The Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University for Development Studies (UDS), Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Gunu has called for a conscious effort at addressing the poor performance of public schools in the north in the basic and senior high school certificate examinations (WASSCE/BECE).
According to him, northern public schools always finding themselves at the bottom of the WASSCE/BECE rankings cannot be accidental or attributed to bad luck.
He noted that such continuous poor performance of the students in the five northern regions calls for a strategy to address the worrying challenge.
Some attendees at the event
Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Gunu said at the BECE level, the Upper West region in 2018 scored 49.7%, 48.3% in 2019 and 48% in 2020 while the Upper East region scored 52.9% both in 2018 and 2019 and scored 48.6% in 2020.
He said in the Northern region, out of the 26 senior high schools that were presented for the final examination, 17 schools scored less than 5% and 4 schools scored 0%.
He said in 2019 also, 26 schools were presented for the final examination and 15 schools scored less than 5% with 1 school scoring 0%.
He also added that in 2020, 27 schools were presented for the final examination and 15 schools scored less than 5%.
This he said, translates to over 50% of schools in the Northern region scoring less than 5%.
The Dean made these known at the 2022 UDS Center for Educational Innovation and Leadership (CEIL) Northern Education Stakeholders Dialogue.
The Northern Education Dialogue on Low Educational Outcomes in Northern Schools is a non-partisan forum organised by the CEIL of UDS in partnership with NORSAAC and Oxfam to highlight challenges facing the education sector.
Some participants at the event
The forum will serve as a platform to dialogue on establishing a citizen-led barometer for tracking the progress of public schools annually and for holding public authorities accountable to their commitments towards improving education in the five regions of the North.
Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Gunu said the main objectives of the dialogue is to increase awareness on the poor learning outcomes among children in public schools in the five regions of the North.
He said it is also to identify the reasons for the poor performance of children in these schools and to profess realistic stakeholder commitments towards addressing the challenges.
The Director for Tertiary Education at the Ministry of Education Dr Yayra Dzakadzie, delivering a speech on behalf of the Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, outlined some interventions government has put in place to revive the falling standards in education.
The Paramount Chief of Pishigu, Alhassan Andani attributed the poor performance of the students to the lack of concern by government, communities, families and individuals towards the children’s education.
He appealed for ownership of education in communities, this he believes can help in addressing the challenges.
The Upper East Regional Director of Education, representing various Regional Directors in the five northern regions, Anne Estella Kye-eebo also appealed to the Education Ministry to give them the power to execute their duties as directors of education.
The theme for the occasion was ‘Northern Education Dialogue on Low Educational Outcomes in Northern Schools: The Role of Gender Transformative Education.’
For an economy to thrive, private investors need to pump money into it by establishing businesses in the country.
Some of the money they make goes to the government in the form of taxes.
On the other hand, the citizens gain employment as these businesses are established, and would need persons to run them to witness growth.
What comes to mind when you hear the name Femi Otedola, Dangote? Your guess is as good as mine. These people are labelled as the richest men in Nigeria.
In Ghana, names like Osei Kwame Despite, Jospong, McDan, Ibrahim Mahama, and Sam Jonah are also known as top businessmen in the country.
But did you know that should these business magnates decide not to invest in the local economy, it would be wobbling?
One can argue that these men own chains of companies, support the government, and also solve one of the government’s major challenges, youth unemployment.
Below are the top 5 Ghanaian private businessmen
Ibrahim Mahama
Ibrahim Mahama is a Ghanaian businessman and the founder of Engineers and Planners, the largest indigenously owned mining company in West Africa. He is also the owner of several other businesses in Ghana.
The mining company now employs over 3000 Ghanaian employees. Ibrahim Mahama has also invested in Asutsuare poultry farms, which was started in 2004 and produce 150,000 eggs and 10,000 live broilers a day.
He’s the owner of Dzata Cement Limited. Dzata Cement Company Ltd is touted as the first fully Ghanaian-owned cement processing factory.
