ActressNadia Buarihas for the first time shared pictures of herself and husband.
The 40-year-old beauty has been married for a couple of years but no one seems to know who her husband really is, because she’s known to be quite secretive when it comes to her family and dating life.
The “Beyonce: The President’s Daughter” actress has four kids: twins born in 2015, the third born in 2017, and the last born in 2018.
Nadia Buari’s children often feature on her social media channels but their faces are usually hidden from her fans.
Finally, it looks like the actress is now ready to open the doors of her home for her inquisitive fans to have a sneak peek of her private life.
Nadia took to Instagram to share 3 slides ofphotos of her supposed husband goofing in a lovey-dovey way.
“God never said that the journey would be easy, but He did say that the arrival would be worthwhile. Morning buttercakes!,” the caption of the post read.
It’s immediately not clear the occasion which called for this big husband reveal but it appears to be a special day for the couple.
Brazilian and world football star, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, also known as Pele has been honored for his contributions to the game by having his name added to the dictionary as an adjective.
This was done after a campaign led by the Pelé Foundation and SporTV dubbed “Pelé in the dictionary”.
The Michaelis dictionary defines “Pele” as: “What or who is out of the ordinary, what or who by virtue of their quality, value or superiority cannot be equaled to anything or anyone, just like Pelé, nickname of Edson Arantes do Nascimento (1940-2022), considered to be the greatest athlete of all time; exceptional, incomparable, unique.
“Examples: He is the Pelé of basketball, she is the Pelé of tennis, she is the Pelé of Brazilian dramaturgy.”
Pele sadly passed away on December 29, 2022, following a long battle with colon cancer.
A three-timeFIFA World Cup winner, he scored over 1000 goals in his career and is regarded by many as the greatest footballer of all time.
A new car has been added to the fleet of opulent vehicles driven by Nigerian musician David Adeleke, better known as Davido.
The musician just copped himself one of the rare 150 units of the 2023 Mercedes-Maybach S-Class 680 designed by Virgil Abloh.
He becomes the first African artist to own one joining the likes of Alicia Keys and Skepta.
The limited edition vehicle is selling at a starting price of $530,000 to $600,000.
Davido on Sunday night shut down Lagos with his highly anticipated Timeless concert at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), and decided to climax it with the new toy.
David has a very interesting garage filled with about 13 expensivecarsthat everyone will love to own someday.
They include a 2022 Mercedes Benz Maybach SUV, 2021 Lamborghini Aventador, 2021 Rolls Royce Cullinan, Lamborghini Huracan, 2018 Bentley Bentyga, Range Rover, 2017 Range Rover Sports, Mercedes Benz Gla Class 450, Porsche 911 Carerra, Mercedes Benz G Wagon, Lamborghini Urus, Audi R8 Coupe and Chevrolet Camaro.
Off-White founder and Louis Vuitton’s late artistic director of menswear, Virgil Abloh collaborated with Mercedes on the project before his death in November, 2021.
Two concept cars – a sedan and off roader – which were immovable works of art were unveiled at the time. However, Mercedes in 2022 unveiled that it would actually produce a drivable and street-legal Abloh-designed Maybach.
The German über-brand eventually created a purchasable Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, which is limited to a run of just 150 units.
The actor of the Apple TV+ feel-good comedy series, Jason Sudeikis, has explained why his TwitterDMs are open in a new interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“You try to spend as much time and be as present with people,” Sudeikis said of the show’s loyal viewers. “I read everybody’s messages.”
He added that because of the themes of the show, the cast has been met “with such kindness and grace” from viewers. Sudeikis said that he keeps his DMs open because the stories that people share with him are “incredibly moving.”
“People share their stories or explain where they’ve held the ‘Believe’ poster, where they have it. Like, in a parent’s hospital room or in classrooms or where-have-you,” he said.
Optimism, mental health and simply just being kind to one another are just a few of the themes that “Ted Lasso” has tackled. And perhaps the biggest overarching theme, illustrated by a bright yellow poster that hangs in AFC Richmond’s lively locker room, is to just “Believe” that anything is possible.
Sudeikis’s inbox is likely full of an unimaginable amount of messages, but he says that he puts forth a real effort to read what he can.
“I want ‘em to know that, sincerely, that they’re seen, they’re heard, they’re read,” he said, going on to add that the sentiments from viewers that he and those involved in the show read aren’t something they “take lightly or take for granted.”
“Ted Lasso” is set in the UK and follows an American football coach who jumps the pond to coach AFC Richmond, the struggling English Premier League soccer team. The series’ third season, which could be its last, began streaming in March and is chock full of feel-good moments, moving subplots and, of course, biscuits.
The critically acclaimed show became an instant classic when it premiered in 2020 and has since won 11 Emmy Awards, including consecutive best comedy series wins in 2021 and 2022.
James Corden‘s tenure as host of “The Late Late Show” is coming to an end after eight years and numerous Emmy nominations.
The English presenter and actor announced his departure from the show, which was home to popular segments such as “Carpool Karaoke,” last April. He later revealed that his desire to spend more time with his family prompted the move.
“It was going to be a journey, an adventure. I never saw it as my final destination,” Corden said at the time.
On Thursday night, the 44-year-old comic got emotional as he prepared to vacate the seat that made him a household name. The prime-time special featured A-list guests Harry Styles, Adele and Will Ferrell and a surprise video message from President Joe Biden, and Corden’s parents were in the audience.
While his decision to leave the show during a successful run on US late-night television had surprised many, Corden revealed that “one positive” of leaving the show is that he “may finally get a good night’s sleep.”
In his emotional farewell speech, the father-of-three also touched on his journey as the show’s host.
“We started this show with Obama, then Trump, then a global pandemic,” he said.
“I’ve watched America change a lot. Over these past few years, I’ve watched divisions grow and I’ve seen and I’ve felt a sense of negativity bubble and at points boil over,” he added.
Corden implored his audience to “remember what America signifies to the rest of the world. My entire life it has always been a place of optimism and joy. And yes, it has flaws, so many, but show me a country that doesn’t. Show me a person that doesn’t.”
Corden continued: “We are all more the same than we are different. There are so many people who are trying to stoke those differences and we have to try as best we can to look for the light, look for the joy. If you do, it’s out there. That’s all this show has ever been about.”
He described his move to Americaas “a huge leap,” and thanked CBS for taking a “life-changing” chance on him.
Corden ended his final appearance by performing a piano ballad, as a video montage of his finest moments on the show played.
“Part of me thinks why not stay here forever, but deep in my heart I just know,” he sang. “No more shows to be showing, it’s time I was going. It’s time. Thanks for watching, that’s our show.”
Sarkodie is not the landlord of Ghana rap, this is according to Ghanaian artist, Eno Barony.
According to her, there is no single person who owns or lords the Ghanaianrap industry.
The reason she believes that the ascription of the ‘landlord’ title to Sarkodie is a wrong move considering that other formidable rappers like herself are still around.
In her latest rap track, Eno Barony sent a daring message toSarkodieeven after quashing the Landlord’s title.
“We living on the land with no lords. No Man’s land, Nobody be landlord.”
Sarkodie has been locally hailed as the Landlord of Ghanana rap and to a large extent the one icon of the Ghanaian music industry.
In fact, Obidi is viewed as the most popular Ghanaian artist who has a wide international audience that his music appeals.
Therefore, many believe with his body of work, relevance, impact and how long he has been around, it is not far-fetched for Sarkodie to be seen and described as the Landlord of Ghana Music.
Eno Barony disagrees.
What, many think could settle this, is for Sarkodie and Eno Barony to lock horns in a musical rap beef to ascertain who’s who.
Brothers of a married woman have beaten their brother-in-law for refusing to refrain from beating his wife.
Apparently, the wife is said to have cried about suffering domestic violence on numerous occasions and her brothers eventually became fed up with the never-ending reports of assault. They stormed her house to teach her husband an unforgettable lesson for constantly beating their sister.
In a trending video, the strong brothers undressed the woman beater, tied him to a tree and gave him about 200 lashes at his bare back.
The husband who had finally met his meter can be heard in the video pleading and begging for mercy but his brothers-in-law refused to listen to him and proceeded to give him heartwrenching strokesat his back.
Watch the video below to know more…
This man enjoys beating his wife at any given opportunity n has refused to put a stop to that upon several warnings. The day finally came for his wife’s brothers to teach him a good lesson!! ? pic.twitter.com/rrsrh9Rc9C— Fitila ??? (@Pirtim) April 26, 2023
A Ghanaian man who has been eight years married has revealed his motivations for engaging in extramarital relationship.
For nearly a decade, Tee feels he’s alone in his marriage. The husband and father of four says his wife does not take up her role as the woman of the household.
In a no-hold back on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Tee claimed he is a responsible man who provides everything needed for his household, his wife, however, does not hold up her end of the bargain.
He says the situation has sucked out all the romance in the marriage and feels unloved.
“I’m a very responsible man, I have a wife and I sometimes ask her to do something for me, my intention is not to stress her, but she’ll tell ‘I don’t have time.’ This has been happening for a long time,” he told co-host Kojo Yankson.
“As a responsible man you go around and do everything for the family and the woman you decide to be with treats you as if you are a child staying with her,” he narrated.
Tee believes the situation is what propelled him to seek comfort outside his matrimonial home.
Narrating how he met the other woman, popularly called side chick, Tee said he was always buying food outside and this lady expressed concern.
Although he didn’t divulge the actual reason, Tee said the lady, who at the time was just a friend, has since taken on the role to ensure he is well-fed and taken care of.
“I’m not saying that it is a behaviour that everyone should do but sometimes the behaviour of some wives to push men into this behaviour. Men are like kids, if you don’t give your child food to eat, he will go somewhere to eat,” he said.
He further added that although it is not his wish to cheat on his better half, his wife’s behaviour has gradually pushed him away.
A Nigerian man is said to have passed away from shock after learning that his wife, whom he sponsored to relocate overseas for a better life, waspregnant by someone else.
This cruel story was shared by Twitter user @BolanleCole who claimed that the man had struggled to send his wife and two kids to the United Kingdom so they could have a better life while he remained in Nigeria.
Disappointingly, the wife started having an extramarital affair with another man when she arrived in her safe haven.
Their relationship resulted in pregnancy, which the husband only found out about it recently after his wife gave birth.
The tweep noted that the news of the woman’s infidelity and pregnancy was too much for the man to bear, leading to his sudden death.
The names of the board members who choose the nominations and winners of the prestigious music awards will not be made public, according to Robert Klah, the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards‘ (VGMA) public relations officer.
In an interview with Caleb Nii Boye on 3FM, Robert Klah explained that the decision was made to protect the safety of the board members.
Klah stated that VGMA has received threats in the past, and the board members have been subjected to online harassment, which has led to concerns about their safety.
As a result, the decision was made to keep their identities confidential to avoid any potential harm.
“The thing is this we’ve had some board members who’ve had threats before so the best thing is not to share information about these people,” Robert Klah submitted
Citing the Grammy Awards as reference, the P.R.O revealed that there are over 11,000 decision makers who comprised members of the Recording Academy and most were relatively unknown.
“There are 11,000 plus people responsible for theGrammys and I don’t know if you know all of them and I don’t know if anybody is responsible for knowing all of them,” he said.
