensah, has backed the current coach, Maxwell Konadu to succeed and chalk more glory with the Porcupine Warriors.
Several concerns have been raised about the former Black Stars B gaffer regarding his potency to build a winning side after several struggles in the truncated 2019/2020 Ghana Premier League season due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to Nhyira FM, Anthony Osei Kwadwo Mensah expressed confidence in the expertise of Maxwell Konadu to fully reach the potential of winning more trophies for Asante Kotoko.
“Maxwell Konadu is a good coach. He is a lucky star that shines and I can make reference to when he was a footballer. He coached Kotoko some years back (2012) and we have seen his works with the Black Stars B too. He has coaching experience as well as playing experience so I trust he can build a quality team,†he stated.
“The supporters must be patient and give him some time to build the team and I implore the new CEO to also work closely with him to achieve success. This is the time I believe Asante Kotoko can rise again,†Osei Kwadwo said.
Maxwell Konadu returned to coach Asante Kotoko in December, 2019 after failing to qualify the Black Stars B to the CHAN tournament. He won the 2012 Ghana Premier League with Asante Kotoko after he succeeded Bogdan Korak as head coach.
The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is on his way to Sudan from Israel, has touted the direct flight as a signal of a change in relationship between the two countries.
Sudan under ousted leader Omar al-Bashir maintained a hardline policy towards Israel which has thawed since a transitional government came into power last year.
Sudan has been pushing to be removed from the list of countries that the US considers state sponsors of terrorism.
Mr Pompeo is expected to meet senior Sudanese officials including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
The meeting will discuss support for the civilian-led government and “deepening the Sudan-Israel relationship”, according to a statement from the state department.
An official from the department told news agency Reuters that “it’s possible that more history will be made,” in regard to whether Sudan might join the UAE as the third Arab country to normalise relations with Israel.
On 19 August, Sudan announced it had sacked its foreign ministry spokesman after he called the UAE decision “a brave and bold step”.
Happy to announce that we are on the FIRST official NONSTOP flight from Israel to Sudan! pic.twitter.com/eOXNsBAozC
Great to be in Khartoum for meetings with the civilian-led transitional government. The democratic transition underway is a once in a generation opportunity for the people of Sudan. Looking forward to discussing how to deepen the U.S.-Sudan relationship. pic.twitter.com/krfKxt3tyS
Uganda’s foreign ministry has recalled some members of staff in its embassy in Denmark to pave way for investigations following a newspaper report of a plot to misappropriate public funds.
The Ugandan Daily Monitor newspaper highlighted a leaked audio recording of people discussing the plan. But there has been no official confirmation that the voices belong to embassy staff.
The foreign ministry, through Permanent Secretary Patrick Mugoya, has released a statement saying it will investigate the report.
“In the meantime, the officers implicated have been recalled to the ministry headquarters to pave way for investigations. Depending on the outcome of the investigation additional measures may be taken as appropriate,” he said.
📌NOTICE📌
OFFICIAL STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO THE DAILY MONITOR NEWSPAPER ARTICLE OF 24TH AUGUST 2020 TITLED " EMBASSY STAFF PLOT CASH THEFT ON ZOOM" pic.twitter.com/jv4TeQERTi
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Uganda 🇺🇬 (@UgandaMFA) August 24, 2020
He had ruled out running for re-election but reconsidered it after his preferred successor Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, who had been nominated by the ruling party, died unexpectedly of a heart attack last month.
Eleven out of 31 prisoners who escaped from a facility in the south-east of Madagascar on Sunday have been recaptured, police say.
The police and army were deployed to Farafanga prison when dozens of prisoners turned against guards with rocks and a stolen gun.
The police opened fire, killing 20 inmates.
The justice ministry said 19 prisoners were still at large.
Mass prison escapes are not uncommon in Madagascar. In 2016 around 40 detainees broke out from a high-security prison in Toliary in the south of the country.
People are often held for years in prison in Madagascar as they await trial, rights groups say.
The health commissioner of Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos, has tested positive for coronavirus.
Akin Abayomi was tested after being in contact with people who had tested positive for the virus, according to the state information commissioner Gbenga Omotoso.
The health commissioner has not exhibited symptoms of Covid-19 and has said he will isolate for 14 days at home.
Mr Abayomi has been leading the response to the coronavirus pandemic in Lagos and the whole of Nigeria.
Nigeria has so far confirmed 52,548 Covid-19 cases, with Lagos accounting for 17,992 cases.
Some 39,257 patients have recovered while 1,004 have died.