The factory is located on about 10 acres of land near the Tema port. The over 200-million-dollar plant is expected to produces an average of 120 bags per minute from its two production lines.
The cement factory has a production capacity of 2.6 Million Tonnes per annum and this is the highest single cement facility in Ghana.
The factory has created five thousand direct and indirect jobs. It has provided employment opportunities for several thousands of Wholesalers and Retailers, across Ghana and the West African sub-region.
The factory commenced operations in August 2021.
Osei Kwame Despite
Osei Kwame Despite is an entrepreneur with a chain of media outlets, including UTV, Peace FM, under the name Despite Group of Companies. He owns Best Point Savings and Loans and has 50% shares in U2 Company Limited.
He also owns Neat Foods Company Limited which produces Neat Fufu, Neat Banku, Neat Abenkwan, Neat Hausa Koko, and Neat dairy products. The famous This Way Chocolate drink is also one of his products.
Jospong
Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong is the Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Zoomlion Company Limited.
This serial entrepreneur has employed several people in the sanitation sector. He currently owns Ignite Media; Metro TV, and Original FM/TV.
McDan
Business magnate, Daniel McKorley is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the McDan Group of Companies.
McDan Group of Companies is a Ghanaian transportation and logistics company with operations in freight forwarding for land transports, sea freight, air freight and contract logistics.
He owns a private jet terminal at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana.
Sam Jonah
Sam Jonah is a Ghanaian businessman and the executive chairman of Jonah Capital, an equity fund based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was previously the president of AngloGold Ashanti and headed about 19 different companies.
His Jonah Capital is the second-biggest shareholder in the pan-African micro-lender, Bayport, and a major shareholder in Houses for Africa, a firm that offers middle-class residential construction projects and financing in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Nigeria.
As a form of expression of its disgust against the shooting of the military generals in 1979, the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the leadership of then General Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo threatened to cut gas supply to Ghana which had Jerry John Rawlings as head of state.
The angst of Nigeria and its leader against the gruesome killings of military generals, Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, FWK Why Nigeria threatened to cut gas supplies to Ghana in 1979
In a bid to register their disgust over the shooting of the military generals in 1979, the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the leadership of then military ruler, General Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo threatened to cut gas supply to Ghana which at the time was led by Jerry John Rawlings as head of state.
The angst of Nigeria and its leader Obasanjo to the gruesome killings of the military generals, Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, FWK Akuffo, AA Afrifa, and Utuka, among others in 1979 was captured in the book titled ‘The Trial of JJ Rawlings”.
The book which was written by the venerable Kojo Yankah captures a letter by the National Union of Ghana Students, NUGS, to the governments of Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo criticizing their condemnation of the actions of the Rawlings regime.
“We condemn the threats allegedly issued by the Obasanjo government in Nigeria to cut off supplies to Ghana. The clean up exercise here had set a new precedent in African Politics. The pleas of the Paris-teleguided governments in Ivory Coast, Togo and Upper Volta also show the depth of their hypocrisy and how unfair they’ve been to the suffering people of Ghana.
“When our timber, cocoa, gold, rice, maize and essential imported communities were being smuggled to these countries by the few local enemies of the people of Ghana, these ‘good neighbours’ of ours actively collaborated with them”, parts of the statement read.
The book also highlights the response of the United Kingdom under Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher to the killing of the military generals.
Margaret Thatcher, the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is reported to have indicated her ‘abhorrence’ to the execution of the military generals and said that she had been in touch with US, Canada, and members of the European Economic Community to make representations to the Ghana government about their disdain for the murder of leaders of the deposed military regime.
About June 4 Revolution
The June 4 Revolution, otherwise known as June 4th Uprising was incited by the arrest and trial of Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings and other junior military officers by the leadership of the Supreme Military Council II (SMC II). Jerry John Rawlings and the junior officers were arrested and charged with mutiny for a failed coup attempt on the 15th of May, 1979.