He added that the board members are a diverse group of individuals with various backgrounds and expertise in the music industry, and they take their responsibilities very seriously.
The VGMA is one of the most significant music awards events in Ghana and has been running for over two decades. The awards recognize and celebrate the achievements of musicians, producers, and other stakeholders in the music industry.
The decision to keep the identities of the board members confidential has been met with mixed reactions from the public, with some people expressing concern about the lack of transparency in the awards process.
However, others have supported the decision, citing the need to protect the safety of the board members.
Klah emphasized that the VGMA remains committed to promoting and celebrating excellence in the music industry and will continue to ensure that the awards process is fair and transparent.
“At the end of the day, you need to trust the system, the VGMA has been running for X number of years and as a human institution you’ll certain have flaws and that’s fine but if it’s working and you know that majority of hwat we’ve been doing then I think that we should be able to trusr the system,” he pointed out.
The 2023 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards is scheduled to take place at the Grand Arena in Accra on the 6th of May, 2023, and broadcasted live on television via TV3.
On Saturday, May 6, 2023, the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu IIand his wife, Lady Julia will witness the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty The Queen Consort in London.
Otumfuo and Lady Julia will join monarchs and global leaders from across the globe who will assemble at Westminster Abbey for what is expected to be a feast of pageantry marking the first coronation in over 70 years.
A statement issued by the Manhyia Palace on April 28 said, “His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, has been invited to attend the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty The Queen Consort in London on Saturday, May 6, 2023. He will be accompanied by Lady Julia. Otumfuo Asantehene and Lady Julia will join monarchs and global leaders from across the globe who will assemble at Westminster Abbey for what is expected to be a feast of pageantry marking the first coronation in over 70 years”.
The Manhyia Palace in its statement noted that Otumfuo Asantehene and Lady Julia will be received by King Charles in a private audience at Buckingham Palace on May 4, 2023, before the Coronation.
“Before the Coronation, Otumfuo Asantehene and Lady Julia will be received by King Charles in a private audience at Buckingham Palace on May 4, 2023. They will also attend the King’s official reception for overseas guests on May 5, 2023,” Manhyia Palace underscored.
Charles III instantly became King after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, at her rural Balmoral home on September 8, 2022.
Read below the details of the statement by Manhyia Palace
Nigerian singer, Mr. Eazi, has improved the lives of students in Navrongo by sponsoring 1000 students’ at the C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS).
Mr Eazi through the scheme has provided 282 students scholarships to cover either partial or full tuition fees.
The CKT-UTAS management through its Registrar, Dr V. A. Ankamah-Lomotey,in a letter also expressed its gratitude to ‘Leg Over’ singer, stating that his contribution will go a long way in ensuring that more students can access quality education inNavrongo.
This generous act has been met with an outpouring of gratitude from the students, many of whom have expressed their appreciation on social media.
Mr Eazi’s philanthropic work in education is not new. In 2020, he launched the emPawa Africa 30 initiative, which provided grants to 30 African artists to help them grow their careers.
His contribution will undoubtedly change the lives of many students in Navrongo, and we can only hope that more individuals will follow his lead and give back to their communities in meaningful ways.
The Ghanaian afrobeats musician and composer arrived in Uganda this week, where he spoke with a number of prestigious media outlets, including NBS TV Uganda and NRG Radio Uganda, to talk about his career and love of music while also presenting some brand-new songs off his “A Life Time Is Not Enough” EP.
Processed with Lensa with Magic Correction & PT1 filter
Earlier, he was in Kenya, where he shared his forecast for the year with some of the industry’s bigwigs, including Soundcity Radio Kenya, Capital FM Kenya, and Pulse Kenya.
Later this month, Camidoh is anticipated in Tanzania to wrap up his media appearances and activations throughout East Africa.
Meanwhile, Camidoh has released a video for “Adoley,” the second track off his “A Lifetime Is Not Enough” EP.
Directed by Ghana’s finest director, REX, the clip comes with a touch of urban and indigenous Ghanaian and Nigerian street vibes, which in all gives it a global appeal.
A Life Time Is Not Enough arrived in January this year as the Ghana native’s official sophomore studio record after chalking up industry success with his 2020 Contingency Plan.
The new EP has six songs and features guest contributions from Ghanaian singer-songwriter Cina Soul.
Since its release, the project has earned positive reviews from industry executives, music writers, and critics and is currently enjoying massive airplay across the country.
The Weija dam will soon start spilling surplus water, thus the management of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has warned residents within the area to evacuate.
GWCL noted that the level of the dam as of Friday, April 28, 2023, was 46ft, 1ft below the maximum safe operating level of 47ft.
This, the GWCL warned that it will not hesitate to open the spill gates, should the level go above 46.5ft, in order to avert any possible disaster.
In a statement, the Chief Manager, Public Relations and Communication of GWCL, Stanley Martey cautioned, “With the onset of the rains, Management of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) wishes to inform the public, especially citizens living downstream of the Weija Dam, that it will begin spillage of excess water from the dam any time soon. The Management of GWCL is by this release sounding a word of caution to inhabitants downstream to evacuate the area to forestall any eventuality”.
“The level of the dam as of Friday 28th April 2023 is 46ft, 1ft below the maximum safe operating level of 47ft. The dam levels are monitored on an hourly basis and the GWCL will not hesitate to open the spill gates, should the level go above 46.5ft, so as not to compromise the integrity of the dam and to avert any disaster”.
GWCL in its statement added that the Municipal Assembly has also been informed to desilt the estuary to enable easy flow of the water into the sea.
“The Municipal Assembly has also been informed to desilt the estuary to enable easy flow of the water into the sea and to clear heaps of refuse along the course of the river. The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), National Security, Chiefs of Weija, Ogblogo, Tetegu, Weija, Gbawe, opinion leaders and all stakeholders including institutions and organizations who have properties downstream have been informed of the development and current situation at the dam,” GWCL said in its statement.
Communities likely to be affected include Tetegu, Oblogo, Pambros Salt, Lower McCarthy Hill, Lower Weija, Bojo Beach, Adakope and surrounding communities.
Read below GWCL’s full statement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: 28th APRIL 2023
ATTN: NEWS EDITOR
WEIJA DAM WATER SPILLAGE EARLY WARNING
With the onset of the rains, Management of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) wishes to inform the public, especially citizens living downstream of the Weija Dam, that it will begin spillage of excess water from the dam any time soon.
The level of the Dam as of Friday 28th April 2023 is 46ft, 1ft below the maximum safe operating level of 47ft. The dam levels are monitored on an hourly basis and the GWCL will not hesitate to open the spill gates, should the level go above 46.5ft, so as not to compromise the integrity of the dam and to avert any disaster.
The Management of GWCL is by this release sounding a word of caution to inhabitants downstream to evacuate the area to forestall any eventuality. The Municipal Assembly has also been informed to desilt the estuary to enable easy flow of the water into the sea and to clear heaps of refuse along the course of the river. The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), National Security, Chiefs of Weija, Ogblogo, Tetegu, Weija, Gbawe, opinion leaders and all stakeholders including institutions and organizations who have properties downstream have been informed of the development and current situation at the dam.
The communities likely to be affected include Tetegu, Oblogo, Pambros Salt, Lower McCarthy Hill, Lower Weija, Bojo Beach, Adakope and surrounding communities.
Management of GWCL expects that the public will be supportive in this exercise to avoid a reoccurrence of the disaster that has occurred in the past.
Stanley Martey (Chief Manager, PR & Communication)
A leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has dragged former Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng to court over galamsey allegations leveled against him.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng in the galamseyreport accused Mr. Otchere-Darko of interfering in the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) which he (Prof. Frimpong-Boateng) chaired.
But in a legal suit filed at the High Court, Mr. Otchere-Darko is demanding a sum of GH¢10,000,000 from the former minister in damages.
Mr. Otchere-Darko also demands an apology and retraction from Prof. Frimpong-Boateng.
“An apology for and retraction of the words complained of and the particularized supra. A perpetual injunction restraining the defendant whether by himself, his servants, agents or assigns from repeating similar or other defamatory words against the plaintiff,” Mr. Otchere-Darko demanded as part of his reliefs.
Contention of Plaintiff
Lawyers for Otchere-Darko, in their statement of claim dated 28 April 2023, and signed by Bright Okyere-Adjekum, contend that the “defendant from his report sought to sensationalise the telephone conversation with the Plaintiff as Plaintiff never sought to direct or instruct defendant on his dealings with Heritage”.
“Defendant placed a slant on his telephone conversation with the plaintiff only to justify his self-acclaimed position that he was the last man standing in the fight against galamsey and thereby enhance his reputation at plaintiff’s expense.
“Defendant’s false statements about the plaintiff, which have gone viral, have generated and continue to feed several insults against plaintiff, especially on the internet, including plaintiff being derisively called galamsey lawyer.”
“Plaintiff’s conversation with defendant did not involve any illegal Chinese miners. Defendant is deliberately and maliciously confusing issues, events and dates” the statement of claim read.
“By the records available to plaintiff, the only Chinese nationals with work permits engaged by Heritage as its subcontractors who were arrested were discharged by a court of competent jurisdiction in July 2019. This was even before Heritage engaged ALA as its lawyers and plaintiff had nothing to do with that at all.
“Notwithstanding the fact that the plaintiff has made it clear that the allegations made against him by the Defendant are false, the defendant has not offered the plaintiff any apology or retraction.”
“Instead, he has made more damning false allegations against plaintiff. It is to be inferred that defendant has cynically failed to do so because he is indifferent to the truth, deliberate about causing reputational damage to Plaintiff, has a total disregard for plaintiff’s reputation and only seeks to court huge publicity at Plaintiff’s expense.
“Plaintiff contends that unless restrained by the court, defendant will continue to publish or cause to be published same or similar defamatory words concerning the plaintiff” Otchere-Darko’s lawyers said in their statement of claim.
Authorities at Collins Senior High School in Asante Akyem Agogo, Ashanti Region, are having difficulty feeding students following the destruction of its kitchen facility.
The kitchen facility which served over 1000 students according to school authorities was completely razed following a downpour.
Jacob Agyenim Boateng, a journalist from Otec FM visited the school and he observed that matrons of the school were force to cook under a dilapidated structure which poses as a threat to lives of the students.
Speaking to OTEC News on Wednesday April 26, 2023, the Organizer for the 1989 year group (an old students association of the school) Mr. Owoahene Acheampongdescribed the situation as worrying.
Mr. Acheampong said the recent destruction of the kitchen facility has disrupted teaching and learning in the school as matrons fail to serve food to students on time.
He urged authorities in the Ashanti Region and the education sector to treat the issue as a matter of urgency and find solution to the problem.
“As old students, we are doing our part to ensure the smooth running of the school, just recently we organized ourselves and present teaching and learning materials to the Home Economic Department of the school, but this particular problem is beyond our reach
“This is the reason why we are calling on stakeholders in the educational sector to come to the aid of the school and provide a befitting kitchen for the students”, he said.
In the upcoming presidential primaries, Eugene Boakye Antwi, the member of parliament for Subin in the Ashanti Region, has warned New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates not to tamper with what he described as Christian or Akan votes.