Jerry John Rawlings cited a number of reasons for the failed coup attempt on 15th May, 1979. Firstly, the junior military officers, including Jerry John Rawlings, were refused salaries on countless occasions. Also on the broader scale, issues of widespread corruption among Supreme Military Council officials, poor governance, economic hardship and general frustration on the part of populace as well as high levels of indiscipline within the Ghana Army were among the issues highlighted.
One of the main architects of the uprising, Major Boakye Djan, has in later interviews revealed that they deliberately added a political twist to it to help emancipate the whole of Africa. According to Osahene Boakye Djan, after several secret meetings with John Rawlings, the team decided to establish a secret movement known as the Free Africa Movement (FAM) to drive the uprising. Boakye Gyan noted that although Nkrumah fought for the liberation of the whole African continent, Africa still appeared to be under the rule and control of the colonial masters. Boakye Gyan mentions in an interview that though Ghana was independent, the country was not free enough to determine the prices of cash crops like cocoa and other commodities hence the movement.
Trial Day
Prior to the trial was the failed coup attempt by Rawlings and some junior officers on the 15th of May, 1979. On the morning of the day of the coup, there was exchange of fire between the coup plotters and officers of the SMC II. It took the effort and bravery of one senior military officer, Major General Odartey Willington to get to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) to announce that the attempted coup by junior officers of the force had been foiled.
He, Major-General Odartey Willington, one Major Sulemana, other military officers who embarked on the said action at GBC were subsequently rewarded by the SMC II government and Rawlings and the junior officers arrested for trial.
The trial of Rawlings and the Junior officers took place at Burma Hall in Accra. On the day of the trial, as ABC News Ghana gathers, thousands of civilians trooped into the hall to witness the trial. The president of the military tribunal was Col. Aninful and the prosecutor for the state was Flt. Lt. Atiemo.
Rawlings was asked if he wanted a separate trial. His response was “I want to be with my men,” a comment which sparked wild applause in the hall.
Rawlings was found guilty by the tribunal and was imprisoned in a “guardroom”. It was during this time that all his ten fingers were severely damaged.
A key point in the trial was when Jerry Rawlings turned the tables and began accusing the government of massive corruption. He demanded his colleagues accused of aiding him in the treasonable act be set free insisting that he was solely responsible for the attempted coup.
On the day of 4th June, 1979
As has been stated earlier, Rawlings was found guilty and imprisoned in a guardroom. Two weeks later, on the night of June 4th, Captain Boakye Djan led other officers to overthrow the SMC II government and released Rawlings from prison. He was then sent to GBC and the government overthrow was announced. Rawlings was made to speak to allay fears of his death as had been earlier rumoured.
Notable on the day was a display by Major-General Odartey Willington. He entered an armoured car and single-handedly shot for three continuous hours. When he ran out of cartridges, he dashed to the Nima Police Station to surrender.
Unfortunately, he was killed on the spot by military officers immediately he came out of the armoured truck. He was given a somewhat befitting burial by Rawlings.
That incident marked the beginning of the uprising.
After the incident, all military installations were searched and senior military officers who were on the side of the SMC II were killed. It was on the same day that Col. Aninful, the president of the military tribunal that tried Rawlings and the junior officers on 15th May was killed. His wife and children who were also in the same room were shot. Many sympathizers of the previous government fled the country to seek asylum elsewhere.
The coup plotters then set up the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). The membership was as follows;
1. Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings – Chairman
2. Captain Boakye Gyan – Official Spokesperson
3. Major Mensah Gbedemah
4. Lt Commander Akpaloo
5. Warrant Officer 2 Obeng
6. Private Owusu Adu
7. Corporal Owusu Boateng
8. Leading Air Craftsman Gaktipo
9. Lance Corporal Ansah Atiemo among other people.
The Aftermath of the Revolution
The regime introduced what become known as the “House Cleaning Exercise”. The House cleaning exercise was mainly against corruption. Three former military leaders of Ghana, Lt. Gen. Afrifa, Gen. Acheampong and Lt. Gen. Akuffo were all executed together with five other senior officers deemed to have been corrupt by the Special Courts set up by the government. That was when the infamous slogan “let the blood flow” originated. Supporters of the regime used this slogan to rally military support in killing sympathizers of the previous regime who were deemed corrupt.
Numerous business entrepreneurs were also targeted and had their assets confiscated by the government.
Critics of the regime note that the period witnessed high levels of indiscipline among the junior officers towards senior officers and civilians. The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) soon lost control of the soldiers who had gone on rampage. There was total breakdown of law and order, a situation which led to arbitrary arrests, beatings, abductions, killings, detentions, and seizure of money and personal property by soldiers.
The AFRC ruled from June 1979 to September 1979. Power was handed to Dr. Hilla Limann in September 1979. But Rawlings again overthrew Limann on 31st December 1981. Though June 4 became a noted date in Ghana’s history, it has been said to be a date that brings a lot of pain to people who either lost loved ones, lost businesses or had to flee the country for their dear lives, AA Afrifa, and Utuka, among others in 1979 was captured in the book titled ‘The Trial of JJ Rawlings”.
The book which was written by the venerable Kojo Yankah captures a letter by the National Union of Ghana Students to the governments of Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo over their condemnation of the actions by Rawlings and his military cohorts.
“We condemn the threats allegedly issued by the Obasanjo government in Nigeria to cut off supplies to Ghana. The clean-up exercise here had set a new precedent in African Politics. The pleas of the Paris-teleguided governments in Ivory Coast, Togo and Upper Volta also show the depth of their hypocrisy and how unfair they’ve been to the suffering people of Ghana.
“When our timber, cocoa, gold, rice, maize and essential imported communities were being smuggled to these countries by the few local enemies of the people of Ghana, these ‘good neighbours’ of ours actively collaborated with them”, parts of the statement read.
The book also highlights the response of the United Kingdom under Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher to the killing of the military generals.
Margaret Thatcher, the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is reported to have indicated her ‘abhorrence’ to the execution of the military generals and said that she had been in touch with US, Canada, and members of the European Economic Community to make representations to the Ghana government about their disdain for the murder of the deposed military regime.
About June 4 Revolution
The June 4 Revolution, otherwise known as June 4th Uprising was incited by the arrest and trial of Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings and other junior military officers by the leadership of the Supreme Military Council II (SMC II). Jerry John Rawlings and the junior officers were arrested and charged with mutiny for a failed coup attempt on the 15th of May, 1979.
Jerry John Rawlings cited a number of reasons for the failed coup attempt on 15th May, 1979. Firstly, the junior military officers, including Jerry John Rawlings, were refused salaries on countless occasions. Also on the broader scale, issues of widespread corruption among Supreme Military Council officials, poor governance, economic hardship and general frustration on the part of populace as well as high levels of indiscipline within the Ghana Army were among the issues highlighted.
One of the main architects of the uprising, Major Boakye Djan, has in recent times revealed that they deliberately added a political twist to it to help emancipate the whole of Africa. According to Osahene Boakye Djan, after several secret meetings with John Rawlings, the team decided to establish a secret movement known as the Free Africa Movement (FAM) to drive the uprising. Boakye Gyan noted that although Nkrumah fought for the liberation of the whole African continent, Africa still appeared to be under the rule and control of the colonial masters. Boakye Gyan mentions in an interview that though Ghana was independent, the country was not free enough to determine the prices of cash crops like cocoa and other commodities hence the movement.
Trial Day
Prior to the trial was the failed coup attempt by Rawlings and some junior officers on the 15th of May, 1979. On the morning of the day of the coup, there was exchange of fire between the coup plotters and officers of the SMC II. It took the effort and bravery of one senior military officer, Major General Odartey Willington to get to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) to announce that the attempted coup by junior officers of the force had been foiled.