The former Deputy Minister of Works and Housing explained that the NPP, for a long time has derived its political strength and support from Christian or Akan-dominated areas across the country.
He argued that it is important that delegates of the party do not tamper with that trend.
“Delegates shouldn’t do anything to antagonize that base because if the base refuse to vote, you are out of office,” he said.
Speaking in an interview with Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV, Eugene Boakye Antwi said that there are about 12 polling stations in his constituency where the NPPalways trails behind the NDC.
He added that this is because those areas are non-Akan-dominated areas.
He, therefore, cautioned the party against electing candidates who will be detrimental to the base of the NPP.
“The empirical evidence is that we derive our political power, support, authority, and existence from Akan-dominated or Christian-dominated areas of this country, and it’s a fact. Check our current numbers in parliament and you would establish that most of the MPs from the Majority Caucus emerged from Akan-dominated areas. So, why do you want to elect a candidate who will be detrimental to your base?” he quizzed, while speaking with the morning show host, Kwesi Parker-Wilson.
The Subin MP also dismissed claims that his analysis is centered on tribalism, insisting that “in our current politics, we cannot rule out ethnicity or religion.
“People are only making hypothetical analysis that electing Bawumia as flagbearer will weaken the base of the NDC in Muslim communities. The NDC appreciates that Ghana is a Christian-dominated country, reason they elected a Christian as their flagbearer,” he added.
Presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kennedy Agyapong, has criticized Kwabena Agyapong for accusing him of fabricating an information regarding a contribution he (Ken) made to the party.
Kwabena Agyapong, a former deputy general secretary of the NPP, is reported to have said in an interview with Kumasi-based Angel FM that Ken Agyapong lied when he stated that he repaid a $3 million loan contracted by the party in 1991.
According to Kwabena Agyapong, Ken Agyapong’s claim cannot be true because the NPP did not exist in 1991.
“I will not boast about my wealth, as others do, claiming they gave $3 million to the party in 1991. In 1991, was NPP in existence? NPP was established in 1992. Under military rule, obtaining $3 million from a bank is impossible,” the former NPP general secretary said.
Reacting to this while addressing delegates of the NPP in theCentral Region, Ken Agyapong accused Kwabena Agyapong of being mischievous because he (Ken) never said the loan was contracted in 1991.
Ken, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, added that the former NPP general secretary could not have been privy to the said payment because he was a ‘nobody’ in the party by then.
“I said in 1992 when Adu Boahen was elected flagbearer of the NPP myself and Oppong Bio went to CalBank to borrow $3 million to support the party, you can ask Fred Oware if I am lying.
“Kwabena Agyepong at the time supported Dr Safo Adu, he didn’t support Prof Adu Boahen. Dr Konadu Apraku, lawyer Kwadwo Afram Asiedu and I, we walked straight to the bedroom of Adu Boahen, Kwabena Agyapong couldn’t do that because he didn’t support the man.
“He has done his part for the NPP but he should also give us credit. When he even had an accident some of us including Gifty Kleman, Ursula Owusu and Grudle went round campaigning for him to be elected general secretary. At that time, the authorities were against him. But he couldn’t give us credit for supporting him, such things are not good for the party,” he said.
TheNigerian government has said that its efforts to evacuate thousands of students and civilians stuck in the crisis-hit Sudan were hindered by “a few logistical delays.”
The fighting in the country entered its 12yh day on 27 April with over 500 people killed and at least 3,700 wounded, according toUN agencies.
Nigerian government critics accuse officials of undue delay in evacuating her nationals, especially students, out of the north-east African country.
To date, some 5,500 Nigerians are stranded in Sudan, Nigeria’s foreign ministry says.
“When there is [a] problem of this nature people are only agitated because they want to see the final result,” Ezekiel Manzo, an official of the Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), tells The Africa Report of the government’s evacuation efforts.
“This thing, it has a process. One is the crisis itself. It broke out [and] there was no preparation or planning for the crisis. Secondly, this is a crisis that is internal, within the country, and the people that are the arrowheads of this crisis are the leaders of the country.”
Nigerian government has been having sleepless nights following the ongoing crisis in Sudan.
Our officials are doing a lot, coordinating with the Embassy in Khartoum, the Sudanese and Ethiopian governments trying to ensure the safety of the large number of our citizens there. pic.twitter.com/nZTgQVxata
— Garba Shehu (@GarShehu) April 23, 2023
Nations evacuate nationals
The latest crisis in Sudan erupted on 15 April following a disagreement between the country’s two most powerful military forces, the SAF (Sudan Armed Forces) led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary RSF (Rapid Support Forces) led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemeti.
The crisis triggered a large-scale evacuation of foreign nationals from the country. As of 25 April, several EU and Middle East countries, including China, the UK, and the US launched emergency evacuation operations for their citizens.
On Tuesday, the first batch of stranded Indians left Port Sudan for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, aboard INS Sumedha. The Indian foreign ministry said 278 people were onboard.
The Netherlands carried out a fourth evacuation operation on Monday night, moving a total of around 100 Dutch nationals and 70 others, from 14 different nationalities, out of Sudan.
The US government says it evacuated its diplomats and their families on 23 April.
Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, said the West African country began evacuation plans at the same time as those who had already evacuated their nationals.
“The advantage that these people have is that the US, Italy, [or] France, don’t have 5,000 citizens in Sudan,” Onyeama told Channels Television on 23 April.
“There is also a risk that they took. The US helicopters… they have a naval base close by, they have those kinds of resources and evidently, they were ready to take certain risks to move those helicopters and other things in there and pull their people out.
“If we did the same, we would be being very selective. Because 100 people out of 5,500, who do you take?” Heading to Egypt
As of 25 April, Nigerian officials say buses have been hired to move nationals to Sudan’s border with Egypt. From there, they will bring them to the southern Egyptian cities of Aswan and Luxor where they would be airlifted to Nigeria.
A student told Nigeria’s Arise Television on Tuesday that they are “really pained” over the government’s slow pace of evacuation.
“Other countries are evacuating their nationals, they are eager, they are showing that care, they are valuing their lives. But for us, our own country is full of excuses, that there is no money, and it’s going to cost a lot. Is it that the money is more valued than the 4,000 lives of Nigerian citizens living in Sudan?”
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Nigerian students at the registration point in #Sudan waiting to the convey to Egypt Before Airlifting to Nigeria.🍁 pic.twitter.com/FIgpqc6YCe
— يامير™🍁 (@Sheikh_Ameer_O1) April 26, 2023
On Tuesday, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, head of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, shared on Twitter a receipt showing the payment of N150m ($330,000) for the hiring of buses for the evacuation of the students.
Onyeama later told journalists on Wednesday that the actual amount spent on hiring 40 buses for the evacuation is $1.2m.
“Of course you know, because of the risks involved and so many other things, a lot of people are going to also take advantage, you’re going to hike up the price. We saw that the French convoy was attacked and so forth. It was difficult procuring these buses. But we had to do it because you know, Nigerians’ lives matter to us.”
Sources, however, told The Africa Report that the Nigerian government would have to sort out the issue of security escorts for the buses before the evacuation.
“There must be [an] arrangement for security to accompany the buses to the border of Egypt. Then from Egypt, the military of Egypt will now take over from there and accompany them to Aswan,” says a source who preferred not to be named because he was not authorised to speak about it. “The buses are going to be moving in convoys and Aswan is like 45 hours or so from Khartoum, by road.”
Dabiri-Erewa did not respond to phone calls and messages requesting comments. But she posted a photo of the buses, taken at nightfall, and added that the Nigerian government had sorted out “a bit of some logistics delay.”
It’s late in the night . Will get a clearer view in the morning . But in that dark shot are buses that will convey Nigerian students to nearby borders in Egypt . More buses are arriving. A bit of some logistics delay but all now sorted by @nemanigeria and the Nig mission,Sudan pic.twitter.com/AYUGCPfF6u
— Abike Dabiri-Erewa (@abikedabiri) April 25, 2023
Airline’s offer
On Monday, Nigerian carrier, Air Peace Airlines, offered to airlift Nigerian citizens in Sudan free of charge if they are taken to a safe, neighbouring country.
“If they are moved to Kenya or Uganda or any other country, we will move in to get them out,” Allen Onyema, the airline’s CEO said in a statement. “Some parents have started calling on us to help. We are ready to do this again and again.”
Manzo says the government had already assembled Nigerians in a holding area in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, awaiting their conveyance to Aswan.
“It is from Aswan that Air Peace will go and lift because many people are saying that Air Peace is ready to carry Nigerians but that the authorities are not allowing it. Do we own Sudan? We don’t own Sudan?
“Air Peace cannot land in Sudan as we speak. They will have to go to a safe location and that is Aswan.”
On Wednesday, Onyema told Arise Television that the first batch of the stranded Nigerians would be flown out of Egypt on Friday.
The Christian Council of Ghana has elected Rt. Rev. Dr. Hilliard Dela Dogbe as its Chairman.
He takes over from the Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante who served as Chairman of Council for two years.
Profile
Rt. Rev. Dr. Hilliard K. Dela Dogbe is the Presiding Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (A.M.E Zion Church), Western West Africa Episcopal District, an area covering Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, andTogo, with additional responsibilities over Angola and Namibia.
He is the First Resident Indigenous Bishop of the A. M. E Zion Church in Ghana. Rt. Rev. Dr. Dogbe is a product of Accra Academy and Trinity College, University of Ghana, Legon.
He is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ where he graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Practical Theology (Christian Education) and Trinity Theological Seminary, Accra, Ghana where he graduated with a Master of Theology in Pastoral Care and Counseling.
He also holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Practical Theology with distinction from Luther Seminary, St Paul, MN, USA, and has several certificates to his credit in leadership and administration.
The Rt. Rev. Hilliard Dogbe is a member of the Society of Pastoral Theology, an international professional body of pastoral theologians, headquartered in Decatur, Georgia. He has served as an adjunct professor in practical theology at Luther Seminary and still teaches as an adjunct at Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon.
As an ordained minister of the A. M. E. Zion Church, he has over 20 years of experience in pastoral ministry and has also served for many years as an International Supervisor for Field Education for Princeton Theological Seminary, U.S.A.
Dr. Dogbe has authored two books: “Alcoholism in the African Family: A Christian Perspective” (2011) and “The Church and Alcoholism in Ghana: A Practical Theological Interpretation” (2014).
Bishop Hilliard Dogbe is married to Cynthia and they are blessed with two children.
The host of Good Evening Ghana on Metro TV, Paul Adom-Otchere has said that President Akufo-Addo is the first to eschew from the purportedly predetermined spiritual route put forth by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the country’s first leader.
Speaking on the Tuesday, April 25, 2023, edition of his program, the journalist explained that during the era of Kwame Nkrumah, he laid down some spiritual processes that all presidents after him were supposed to follow, and the failure to do so meant that they would never get to the end of their tenures.
He explained that it is this path that the likes of Edward Akufo-Addo, Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia, and Dr. Hilla Limann did not follow in, that led to their overthrow as political leaders of Ghana.
“You may not believe it, but it is true. This is Osagyefo the president. Now, since Osagyefo the president left, and when he died, it is believed that he determined how every other person should become president of Ghana. It’s a spiritual matter so you’d have to believe it or not; it’s not verifiable.