He, Major-General Odartey Willington, one Major Sulemana, other military officers who embarked on the said action at GBC were subsequently rewarded by the SMC II government and Rawlings and the junior officers arrested for trial.
The trial of Rawlings and the Junior officers took place at Burma Hall in Accra. On the day of the trial, as ABC News Ghana gathers, thousands of civilians trooped into the hall to witness the trial. The president of the military tribunal was Col. Aninful and the prosecutor for the state was Flt. Lt. Atiemo.
Rawlings was asked if he wanted a separate trial. His response was “I want to be with my men,” a comment which sparked wild applause in the hall.
Rawlings was found guilty by the tribunal and was imprisoned in a “guardroom”. It was during this time that all his ten fingers were severely damaged.
A key point in the trial was when Jerry Rawlings turned the tables and began accusing the government of massive corruption. He demanded his colleagues accused of aiding him in the treasonable act be set free insisting that he was solely responsible for the attempted coup.
On the day of 4th June, 1979
As has been stated earlier, Rawlings was found guilty and imprisoned in a guardroom. Two weeks later, on the night of June 4th, Captain Boakye Djan led other officers to overthrow the SMC II government and released Rawlings from prison. He was then sent to GBC and the government overthrow was announced. Rawlings was made to speak to allay fears of his death as had been earlier rumoured.
Notable on the day was a display by Major-General Odartey Willington. He entered an armoured car and single-handedly shot for three continuous hours. When he ran out of cartridges, he dashed to the Nima Police Station to surrender.
Unfortunately, he was killed on the spot by military officers immediately he came out of the armoured truck. He was given a somewhat befitting burial by Rawlings.
That incident marked the beginning of the uprising.
After the incident, all military installations were searched and senior military officers who were on the side of the SMC II were killed. It was on the same day that Col. Aninful, the president of the military tribunal that tried Rawlings and the junior officers on 15th May was killed. His wife and children who were also in the same room were shot. Many sympathizers of the previous government fled the country to seek asylum elsewhere.
The coup plotters then set up the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). The membership was as follows;
1. Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings – Chairman
2. Captain Boakye Gyan – Official Spokesperson
3. Major Mensah Gbedemah
4. Lt Commander Akpaloo
5. Warrant Officer 2 Obeng
6. Private Owusu Adu
7. Corporal Owusu Boateng
8. Leading Air Craftsman Gaktipo
9. Lance Corporal Ansah Atiemo among other people.
The Aftermath of the Revolution
The regime introduced what become known as the “House Cleaning Exercise”. The House cleaning exercise was mainly against corruption. Three former military leaders of Ghana, Lt. Gen. Afrifa, Gen. Acheampong and Lt. Gen. Akuffo were all executed together with five other senior officers deemed to have been corrupt by the Special Courts set up by the government. That was when the infamous slogan “let the blood flow” originated. Supporters of the regime used this slogan to rally military support in killing sympathizers of the previous regime who were deemed corrupt.
Numerous business entrepreneurs were also targeted and had their assets confiscated by the government.
Critics of the regime note that the period witnessed high levels of indiscipline among the junior officers towards senior officers and civilians. The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) soon lost control of the soldiers who had gone on rampage. There was total breakdown of law and order, a situation which led to arbitrary arrests, beatings, abductions, killings, detentions, and seizure of money and personal property by soldiers.
The AFRC ruled from June 1979 to September 1979. Power was handed to Dr. Hilla Limann in September 1979. But Rawlings again overthrew Limann on 31st December 1981. Though June 4 became a noted date in Ghana’s history, it has been said to be a date that brings a lot of pain to people who either lost loved ones, lost businesses or had to flee the country for their dear lives.
The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) has urged the government to implement more social intervention programmes to bring some relief to the citizenry amid the economic hardship.
It also asked the government to harness more resources to reduce the cost of living in the country.
A statement issued and signed by Most Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Catholic Bishop of Sunyani and President, GCBC, said though 2022 was a ‘difficult’ year, it was necessary that Ghanaians thanked God for His grace and mercies that they had enjoyed despite the hardships.