“Osagyefo had determined that for you to become president of Ghana, he had determined a certain spiritual path. This story I am telling you has quite a bit to do with our good friend who died, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey… for the presidents that came after him… Edward Akufo-Addo and Prime Minister Busia, together they formed the executive of the second republic, both of them determined that they would not follow the path, or they probably didn’t even know that Nkrumah had determined some path.
“For those who didn’t know that Nkrumah had determined a path for you to become a president of Ghana, they were overthrown. Edward Akufo-Addo and Prime Minister Busia were overthrown because they didn’t know, or didn’t use the path that Nkrumah had determined…
“Then comes Dr. Limann who either did not know or didn’t go along the path to be president of Ghana, so he was overthrown. Then comes the famous JJ. JJ started by a coup d’état and later transferred to a constitutional rule. When he was about to transfer to constitutional rule, he was told that, ‘chief, for you to be president of Ghana, like Nkrumah was elected, you have to go through a certain spiritual path, and also do certain things,’” he explained.
Paul Adom-Otchere continued his narration by saying that while Jerry John Rawlings started as a military ruler, he also agreed to follow in this strange, mysterious route before he was able to fully complete his democratic two-term political tenure.
He stated some of the things that, for instance, JJ Rawlings had to do that are evidences of this mystery.
He added that the coming of John Agyekum Kufuor as president was also through the same path.
“Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings agreed. That is the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum at the old Polo Grounds; that was his creation. It’s related to this story I’m telling you… JJ putting up the Nkrumah Mausoleum to honour Dr. Kwame Nkrumah at the old Polo Grounds, bringing his body from Nkroful to Accra, is related to this story. So, JJ did that for two terms. Then comes John Agyekum Kufuor; he was told that if he did not go through this path to be president of Ghana, ‘you will never be president of Ghana.’ Well, he obeyed.
“So, during Ghana at 50, billboards were put up of Nkrumah and Kufuor sitting in a chair… laughing… and then the renaming of the Kwame Nkrumah University… President Kufuor restored the Nkrumah name into that university… because if you don’t do something to enhance the Nkrumah name, forget it, if you win the election, they will overthrow you,” he added.
According to Paul, when President John Evans Atta-Mills also came into office, he did the same things, just as John Dramani Mahama.
He explained, for instance, that John Mahama restored the Kwame Nkrumah Circle with the statue of Nkrumah, as a way of enhancing the name of the country’s first president, as proof of this spiritual mystery.
However, the veteran journalist stated that during Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s time, for the first two times he tried to become president (in 2008, 2012), he vehemently fought this spiritual path and paid the price for it.
“Fast-forward, Nana Addo, as he was then called, was told that to become president of Ghana, you have to pass here, and you have to do something, and he said no. he said he would never do it, and it’s not because ‘I am a Christian or religious; I won’t do it.’ And that’s why I said Obetsebi-Lamptey is in the mix.
“So, in 2008, when he lost the election, he was told that, ‘Chief, you see why you lost the election? You lost this election because you didn’t do the thing.’ He must have given it a thought, I think. Then comes 2012 and he said he won’t do it, but they said if you don’t do it, you can’t become president of Ghana, but he still insisted. 2012 came and he lost.
“So, after the election, they went back to him… so, he gave it a thought and so he called some spiritual people. And this story I’m telling you, Ken Ofori-Atta is very involved in this story, because he went to South Africa, met some guy who was talking to him about why it is difficult for his cousin to be president, and this South African person said there is something you people need to do. And Ken said I know; we’ve been told, but it’s difficult for us – that’s not our faith; that’s not our worship, we can’t.,” he explained.
Paul Adom-Otchere further stated that eventually, it had to take the intervention of some religious leaders in Ghana to break this spiritual aura around the country before Akufo-Addo could rule without any challenges.
He also claimed that the confusion around the change of date for the national elections from December 7 to November 7 in 2016 forms part of this.
He added that until that spiritual bondage was broken, Akufo-Addo would not have been able to successfully run a two-term presidency in Ghana.
The journalist added that it is for this reason that he supports the government of Nana Akufo-Addo.
“So, Ken came back and organised spiritual people… and said can we go and overturn this thing? Well, about 12 or 16 of them listened and said ok, Mr President, where is the thing? Eh said the thing here; I’ve been there before… they organised cars and went to look at it… They said what we need to do is a prayer chain – a very serious prayer chain… and we have to start now. They start and discover a lot more in the narrative, so they need to move from that spot to other parts of the country.
“They came and told the president that they were on it and that they could release Ghana from these shackles, however, we need more time. However, we have been told that you and your party want the election on November 7 – this 2016…
“So, Akufo-Addo is the only president who has ascended the throne not going through that and that is why I stand with him. He’s the only one president who is going to do a two-term, who has not gone through the path, that is why you see the things that are happening happening.
“The furore against his candidature at the beginning, it came out of the noise of evil; it’s out of the noise of evil… because the spirits knew that he would not obey that path,” he said.
Former Captain Jamal Tanzua Seid, who served as Operation Vanguard‘s legal counsel, has said that the entire exercise was poorly planned.
According to him, the establishment of the taskforce lacked the required planning that would have engendered the kind of success that was envisaged.
Speaking in an interview on TV3’s Ghana Tonight on Thursday, April 27, ex-Captain Tanzua Seid explained that, “The operation itself was not well thought-through. The evidence is what has become of it. You would find out that the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces would deliver a speech and on the basis of that speech, the joint taskforce is established and the mandate of the taskforce was to immediately stop illegal mining operations. That’s very vague. We already have regulatory institutions.”
Ex-Captain Seid stressed that the establishment of the taskforce was needless.
“We already have laws governing these operations. If they prove to be inadequate, you don’t need a knee jerk reaction to resolve that. In any case, are we looking at long term solutions or short-term solutions. We should also think about the implications of such operations on the tax payer. So, if all that was contemplated was to get into the field and uproot illegal mining, that obviously wasn’t going to solve the problem,” the former legal advisor to Operation Vanguard noted.
Operation Vanguard is a presidential initiative aimed at ending illegal mining activities otherwise referred to as ‘galamsey’ in the country.
Touching on the burning of excavators as part of the exercise, the former military officer explained that although there are laws on mining in Ghana, the burning of excavators was not explicitly covered by any such legislative framework.
According to him, the legal framework at the time did not support the burning of excavators, thus if persons whose excavators were burnt had taken on the government, they had the legal basis to do so.
“There has always been a constitution and we have always had mining laws, and these are clear on what is permissible and what is not permissible. So, I would say that there was a legal framework, but as to whether that framework supported the specific operation that was being mounted, I would say it was inadequate,” he said.
“Some equipment were burned in Tamale. I don’t know what the affected persons did, but they would be within their rights to seek appropriate remedies in terms of the violation of their property rights,” ex-Captain Seid added.
It would be recalled that Operation Vanguard, a Joint Military and Police Taskforce (JTF) of 400 personnel, comprising 200 military and 200 police personnel, was formed in July 2017 to deal with illegal mining activities.
This became necessary because the ‘galamsey’ menace was degrading the country’s forests and polluting the rivers and water bodies.
The taskforce was deployed to the most affected areas in the Eastern, Western and Ashanti regions.
The Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah, has urged the Judicial Service workers to carry out their responsibilities with fairness and honesty.
The Chief Justice who was speaking at the commissioning of two court premises in Gomoa Central andAgona Eastin the Central Region indicated that as ambassadors of the court, the work of the staff of the service plays an important role in shaping or destroying the image of the service.
Justice Anin Yeboah believes that the citing of the district court will reduce the turnaround time of seeking justice.The Gomoa Central and Agona East court is part of over a hundred court premises being built across the country to expedite justice delivery in those areas.
“I urge the staff of the Judicial Service, whose work will give meaning to the construction of this court to see themselves as ambassadors of the service and of the very concept of justice delivery.“
This would impose on them a responsibility, to be honest, fair and transparent in all their dealings with the public who come to seek justice.”
The District Chief Executives for Gomoa Central and Agona East Benjamin Kojo Otoo and Janet Odei Paintsil in an interview with Citi News that the citing of the court in the district will address legal issues.
In order to ensure that the results of the general election are accepted by all parties, Dr. Kojo Pumpuni Asante, Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement, Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) – Ghana, has asked the Electoral Commission (EC) to foster trust among the political parties.
He said building trust in the electoral processes, extending the time frame for election, planning and increasing public access to key data results were necessary to improve the nation’s democratic governance.
Dr Asante gave the advice during a panel discussion on the 2022 Kenya and 2023 Nigeria general elections and the lessons for Ghana ahead of the 2024 General Election.
It was important for the EC to correct the growing negative perception about the institution, which was not good for the country’s democratic development, he advised.
Dr Asante referred to the numerous legal challenges faced by both the Kenyan and Nigerian electoral management bodies, saying it would be better for Ghana’s EC to ensure the timely conclusion of its legal reforms ahead of the general election.
He explained that whatever the EC needed to do should be done early and clarified so that the stakeholders would understand and appreciate their relevance.
Dr Asante also recommended the reforming of the process of appointment to the EC Board, saying that the current method did not make it transparent and inclusive.
Dr Bright Akwetey, Executive Director, Institute of Democratic Development, Ghana (IDEG), for his part, urged the EC to set a time frame and limit for political parties to campaign for general elections.
In bothKenya and Nigeria, he said, had their electoral management bodies regulating the periods and duration of political campaigns.
Ghana’s lack of such measures were not helping, he noted.
“We are told that in Kenya they do 50 days for election campaign and Nigeria does 150 days, but ours is limitless, which is not helping…. We have been pushing for a long time that we should have a campaign season and our parties should not only be about elections after elections,” he said.
He, therefore, urged the political parties not only to focus on election-related issues but innovate development-oriented policies to benefit the people.
Dr Edward Ampratwum, a representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), advised political parties to commit to dialogue, consensus building and resolving their differences with peaceful means.
They should also work with the people towards creating the desired future.
He said election was one of the major triggers of violence across the globe, having led to democratic reversals and unconstitutional changes in government, especially in Africa.
Mr Mulle Musau, Coordinator, Elections Observation Group, Kenya, stated that Ghana should have clear electoral laws, which must be adhered to by all the political parties -thus learning from both the Kenyan and Nigerian experiences.
He said the various components of the electoral processes, such as voter identification, registration and verification must be transparent and inclusive.
Ms Cynthia Mbamalu, Director of Programmes Yiaga Africa, Nigeria, emphasised that the EC should not create doubt about the electoral processes so that outcome of the elections would be accepted by all the parties.
The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has begun evaluating the illegal mining report authored by Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Chairman of the now-defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
The decision comes after Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dayi in the Volta Region filed a complaint.
He has accused government officials of colluding in the fight against illegal mining, despite the report having been dismissed by the Presidency but Mr Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, the MP has asked the Commission to investigate the issue.
Other stakeholders are also calling for an independent probe into the allegations.
Joseph Whittal, Commissioner of CHRAJ, explained that various procedures would be initiated before a full-scale inquiry begins because the procedures of CHRAJ required it to make an assessment of the complaints.
He pointed out that procedures of the Commission required they made an assessment of the complaints and not every complaint that was filed met the standards expected of a complaint that could be admitted for investigation.
“We will do the assessment, determine which of the mandates, if any, has been evoked by the petition, after which if there are any further and better particulars in terms of clarification of documents, we will ask for that from the lawyers of the complainant,” Mr. Whittal indicated.
Mr. Dafeamekpor called for public hearing as CHRAJ launched a probe into unlawful mining activities in the country.
In a 37-page document, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, accused important government political actors of poisoning significant water bodies.
Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo, lawyer for the MP, after presenting the petition, said he believed the committee would conduct a thorough investigation and cautioned that the nation would be importing water in future.
He noted that just as the public had shown interest in the filing of the petition, they should follow up processes and ask questions about how far the investigations had got to and not seem like the issues were solely for the petitioner.
According to him, the petitioner would be issuing letters to check up on the issues every week to find out what was happening saying “I have been given utmost assurance the issues would be taken seriously, so l leave the rest to the commission.
“We will give them the benefit of the doubt to do an excellent job since they have done that in the past and CHRAJ stood up to issues of corruption and public interests which is existential matter and must be thoroughly investigated,” Nii Addo intimated.
Martin Kpebu, a constitutional lawyer based in Accra, has recommended that the country’s new Chief Justice (CJ), Mrs. Gertrude Torkonoo, use her time in office to establish additional divorce courts in order to reduce the backlog of divorce cases.
He said the situation of the backlog of divorce cases is a significant cause of worry for lawyers.
He explained that divorce courts are few in the country.
He said because divorce courts are few, it takes about two to three years to dispense justice in the country.
He narrated that Accra has only three divorce courts hence the need for the new CJ to establish more of these courts to help deal with the rising cases of divorce.
He said there is the Land Court, Commercial Court, divorce court and general court and the divorce courts are always inundated with cases.
Mr Kpebu made this suggestion to the new CJ while speaking in an interview on the mid-day news on Accra 100.5 FM on Thursday, April 27, 2023.
“We claim we are Christians but go to the divorce court and see what is happening there, the courts are overwhelmed with people seeking divorce over child support and upkeep,” he said.
He stressed more and more young people who claim to be Christians are seeking divorce over issues that can be addressed at home.
The government is committed to the expansion of the aquaculture sector, according to Prof. Francis Nunoo, chairman of the Fisheries Commission.
In line with this, he said the ministry had decoupled aquaculture from inland fisheries, and set up a dedicated directorate for it, as well as set up an aquaculture health unit with various monitoring programmes.
He said this at the opening of a two-day aquaculture conference and exhibition in Accra.
The Aquaculture Ghana 2023 Conference and Exhibition, organised by the Chamber of Aquaculture Ghana, discussed sustainability, biosecurity and fish nutrition while providing a platform for stakeholders to network and build resilient partnerships. Promotion
Prof. Nunoo said the ministry was also promoting the tilapia and catfish culture in Ghana and was also exploring the culture of other species to meet the deficit in Ghana’s fish requirements.
“The Aquaculture for Food and Jobs programme is also on course in schools, prisons and other institutions and we are also looking for an efficient technology to go into marine culture.
There have been attempts to go into shrimps in Ghana, which are of high value,” he said.
He said challenges facing the aquaculture sector included the cost of fish feed, which took about 80 per cent, while operators in the sector also battled with fish diseases and lack of financing.
To overcome the fish disease challenge, Prof. Nunoo said the Norwegian governmentwas supporting a capacity-building programme in some universities and veterinaries.
Ghana, he said, was a leader in the aquaculture industry in West Africa and it would take the effective collaboration of stakeholders, including the government, academia, development partners, non-governmental agencies, civil society, farmers, processors and traders, to ensure Ghana retained its leadership position.
He urged fish producers in the value chain to reduce prices, saying “Sometimes, the fish is so expensive.
The dish, Banku and tilapia, is now food for the rich as you have to spend GH¢100 to enjoy it.
As a result, people are taking delight in consuming fingerlings, that is the small fried tilapia, instead of the big mature fish.
We must stop eating the baby fish and eat the bigger ones”.
He urged operators in the aquaculture industry to link up with the Fisheries Commission for technical help and advice and to also collaborate with research institutions to address the challenges facing the industry. Reducing cost of production
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Seth Twum-Akwaboah, said the Ghanaian aquaculture industry had grown rapidly over the years and remained attractive.
He said there was an opportunity to increase the growth of the industry as Ghana currently imported more than 50 per cent of its fish requirements to meet local demand and that $290 million worth of seafood and fish products were imported last year into the country.
For the aquaculture sector to grow, he said there would be the need to address the high cost of production driven by the high cost of fish feed and to develop the value chain to make the aquaculture sector competitive.
He said the AGI was committed to supporting the Chamber of Aquaculture to be competitive, to create jobs, and to contribute to the development of the economy.
The Regional Director of the West African chapter of the World Aquaculture Society, Lanre Badmus, stressed that collaboration among the various stakeholders would promote the sustainability of the aquaculture industry as they worked together to address the challenges.
The Chairman of the Chamber of Aquaculture, Dr Henry Anim Somuah, urged the public to patronise fish produced in Ghana rather than imported fish, which was of low nutritional quality compared to the locally produced fish.
Buying fish grown in Ghana, he said, would not only contribute to the growth of the aquaculture industry but would create jobs and contribute to the local economy.
The CEO of the Chamber of Aquaculture, Jacob Adzikah, said aquaculture played a critical role in Ghana’s economy and food security.
Tilapia is the major species farmed in Ghana’s aquaculture sector and constitutes over 80 per cent of aquaculture production, with catfish and other species accounting for the remaining 20 per cent.
Aquaculture in Ghana is promoted to produce fish for human consumption, industrial use and export.
John Dramani Mahama’s assertion that Ghana’s cocoa industry has collapsed has been refuted by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).
The former president had claimed that it now takes three months for farmer to receive their cash for cocoa beans.
Mahama also added that the cocoa farmers no longer enjoy free fertiliser as they used to during the period of the NDC.
But in a statement, COCOBOD said, “The notion of a collapsing cocoa industry. Such statements are misleading and detrimental to a vital sector like cocoa, which forms the foundation of Ghana’s economy. We, therefore, wish to use the opportunity to make some clarifications and also set the records straight.
“It is widely acknowledged that galamsey operations pose a significant danger to our nation, and any attempts to justify or rationalise the conversion of a piece of land, especially a cocoa farm, into a Galamsey site, like the former president sought to do, must be met with contempt.”
The statement added “this menace has the potential to negate all the investments made by the government to modernise cocoa farming and improve productivity. It is, therefore, crucial that prominent figures in our society exercise caution when making public statements that rationalize cocoa farmers trading their farms for temporary monetary benefit through illegal mining.
“Management also wishes to place on record, that the Former President’s statement regarding the increase in cocoa producer prices every year during his administration is inaccurate, since the records available point to the opposite. Specifically, there was no upward adjustment of the producer price of cocoa in the 2012/2013 Crop Season. Similarly, the producer price of the preceding season was maintained for the 2015/2016 Crop Season, with no upward adjustment.”
The new and updated taxes that were announced in the 2023 Budget will go into effect on May 1, 2023, this is according to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The implementation date was captured in a notice issued by the authority.
The new and revised taxes include three key tax measures – the Excise Amendment Act, 2023; Income Tax Amendment Act, 2023 and the Growth and Sustainability Levy Act, 2023.
The GRA noticed indicated that businesses have been given enough time to configure their systems for the taxes to be implemented since the law was passed.
Excise Duty Amendment Tax
On the Excise Duty Amendment Act, the authority added that the tax has been expanded to cover some items and commodities that was previously not captured.
The development may result in the prices of some processed fruit juice, cigar, mineral water, spirits and wines including sparkling wine, going up.
However, the Ghana Union of Traders Association, maintains that it will not hesitate to pass on the cost to consumers as it might be difficult for it members to absorb these taxes.
Income Amendment Tax
On the Income Tax Amendment Tax, the GRA said it will be charging a minimum of 5% on firms that will be declaring loses for 5 years.
However, income earned beyond ¢500 will attract some taxes.
Those earning an extra ¢100 will attract a tax rate of 5%, while ¢100 only will attract a rate of 10%.
Based on the schedule sighted by Joy Business, the more one earns the more one would be paying taxes to the state.
For persons in the game of betting, they will pay 10% of their earnings to the state, which will be deducted when monies are being paid them by the respective companies.
Firms that are into lottery and gaming will also pay 20% on their gross revenue.
Based on revised taxes, individuals who receive, gains from realization of investment assets or liabilities as well as other than gifts received in respect of business or employment may have to pay 25% of the value to the state.
Growth and Sustainability Levy
For banks, non-bank financial institutions, telecom companies and firms working in the oil sector will pay 5% of their profit before tax to the state.
Mining firms, oil and gas companies are however expected to pay 1.0% of their gross production, while all other firms will pay 2.5% of their profit before tax to the GRA.
A constitutional lawyer and former MP forKumawu, Yaw Baah, has criticized the approach utilized by Parliament to guarantee that the guarantor system becomes one of the ways in which a Ghanaian can register to vote.
He said the legislative body could not compel the Electoral Commission (EC) to include the guarantor system in the Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) for continuous voter registration, which the electoral body sought to lay before the House.
He said Parliament’s suggestion that the EC should include the guarantor system in the C.I. was, at best, a recommendation, which the electoral management body was not bound by any law to follow.
“If Parliament insists that its decision for the EC to include the guarantor system is binding, then the exercise it undertook on March 31 by voting to recommend to the EC to include the guarantor system is unconstitutional.
The recommendation is an opinion by Parliament,” he said.
Mr Baah premised his argument on Article 11(7) of the 1992 Constitution, the constitutional provision on subsidiary legislation, and the Supreme Court decision in Nii Tetteh Opremreh v EC and A-G, which interprets and enforces the said provision.
In that particular case, he said, the Supreme Court — speaking through Justice Sulemana Gbadegbe — distinguished between Article 11(7), which restricts Parliament’s powers with regard to subsidiary legislation, and Article 106(6) of the Constitution which gave Parliament the power to amend any substantive legislation.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Baah — a former Chairman of the Legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament — said Parliament, per Article 11(7) of the 1992 Constitution, had the power to only annul subsidiary legislation, including C.I.s.
Recommendation by Parliament in respect of subsidiary legislation, he said, were only persuasive but not binding on the entity sponsoring the legislation.
In line with Article 11(7) of the 1992 Constitution, the EC is seeking to lay a C.I. before Parliament to regulate the continuous voter registration exercise.
Per Article 11(7), the C.I., which seeks, among other things, to make the Ghana Card the sole identification document for the exercise and the only means for registration when laid in Parliament, will come into force after 21 sitting days, except the House annuls it by a vote of not less than two-thirds of all Members of Parliament (MPs).
Mr Baah said in the case of Nii Tetteh Opremreh v EC and A-G, the Supreme Court — in interpreting and enforcing Article 11(7) of the Constitution — held that apart from annulment, other acts by Parliament such as amendment, variation or change in a subsidiary legislation was unconstitutional.