The Conference advised the populace to act responsibly in all spheres of life as 2023 unfolded.
“It is our fervent prayer and hope that the year 2023 will be a year of new beginnings for our country Ghana and that as citizens, we will all act responsibly in all spheres of life.”
It said Christmas was a time to recall God’s ineffable love and renew one’s resolve to love as God had loved humanity and encouraged all to share with others, most especially the needy.
The statement appealed to road users to observe rules and regulations to ensure safety on the roads during the yuletide and beyond.
“Let us avoid the temptation of drink-driving and driving under stress. Indeed, peace is disrupted in the family, corporate, community and sometimes in national life when road accidents occur,” it said.
The Conference called on all the relevant state enforcement agencies to ensure that all road users complied with the road rules and regulations.
The statement called for humility and peaceful co-existence amongst all citizens in the coming year.
A fatal accident at Apam in the Central region has resulted in the death of a female passenger with thirteen others being severely injured.
According to a citinewsroom.com report, the driver of a Toyota Hiace mini truck that was loaded with passengers travelling to Takoradi from Agona Sweduru attempted to pass the car in front him, but was unsuccessful, leading to the collision.
The Apam District Fire Commander, ACFO II Ankomah Nuamah said that one of the vehicles with registration number AS 471-20 somersaulted several times, resulting in the death of the female passenger
The injured victims are receiving treatment at the Winneba Trauma and Specialist Hospital at the St. Luke Catholic Hospital in Apam.
Parents have been advised to desist from using breast milk to treat eye problems in babies and rather seek professional medical care to ensure their safety.
That habit, coupled with the use of herbal preparations for eye treatment, has resulted in children risking visual impairment and other complicated eye injuries, especially in rural communities.
Mr Emmanuel Osei, the Acting Eastern Regional Director, Department of Children of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, said there had been many instances where such practices had resulted in complications in eye problems of babies and children.
He said this during an eye screening exercise for hundreds of children at Tutu and Obosomase in the Akuapem North Municipality of the Eastern Region.
It was organised by the Department of Children, in collaboration with the Social Welfare, and Community Development, and supported by VSIO International, a not-for-profit organisation.
The exercise forms part of efforts to educate the public on visual health and offer treatment and medications to children with visual impairment.
A medical team from the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital at Mampong was at hand to screen the children and offer medications whiles others were referred for further treatment.
Four personnel of the Ghana Police Service in the Bono Region have been accused of brutalising an assistant environmental health analyst at Sene West District Assembly in the Bono Region after he allegedly refused to pay a GH¢5 bribe.
According to a Peace FM report, the police officers, who are stationed at Kwame Danso a suburb of the Sene West, asked the victim; James Combat, to pay GH¢5 for committing a road traffic offence.
The report indicated that Combat refused to pay the money which led to the police beating him up mercilessly.
Narrating his ordeal in a Peace FM interview, the assistant environmental health analyst said that the police stopped him on his way to his farm for riding his motorcycle without a helmet.
He said that he explained to the police that he had only one helmet which he gave to his daughter, who was on the motor with him, but the police insisted that he pays the GH¢5.
“I told Peter (one of the policemen) that I had no money on me because I was on my way to my farm. Then Doe and Akomea (two senior policemen) instructed him (Peter) to remove my motor key if I am not willing to pay the GHC5,” he said in Twi.
Combat said that he took his motor key and refused to give it to the policemen which led to the beatings.
“My daughter was on the floor weeping as they were beating me up mercilessly. They forced me into their vehicle took me to the police station and they kept me in cells from 8:00 am to around noon,” he said
The victim also added that he was only released after some officers of the Sene West District Assembly and his family raised an amount of GH¢700 to pay the police.
The Reverend Dr Lawrence Tetteh, the Founder of Worldwide Miracle Outreach, says the Police cannot stop the Church from making prophetic statements on December 31.