According to him, the insistence by Parliament for the EC to include the guarantor system before the C.I. would be considered not an annulment and, therefore, technically the House had no power to force it down the throat of the EC as that would sin against Article 11(7) of the 1992 Constitution as enforced by the Supreme Court in the case of Nii Tetteh Opremreh v EC and A-G.
“The Supreme Court has ruled that if Parliament does not take advantage of the annulment power under Article 11(7) of the 1992 Constitution, it cannot do any other thing that is binding on the body that presented the subsidiary legislation.
“The Supreme Court was emphatic that when it comes to subsidiary legislation, Parliament is only a conduit through which constitutional bodies vested with power can bring a subsidiary legislation into force,” he said. Pre-laying
As part of the pre-laying process of the C.I., the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulation, 2023, Parliament rejected the EC’s decision to make the Ghana Card the sole means for the registration.
The House unanimously recommended to the EC to include the guarantor system in the C.I. before it could present it for consideration.
Legislators were of the view that unless and until the challenges confronting the issuance of the Ghana Card were dealt with, using the card as the only medium of voter registration would negatively impact the electoral roll and thereby deny some otherwise qualified persons from registering to vote.
The House took the decision after legislators adopted the report of the Committee of the Whole on the draft C.I.
The report was signed by the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, who is also the Speaker of Parliament,
Soon after the House had adopted the Committee of the Whole’s report, the Speaker said the House would now not depend on the assurances from the EC or the NIA, but “we are now making inputs into the preparation of the C.I.”. No legal effect
However, Mr Baah, who is also a former Chairman of the Judicial Committee and former Vice-Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee of Parliament, was of the view that although Parliament had a right to go through a pre-laying process for the C.I., the decision made during the pre-laying process had no legal effect.
In view of that, he said, the report of the Committee of the Whole of the House and its subsequent acceptance by the House for the EC to include the guarantor system was not binding.
“Article 11(7), as interpreted and enforced by the Supreme Court in Nii Tetteh Opremreh v EC and A-G, is the current case law governing subsidiary legislation.
Therefore, whatever exercise undertaken by Parliament in respect of unanimously agreeing for the EC to include the guarantor system was not necessary because it would not have any legal impact.
He also wondered why Parliament unanimously voted to recommend to the EC to include the guarantor system when the C.I. had not been properly laid before the House.
Mr Baah said if Parliament was not happy about the exclusion of the guarantor system from the C.I., the lawful procedure was for the House to allow the EC to lay the C.I. and then annul it by two-thirds majority as stipulated by Article 11(7) of the Constitution and interpreted in Nii Tetteh Opremreh v EC and A-G.
Former Director of the Ghana School of Law, Kwaku Ansa-Asare, has said that no Chief Justice can transform the country’s legal education system.
According to him, it is not their job to do so as legal education is the domain of legal educators and not the Chief Justice.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, he explained that the core mandate of the Chief Justice is to superintend over the justice delivery system and the judicial service rather than meddle in how legal education is carried out in the country.
“No Chief Justice will be able to reform legal education in this country. It is not their job. Chief Justices are there to superintend justice delivery systems from the corridors of the judicial service and the judiciary. Legal education is not part and parcel of judicial activism,” he stated.
He noted that the problem with Ghana’s legal education system is the fact that it has been merged with the justice delivery system rather than it being treated as part of the general education system.
“Elsewhere you have legal education as a separate and distinct thing from the justice delivery system. They are not cut out for legal education. So we’re better off leaving legal education in the hands of legal educators, period!
“So believe you me no Chief Justice – if I have to cast my vote I’ll cast my vote for none of them. Because I don’t expect any of them, be it Yonny Kulendi or Gertrude Torkonoo to come and reshape the legal environment. It’s not possible.
“So I have always held the view thatGhanaas a nation will be better off if legal education is entrusted in the hands of those who are trained to be legal educators and are therefore [in] the legal education environment.
“Apart from that, what I can say in this regard is if anybody should tell you that either Justice Gertrude Torkonoo or Yonny Kulendi as Chief Justice or whatever will undertake any reform in legal education I do not think the person is speaking truth,” he argued.
Ghana’s food productionmay decline this year and in the years to come as a result of the effects of climate change, this is according to the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong.
He explained that the long dry spells, floods and increase in temperature, which were impacting the country’s agriculture sector that was rain-fed, may lead to a one per cent to 2.5 per cent decline in the sphere’s contribution to gross domestic product.
The Minister disclosed this in a speech read for him by Alhaji Mohammed Hardi Tufeeiru, a Deputy Minister of Agriculture, at the opening of the sub-Saharan knowledge exchange conference, in Accra on Wednesday.
He noted that a decline of about seven per cent in food production could lead to food insecurity, poverty, and malnutrition.
The conference was organied by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and partners under the theme, “Investing in Farmer-Led Irrigation Development in Sub-Saharan Africa”.
The two-day event is jointly sponsored by the USAID-funded Innovation Lab for Small-Scale Irrigation (ILSSI), the CGIAR Initiative on West and Central African Food Systems Transformation, the World Bank and Water and Energy for Food.
It will also explore strategies for addressing remaining barriers and gaps through new knowledge and investment actions in the next five years.
Mr Acheampong said the climate crisis posed a serious threat and needed to be addressed through a number of initiatives, particularly harnessing the potential of irrigation to cope with the impact of the climate crisis.
He stated that though the government had undertaken a number of programmes to strengthen and boost the sector, more initiatives were needed to address emerging issues, especially the climate crisis.
“This is where we need the continuous support from businesses, development partners, research and academia and other stakeholders to build climate-resilient food system transformation,” he said.
Dr Olufunke Cofie, the Country Representative – Ghana, Regional Representative – West Africa, IWMI, said research and practice had proven that dry season irrigation could more than double the yields of farmers.
She, however, said land under irrigation cultivation in the continent was below 10 per cent and called for the need to take steps to increase it.
“When farmers are adequately empowered with better market access and all other resources their modest investment will result in substantial gains for themselves and other actors on the value chain,” Dr Cofie said.
She called for more investment in farmer-led irrigation systems to build climate resilience for smallholder farmers and transform food systems to support healthy diets.
Mr Lorenzo Carrera, theSustainable Development Sector Leader, at the World Bank office in Ghana, reiterated that the agricultural sector was highly vulnerable to climate variability and change, as the sector was primarily dependent on rainfall.
He said erratic precipitation patterns had severe consequences for productivity as only two per cent of the country’s irrigation potential was in use.
Mr Carrera said investing in irrigation infrastructure and access to reliable water for agriculture would make a substantial difference in the country’s climate resilience as well as boost production opportunities and livelihoods for smallholder farmers.
Ms Amber Lily Kenny, Feed the Future Coordinator, noted that research and application had shown that there was a high potential for irrigated vegetable production in the country.
She said about 700,000 smallholder farmers in the country were ready to embrace small-scale irrigation over the next 10 years to build resilience to the climate crisis.
Jubilee House is requesting a sincere apology from the international media outlet, Al Jazeera, for dragging President Akufo-Addo’s name in the mud in its latest documentary, Gold Mafia.
Al Jazeera has seven days within which to oblige the seat of government, according to a notice issued by Jubilee House on April 25, 2023.
A letter signed by Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante stated that; “I am instructed by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to demand formally that Al Jazeera Media Network (Al Jazeera”) retract immediately and apologise for airing an inaccurate and unfair documentary that contained spurious and unsubstantiated allegations against the President and the Government of Ghana.”
Earlier this month, Ghana popped up in a damning investigative documentary conducted into some of Zimbabwe’s gold smuggling and money laundering syndicates.
In the concluding episode, undercover journalists posing as Chinese gangsters interact with one of the key parties, Alistair Mathias to help clean their dirty money.
Mr Alistair who is described in the piece as a Financial Architect told the reporters posing as criminals that he had a track record of successfully orchestrating such syndicates.
Essentially, he is said to be instrumental in designing money laundering schemes for many corrupt politicians in Africa.
Alistair named Ghana as one of the countries where he had executed similar schemes adding that he is good friends with its Presidentwho he also claims used to be his lawyer.
“Ghana’s President is a good friend of mine, in fact, he was my lawyer,” he told the undercover reporters.
Mr Mathias added that he used to be the biggest smuggler in Ghana at one point, raking out about $40 million to $60 million worth of gold a month from the West African country.
But the Presidency says some “parts of the documentary are malicious, defamatory, and a calculated attempt to tarnish the reputation of the President and Government of Ghana.”
During the documentary, Alistair outlined his modus operandi to the undercover journalists suggesting that the most important credential of his operations in Africa comes from the trust that some dubious politicians have in him to keep their siphoned resources safely tucked away.
He revealed that in doing this, the politicians involved do not keep assets in their own names, but rely on proxies.
Citing government infrastructure as an example, he indicated that he is able to take huge contracts on behalf of Ghanaian politicians, inflate the cost and subsequently split the profit afterwards.
“In Ghana, I take tenders, road construction, procurement, supplying different things, oil, this that. There, all the politicians get taken care of, indirectly because it allows me to do all my other stuff freely.
He explains further in the documentary;
“For example, Ghana government, Mathias Holdings, I get the contract. I subcontract it to you, $100 million contract. Ghana government pays me $100 million. I give it to you and you say it’s $80 million” he told the investigative reporters who secretly recorded the interaction.
In this scenario, the outstanding $20 million out of the inflated $100 million is shared per an arrangement reached between Alistair and the said politician.
“I’ll have an arrangement with them and they get 15… I’ll probably get 5 million,” he added.
“I keep all of it in Dubai. Whenever they want it, they just tell me and I send it.”
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo responded to Aljazeera on these claims saying had no recollection of acting as a lawyer for Alistair Mathias or his company.
Mr Mathias has also denied ever being awarded any tender by the Ghanaian government or entering into any government contracts in any African country.
The 2023 Oguaa Fetu Afahye, an annual celebration of Cape Coast‘s chiefs and people, has been launched by the Oguaa Traditional Council.
This year’s festival is on the theme: “Celebrating our Educational Institutions for the Enhancement of Ghana.”
There were cultural performances from the seven Asafo companies and many other cultural troupes during the launch.
The Oguaa Fetu Afahye is celebrated on the first Saturday of September by the people of Oguaa, the former capital of Ghana.
Launching the festival, Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, Omanhen (Paramount Chief) of Oguaa Traditional Area, called on parents and guardians to create security and a better future for themselves and their families by investing in the education of their children and wards.
To him, quality education did not depend solely on the output of teachers, but also on the support of parents to enhance teaching and learning.
He lamented the situation where many pupils in Junior High Schools in the area do not get admission to the array of first-class schools due to poor performance.
Osabarima Kwesi Atta called on corporate bodies and philanthropists to support the festival and urged his people to obey the customs and practices and keep their surroundings clean.
Chairman of the Afahye Planning Committee, Mr. Perry Mensah said the festival had become a conduit for reviving and redeveloping the once socio-economically vibrant and culturally rich metropolis.
Mr. Mensah was optimistic that the celebration would live up to its expectations, having lined up a series of activities to ensure that Cape Coast took its rightful place in Ghanaian Society.
The activities would include a vigil at Bakado, the beach, which would also host a regatta for the Asafo companies, a youth colloquium, and children and gender activism day.
He reminded all residents to religiously obey the ban on drumming and noisemaking, particularly religious organizations, to ensure peace.
The ban affects noise making, including the use of loudspeakers, drums, tambourines, clapping of hands and the use of any form of musical instruments during the period.
During the period, the Oguaa Traditional Council would pray for the country and the citizens to continue to keep the flame of peace, love, tranquility, and good brotherliness.
“We also entreat all persons in Oguaa to comply with the ban on drumming and noise making and refrain from making derogatory remarks about the rites, customs, practices, and beliefs of the people,” the Chairman of the Afahye Planning Committee cautioned.
Mr. Mensah urged residents to work together towards keeping the metropolis clean and healthy by participating in the monthly clean-up exercise.
He said residents could, on their own, get together to clean their immediate environs without necessarily waiting on the community leaders to organize a clean-up and urged the media to project the festival and all its related activities.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development, Prof Eric Nyarko-Sampson, urged old students to endeavour to support their former schools to facilitate academic work.
Prof Nyarko-Sampson who chaired the function, said people needed to give back to schools and communities which mentored them to become what they were today.
Some children on Easterweekend defaced the face, arms, and torso of a 230-year-old statue with crayons given to them during an egg hunt event.
“We are dismayed that this has happened,” a National Trust spokesperson told the BBC about the April 8 incident, adding: “Disappointing as they are, incidents like this are very rare considering the millions of visitors who enjoy and respect the places in our care.”
Representatives for National Trust, the nonprofit organization that maintains the historic Croome Court estate in Worcestershire, did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment. It remains unclear if there was security present at the outdoor event.
Crayon covering the coade stone statue ‘Sabrina’, Croome, Worcestershire. The statue was vandalised over Easter weekend, 2023
The statue, a water nymph by the sculptor John Bacon, was created between the late 1780s and early 1800s, The New York Times reported.
The blue scribbles have since been removed, the outlet reported.
Crayon covering the coade stone statue ‘Sabrina’, Croome, Worcestershire. The statue was vandalised over Easter weekend, 2023
A second impacted statue, a memorial to the landscape artist Lancelot Brown, was also defaced with messy blue marks, the BBC reported. It has still not yet been completely restored.
The responsible party has not been identified, a National Trust spokesperson told The New York Times.
The majority leader and minister of parliamentary affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has provided an explanation for why previous administrations have been unable to put the Komenda Sugar Factory into action.
According to him, the main challenge of making the Komenda Sugar Factory work is that there are no longer arable lands in the Komenda area to produce the sugarcane needed to feed the factory because of human settlement and the devastation done to water bodies in the area by the activities of illegal small-scale miners (galamseyers).
He explained that because the main source of water in the area, the River Pra, has been polluted by galamsey activities, the water from it has to be first purified before it can be used to cultivate the sugarcane needed for the factory, which comes at a very huge cost.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who made these remarks in an Oyerepa TV interview, said that he warned that it would be impossible to revive the factory during the era of the late former President John Evans Atta Mills, but he was ignored.
“During the era of President Mills, I raised an issue about the feasibility of the Komenda Sugar Factory in parliament, but some people did not understand me because they had a sentimental attachment to the revival of the factory due to it being established by Kwame Nkrumah.
“I said reviving the factory will not work and that we should look for an alternative in order not to waste our money, but people did not understand,” he said in Twi.
Background
Though the erstwhile John Dramani Mahama administration recommissioned the factory on May 30, 2016, in a bid to get it functioning once again and offer employment for the youth, the move hit a snag as the Akufo-Addo-led government took office shortly thereafter in 2017.
The Komenda Sugar Factory was expected to create some 7,300 direct and indirect jobs at full operational capacity. The factory is said to be able to crush 1,250 metric tons of sugar cane daily.
The sugar-producing factory was first established in 1964 by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah but became defunct over the years due to technical difficulties and setbacks.
The birth of the factory was based on the premise of producing sugar locally to reduce importation and for commercial purposes.
The Supreme Court JusticeGertrude Torkornoo has said that the vision and purpose statements of an organization are not sufficient to ensure productivity at work.
Delivering a lecture at the University of Professional Studies in Accra (UPSA), attended by fellow judges, academicians, industry players and students, Justice Torkornoo highlighted effective communication, enforcement of Law, Technology and Ethical values are some of the key strategies that implemented properly can lead to higher productivity at the workplace.
Speaking on the topic, ‘Harnessing Good work ethics for Higher productivity’, the newly nominated Chief Justice said workers must find the right balance and coordinate properly between these strategies to help organisations achieve higher productivity among workers.
“For workplaces to be distinctively productive, a crisp and discernible element in the vision of any organisation must be reiterated consistently and clearly for all teams and kept at the foreview of all stakeholders. Mission and Vision statements must go beyond being documents that are assumed to be read.
“Communication increases understanding and understanding increases cooperation and collaboration. Communication increases learning and learning increases the capacity to achieve. It does not matter that communication is with regard to the most technical subject so long as it is presented in a clear, simple manner no technical subject need be considered as complicated for any member of a team in an institution.”
Justice Torkornoo was on Wednesday, April 26, nominated by President Akufo-Addo as the next Chief Justice of Ghana.
Justice Torkornoo will replace Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, who retires as Chief Justice on May 24, this year, when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 for justices of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
She will become the third female Chief Justice in history, following the footsteps of Justices Georgina Theodora Wood and Sophia Akuffo.
Atwima Mponua has benefited from the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana’s ambition to make access to the courts fair and appropriate for all.
On the 25th day of April 2023, the Nyinahin court building was commissioned by the Chief Justice, the Member of Parliament, the District Chief Executive and Nananom of the Nyinahin traditional council within the District.
Giving his welcome address, the DCE of the Atwima Mponua Assembly, Isaac Kofi Marfo extolled the feat of the judicial honcho.He called on the resident judge to make maintenance her priority and dispense Justice to all without fear or favour.
Nana Oti Boadua II, the Akwamuhene who was at the program in the stead of his overlord, Nana Ampene Boateng Twum II, was happy about this turnkey project.
He noted that this court edifice will even give a good ambience for justice administration. He commended the government for giving Mponua its fair share of the national cake.
Mr. Isaac Kwame Asiamah, the Member of Parliament for the constituency called on the Chief Justice, to elevate the status to a circuit court.He noted that, Mponua has a vast land with an immense population, and some cases must be settled here without travelling to other jurisdictions.
In addition, the legislator pleaded with Manhyia and Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to honour Justice Anin Yeboah for pitching Asanteman to a higher pedigree.
“I am pleading with Otumfuo Osei Tutu to honour such a great son of the land; a Ghanaian who has served as the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of FIFA is a great achievement,” he posited.
In addition, he thanked the NPP government for projects like Agenda 111, the Law Court, Nursing training and a Stadium.Delivering his keynote address, His Lordship Anin Yeboah told the gathering that, such edifice befits justice delivery.
He advised that, people should use other dispute resolution methods which are less aggressive, less time-consuming and less expensive to get matters resolved.
He maintained, the axiom, ‘Justice delayed is Justice denied’ is a threat to justice delivery and admonished all stakeholders for a swift delivery system that exudes contentment.
Furthermore, he called on all to exercise good candour and seek appellate judgement if they believe the lower courts have erred in their judgements and not to take matters into their hands and act on emotions.
He thanked the Chiefs for availing the parcel of land for the project; he also commended the DCE and his staff for playing a supervisory role from scratch till completion.
The commissioning was done, and the keys were handed over to the registrar of the court for the commencement of their duties.
In attendance were Justice Boakye Yiadom, the northern sector judicial secretary, district security chiefs, the clergy and heads of departments within the district.
The Director of Health Services for the Ashaiman Municipality, Mrs Patience Ami Mamattahhas disclosed the number of malaria cases in the area has seen a decrease.
According to her, a total of 18,458 cases were reported at the various health facilities’ outpatient departments, compared to 24,237 in 2021.
She was speaking to the GNA about the celebrations of this year’s World Malaria Day marked on the theme: “Time to Deliver Zero Malaria: Invest, Innovate, and Implement.”
She attributed the decrease in malaria cases to various interventions implemented by her organisation, noting that they worked with the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly’s (ASHMA) Environmental Health Unit to identify water bodies and spray them to kill mosquitoes and their larvae.
Mrs Mamattah also stated that the municipality had increased it, education on malaria prevention techniques.
She urged community members to maintain the surroundings and to prevent storing water in containers around their houses and workplaces to reduce mosquito breeding.
The Director also advised families to sleep under insecticide-treated bed nets and urged parents to protect their children under five from mosquito bites.
She advised parents to bring their children to the child welfare clinics for a free treated mosquito net, especially those under the age of two.
The case of the Chief Executive Officer of Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah, NAM 1, who is accused of defrauding clients out of their deposits totaling GHS1.6 billion, has been postponed until June 8.
Appearing before the substantive Judge, Mrs Evelyn Asamoah, adjourned the matter after the Police had told the court that they were still waiting for the Attorney General advice.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Emmanuel Haligah who held brief of Superintendent of Police Sylvester Asare therefore prayed the court for a date.
Ms Audrey Twum held brief of Kwame Akuffo for the accused person.
This is the 34th time the matter has appeared before the court in the past two years.
Nana Mensah is standing trial for 61 counts of abetment, defrauding by false pretences, carrying on deposit-taking business without license, unlawful deposit-taking and money laundering.
The accused persons have denied the charges and the court on July 26, 2019, admitted him to bail in the sum of GHS1 billion with five sureties, three to be justified.
The court has ordered him to report to thePolice every Wednesday, pending the outcome of the case.
Former member of the presidential staffer, Charles Onuawonto Bissue, has provided his own interpretation of what President Akufo-Addo meant by ‘My presidency is on the line’ regarding his readiness to fight illegal mining (galamsey) in the country.
In July 2017, President Akufo-Addo stated that he was committed to putting an end to the menace.
He told some traditional leaders in Accra that “I have said it in the Cabinet, and perhaps this is the first time I am making this public, that I am prepared to put my Presidency on the line on this matter.”
This comment has since resonated with the citizenry as government launched an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining to take up the fight against the canker.
But over the past two weeks, a leaked damning report depicting an ill-fated fight on galamsey, authored by former Environment Minister, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, who doubled as the chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (ICIM), alleges top officials at the Jubilee House, seat of government, were themselves engaged in the illegality.
In the wake of the uproar that has greeted the report, a section of the public has told the President to put his money where his mouth is with reference to his 2017 ‘oath’ to put his presidency on the line.
The unofficial verdict out there is that in the fight against illegal mining he has not achieved its target, and at best, has failed.But speaking on PM Express on Joy TV on Tuesday, Charles Bissue, himself a former secretary of the erstwhile committee on illegal mining, said the President’s comments were not to be taken literally.“That was a figure of speech… meaning that I want to deal with this matter,” he said on JoyNews.
The Government has approved a budget of GHȼ2.5 million for this year’s exercise.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor who announced this at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, April 26 said it intended to plant 10 million seedlings across the country.
The Green Ghana Project was launched by President Akufo-Addo in 2021 as part of the government’s aggressive afforestation and re-afforestation programme to restore the degraded landscape.