“In every community, we have the good, the bad, and the ugly. The Police should not use the attitude of a few bad ones against the hard-earned reputation of the majority of the Clergymen. The work of the Church should not be taken for granted,” he said.
Contributing to discussions on the ban on pastors making panic prophecies on December 31, Rev Tetteh disagreed with the directives of the Police, saying: “We have to be very careful not to throw the baby with the water away”.
“I am the first to agree that some of my colleagues have been irresponsible with their statements during December 31, by pronouncing death and horrifying things, but that should not undermine the fact that prophecies are real, and it is not in the place for the Police to determine what prophecy should be given at the end of the year.
“I believe that should be considered an insult to the Church, and I personally take a strong objection to the Police assuming that authority,” he said.
The Clergyman said Ghana was a very religious community and that Ghanaians took December 31 very seriously because there were many people who did not get the opportunity to go to Church, except on that day to reaffirm their faith in God.
“Whether we like it or not, in the Bible, prophecies are real and are of God, and the fact that somebody has given a scary prophecy does not mean that the Police should give such a ‘blanket’ statement that gags the Church.
“It is very dangerous and undermines freedom of expression, freedom of views, and freedom of worship, and I think it is wrong for the Police to make such a pronouncement,” he stated.
Rev Tetteh urged the Police to engage such pastors and talk to them instead of making a general statement, stressing that the organs of government should be very mindful not to forget that, but for the religious community, everything would have been doomed.
“We should also consider the Bible because there were prophecies that Nathan had to give to David. There are prophesies that are for the nation and those that are for individuals.”
He said the Police should be thinking about a variety of issues on December 31, such as armed robbery and not what the Church was doing, stressing “a nation without a prophetic word is lost”.
Legal Practitioner, Lawyer Lamtiig Apanga, has refuted the perception by some individuals that there’s a need for one’s family members to be in the profession to have higher chances of being admitted to the law school.
According to him, some people are holding back on their ambitions to pursue law because of this perception.
He explained that one’s mother, and father don’t determine one’s admission to the Ghana Law School, rather, it depends on the individual’s intellect, confidence and ability to express themselves excellently.
“…Those questions they ask if anybody in your family is a lawyer are not the reasons people are taken or not taken.
“The perception that you need to be an extraordinary person to read the law you need to have some extraordinary qualities to read the law or some family relations has kept some people away, he said in an interview with dreamz FM in Bolga in the Upper East Region.
Lawyer Lamtiig Apanga, who has declared his intentions to contest the parliamentary primaries on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Nabdam Constituency in the Upper East Region said he has an agenda to churn out 10 lawyers in 10 years.
He believes this vision can be achieved because he is currently mentoring three of them who are currently in law school.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a harmful practice and has no legitimacy in the Islamic Religion, Shaykha Ayisha Yussif, an Islamic cleric has said.
FGM involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Tema, Shaykha Yussif, who is also a Tutor at the Frafaha Senior High School, said that FGM is a traditional practice and not a religious ethos.
“The Quran teaches that the painful act is not an Islamic religious obligation,” she said.
Shaykha Yussif explained that some tribes subjected their daughters to the cruel act because they were misled to believe it was an Islamic obligation, adding that “the practice has done a lot of damage to girls, depriving many of an interest in sex, an important leisure which Allah gave to all human beings”.
She said Islam appreciated the way of life of every tradition and urged Muslims to condemn traditional practices that violated the rights of members.
“FGM is dangerous and a life-threatening procedure that causes unspeakable pain and suffering to girls,” she stressed.
The Islamic cleric stressed that Islam is very clear, no part of the body should be removed or changed, adding that only boys were supposed to be cut, therefore, FGM must end as a matter of urgency.
She emphasized the need to galvanize the support of the citizenry and media to eliminate the harmful and degrading practice.
Shaykha Yussif admonished religious and traditional leaders to focus on issues that affect the dignity of women and to expose the perpetrators of the inhumane acts so they could be punished.
She noted that FGM is a violation of girls’ and women’s human rights and the international communities and nations must continue to condemn the act and pass laws, treaties, and conventions to stop the act . According to data, FGM is practiced in 31 countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. It’s most prevalent in Djibouti, Egypt, Guinea, and Mali, where 90 percent or more of women aged 15 to 49 have been subjected to FGM. in Islam – Islamic Cleric
In memory of the late Brazilian legend, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, we provide a throwback to former Black Stars player Abedi Pele meeting Pele.
Abedi Pele was given the nickname “Pelé” due to his ability in football, which evoked comparisons to the Brazilian legend Pele.
Abedi began his career in Europe with French side Chamois Niort, subsequently joining Marseille before transferring to Lille on loan.
At club level, he was a key figure in Marseille’s dominance of the French league, resulting in four league championships and two European Cup finals appearances.
He won the France Football African Player of the Year Award three consecutive years, was the inaugural winner of the BBC African Sports Star of the Year in 1992, and the corresponding Confederation of African Football award twice.
Abedi made 73 appearances for the Black Stars of Ghana and scored 19 goals.
The ‘real Pele’
With 643 goals in 659 appearances for Santos, Pele is the club’s all-time leading scorer. He led Santos to the Copa Libertadores in 1962 and 1963, as well as the Intercontinental Cup in 1962 and 1963.
Pelé’s debut international encounter was a 2-1 loss to Argentina on July 7, 1957, at the Maracana. He scored his first goal for Brazil in the game when he was 16 years and nine months old.
The 18th of July, 1971, saw Pelé play in his final international game in Rio de Janeiro against Yugoslavia.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as World Pelé on the local scene visited Ghana on May 8, 1971.
A Supreme Court Judge, Justice Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, has said girls’ schools might have challenges winning the National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) due to the attachment to their parents and the roles of daughters in their homes even though they are capable and intelligent as the boys.
She explained that parents mostly want their children to stay home during the vacation so it is difficult for them to stay as contestants in their schools to participate in the NSMQ.
“When I hear the kind of preparation and practice the boys’ schools put their contestants through, then I know it will be a challenge for the young women because parents tend to want their daughters to come home during vacation. Most of the contestants stay on in school and parents don’t like that with their daughters.”
Citing herself as an example, she said her parents would ask for her whereabout just as many parents did with their daughters.
“So, I don’t think they would have agreed that I should just stay on in school preparing for a contest two years ahead as the boys do,” myjoyonline quoted Prof Mensa-Bonsu.
Prof Mensa-Bonsu was speaking on the back of concerns raised by Ghanaians about the seeming narrative where girls’ schools barely make it to the finals in the NSMQ competition.
Prof Mensa-Bonsu said she is optimistic the girls’ schools will get there as “the young ladies are every bit as intelligent and capable as the boys but with everything you need practice and they just don’t have the time.”
Prof Mensa-Bonsu’s alma mater, Wesley Girls High School, was unseeded for the first time in eight years and will have to start the contest from the regional qualifiers.
They are also the only girls’ school to make it to the finals. They made their first appearance at the finals in 1999 against Mfantsipim but the latter won.
Former Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS) Dr. Kpessa-Whyte has questioned Rojo Mettle-Nunoo on whether he was working for or against John Dramani Mahama in the 2020 elections.
He is of the belief that Rojo might have worked against John Dramani Mahama in the Electoral Commission’s strong room considering how fast he has switched to support Dr. Kwabena Duffour who is hoping to lead the NDC in election 2024.
“Sir with all due respect, your decision to sign a letter suggesting that you are supporting anybody else besides John Mahama did not only raise serious questions but also lacks emotional intelligence. When did you decide not to support John Mahama again given that you were one of his representatives (myself included) in the Electoral Commission Strongroom? Were you representing His Excellency John Mahama to fail in the 2020 elections so you can opt for another candidate for 2024?
Don’t you think you have a moral obligation to stand with John Mahama given your own testimony that the NPP and