So far, about 31 million seedlings have been planted nationwide with an average survival rate of 81 and 72 per cent in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
“This year, we have revised our target downwards to 10 million trees. This will give us space to devote some resources and attention to the trees planted over the last two years, while not losing momentum on our quest to restore our degraded landscape,” Mr Jinapor said.
He expressed the hope that it would receive the usual massive support from the public to build upon the successes achieved in 2021 and 2022.
He urged the media to carry the message across and mobilise support toward the success of the project.
The Lands Minister appealed to all well-meaning Ghanaians, including chiefs and queen-mothers, religious and faith-based organisations, civil and public servants and students, to support the Ministry to make this year’s Green Ghana Day a success.
“As we did last year, we have compartments for adoption by private institutions, and we will brand these compartments with their names and logos,” he said. Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to launch 2023 Green Ghana Day
Seedlings will be made available at the Ministry, District Offices of the Forestry Commission, and at various designated locations for collection on the Day.
The Minister said details of the seedling distribution and pick-up points will be published in due course.
“Trees play a crucial role in our survival and the survival of planet earth…When the last tree dies, the last man dies,” he added.
A Deputy Minister of Lands, in charge of Forestry, Mr Benito Owusu-Biotold the media that it had so far secured 7.5 million seedlings and expected to receive the remaining 2.5 million from donors.
The Forestry Commission provided three million seedlings, the Mineral Commission supplied three million, while Plantation Fund Board and Rotary clubs and churches have supplied 500,000 and one million seedlings, respectively, he said.
The 2023Green Ghana Day will be held on Friday, June 9, 2023, this was announced by Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor.
He said the official launch of the Green Ghana Day will be performed by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, in Kumasi in the month of May.
The Green Ghana Day was instituted in 2021 by Government, under the auspices of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, as part of an aggressive afforestation and reforestation programme to restore the lost forest cover of the country. At the maiden edition, over seven million trees were planted, exceeding the target of five million trees. And last year, over twenty-four million trees were planted, exceeding the target of twenty million trees.
Speaking at the Press Briefing, Mr. Jinapor said the 2021 edition had a survival rate of eighty-one percent (81%), while the 2022 edition had a survival rate of seventy-two percent (72%). This, he said, brings the total number of surviving trees for the two years to over twenty-three million (23,000,000).
The Minister underscored the important role trees and forests play in human survival and the survival of the earth. He said this year’s Green Ghana Day will be held under the theme “Our Forests, Our Health,” adding that the theme has been chosen “to reflect the importance of forests in our lives, and to remind us of the many health and related benefits we derive from forests.”
According to Mr. Jinapor, the target for this year’s Green Ghana Day is ten million (10,000,000) trees. He said the target has been revised downwards this year, to ensure that adequate resources and attention are devoted to nurturing the over twenty-three million (23,000,000) trees surviving from the first two editions of the Green Ghana Day. He said seedlings will be made available at the Ministry, the District Offices of the Forestry Commission, and designated locations, for collection on the Green Ghana Day.
The Minister also said opportunities are available for corporate Ghanato adopt compartments in forest reserves to plant, and the forest will be branded with the company’s name and logo. He called on Ghanaians of all walks of life, including traditional authorities, civil and public servants, doctors, lawyers, judges, teachers, nurses, artisans, and all residents of Ghana to support the Project, come out in their numbers, and make this year’s Green Ghana Day a success.
On Wednesday, April 26, 2023,President Akufo-Addo, traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa for the Democrat Union of Africa (DUA) Annual Forum.
President Akufo-Addo will deliver the keynote address at the Forum, which is scheduled to be held from the 26th to 30th April 2023, in Johannesburg.
He was accompanied by the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Kwaku Ampratwum, Member of Parliament forMampong; and officials from the Presidency and Foreign Ministry.
President Akufo-Addo will return to Ghana on Sunday, 30th April 2023, and, in his absence, the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, shall, in accordance with Article 60 (8) of the Constitution, act in his stead.
“I want to say to the Ghanaian people that whatever it takes to protect the forest reserve of the country, the government is putting in place all kinds of measures. Recently, we had a retreat and the Forestry Commission briefed cabinet on the measures that are being taken to protect forest reserves. We are going to continue these measures to ensure that these forests are protected from the drivers of deforestation and degradation.”
In a 37-page paper, the former Minister of Science, Environment, Technology, and Innovation, who also served as Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, accused important political actors in the government of contributing to the poisoning of significant water bodies.
The Chairman of the now-defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (ICIM) accused government officials of colluding in the war against galamsey.
The report has been dismissed by the Presidency, but a number of stakeholders have pushed for a thorough probe by an independent body.
Tidal wave victims in Agorkedzi in the Anloga district of the Volta Region are pleading with the government to build a conventional sea defense wall rather than merely providing temporary relief supplies.
Many affected victims are still counting their losses after the Sunday, April 17, destruction that led to the loss of property.
Raphael Agbanavor, the Assembly Member of the Atiteti Electoral Area, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that though the situation seemed to have returned to normalcy, it was high time government stepped in to build a sea defense wall to protect life and property.
He complained that relocation by the affected victims would not be appropriate as some had already moved to more than four locations.
“Those here were moved from the Kporkporgbor community in 2014 to Fukpeve in 2016 and later moved to Fuveme before finally landing at Agorkedzi, which is also being destroyed,” he said.
“It is not a matter of relocation, the residents there are fisherfolks, who engage infishing expedition as their source of livelihood, and moving them from here to a new place could cause disturbances in their daily activities.”
Mr Agbanavor noted that the only school in the area, which was affected by the waves, had reopened but some parents were hesitant to get their wards back to school due to fear of possible recurrence.
Mr Philip Bokorga, the National Disaster Management Organisation Director for Anloga, told the GNA that his team had assessed the situation and reported to the appropriate authorities for action.
Meanwhile, Seth Yormewu, the Anloga District Chief Executive, has urged the affected victims to remain calm whilst the Government worked to find a solution.
The GNA also observed that some areas along the shores at Keta were also affected by the tidal waves.
The governmenthas authorized GH2.5 million for the 2023 Green Ghana tree planting, this is according to Benito Owusu-Bio, the deputy minister of lands and natural resources.
The Deputy Minister mentioned this at a press conference at the ministry on the government’s preparation towards the 2023 Green Ghana Day celebration.
According to Mr. Owuau-Bio, the Forestry Commission through its district offices and internal nursery will provide three million seedlings.
Another three million seedlings will be provided by the Commission’s alternative livelihood programme.
He also noted that the Plantation Fund Board, which was established by government through the Forestry Commission will assist in private plantation development.
“It is also going to assist with 500,000 seedlings, and some committed donors providing us 1 million seedlings. All of these will be up to 7.5 million out of the 10 million,” he stated.
He continued that “as we speak now, our approved budget for the Green Ghana this year is GH₵2.5 million. This is not enough, but we cannot say that we are not going to celebrate the day this year. So, there’s the need to start appealing for funds, which we have started since last year and we are hopeful that we will get some support from our partners to make this possible.”
This year’s Green Ghana Day celebration is scheduled Friday, June 9, 2023 on the theme: “Our Forest, Our Health”
Government has planned to plant 10 million trees during this year’s celebration.
A prospective presidential contender for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, has criticized those who think he is unqualified to represent the party in the 2024 elections.
The vociferous Assin Central Member of Parliament said his critics say he is not “presidential material” because he does not speak impeccable English like some of his contenders.
According to him, the youth needs a candidate who will provide them with jobs and alleviate their sufferings and not a candidate who is only interested in wearing expensive suits and always speaking the Queen’s English.
Kennedy Agyapong also said it seems his opponents want to undermine all the sacrifices he had made for the NPP over the years.
“Who in the party has worked more than me? I have made lots of sacrifices for the party by using my money to fund party activities. Today they are saying I’m not presidential material. What is presidential material? Is presidential material someone who can speak good English, wears suits and does not care about the welfare of the youth?”
“Between someone who says good to see you and the other who encourages you to get up to go to work, which one of them is presidential material? We want jobs, we are not joking at all. We are tired of listening to big English all the time,” he asserted.
Mr. Ohene Agyapong called on the delegates to make a wise choice by electing a formidable candidate who can lead the party to help the party win the 2024 general elections.
“My advice goes to all the delegates to try and make the right choice in the election of a presidential candidate for the party. You will bear the brunt if you make wrong choices that will send the party into opposition. Make no mistake during the primaries to elect just any candidate. I will use the little money I have for myself till I die and not spend on party members anymore,” the MP said.
The outspoken lawmaker said this when he addressed NPP delegates in Koforidua in the Eastern Region.
The Data Zone package will shortly be reinstated by Scancom PLC ofMTN Ghana operators, with updated fees for its customers, this is according to the National Communications Authority (NCA).
According to the NCA CEO, Joseph Anokye, the service was due to be restored after MTN Ghana submitted a revised data zone bundle which met their regulatory requirement.
Data Zone bundle is an innovation by MTN Ghana that gives customers a 1-day validity bundle at discounted rates at the point of purchase.
MTN Ghana in a press release on Wednesday, April 12 announced the suspension of its innovative data bundle to its customers which took effect on April 5.
The mobile network in the statement said, “The suspension of the innovative Data Zone bundle is due to a review of the bundle offer in line with the Significant Market Power (SMP) directives applied to MTN Ghana in June 2020, not to be the lowest priced on any offer in the industry.”
It, however, apologised to its “cherished customers for limiting our communications on this matter to service activation channels only.
The company added, “we seek alignment on a revisedData Zone bundle to be reinstated as soon as possible.”
To this end, Mr Anokye who was speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, April 26, disclosed that the Scancom PLC has amended their data zone bundle.
“MTN has since submitted a revised data zone bundle which has been approved by the authority. “It is our expectation that the product will soon be available.”
A former president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, has blamed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for destroying farmlands in mining zones through illicit mining (galamsey).
The galamsey report by Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, according to Mr. Mahama, is clear evidence of this assertion.
Speaking to delegates in Sefwi Wiawso as part of his tour of the Western North area, John Mahama stated that the NPP government’s galamsey activities have destroyed important agriculture fields.
“The former Minister and Chair of the Committee leading the fight against galamsey has in the report revealed that the galamsey activities are done by NPP bigwigs. Since the NPP assumed office, most of the country’s farms have been destroyed because of illegal mining.”
The aspiringNational Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential Candidate, also said the country’s cocoa sector is on the verge of collapse because of the mismanagement of the sector by the Akufo-Addo government.
Mr. Mahama maintained that the government’s failure to adjust the producer price of cocoa annually and the delayed payment of farmers for cocoa beans are part of the factors destroying the sector.
“Under the previous NDC administration, we ensured that there was an upward adjustment in the producer price [of cocoa] every year. But that is not the case with this government. Price adjustments are taking place after four years. This is what is collapsing the sector”, he stated.
Mr. Mahama added that the sector must be supported, noting that some farmers no longer find farming cocoa lucrative.
He referred to a farmer who said he will give out his land for galamsey because the returns are far better than farming.
“He doesn’t mind selling his farm for galamsey because there’s no profit from the cocoa business today. Payment of farmers for their cocoa purchases is no longer instant, and they do not get any bonus. Farmers must now wait for three to four months to receive payment”, he added.
The former president is visiting all nine constituencies in the region and is expected to continue to the Ashanti Region.
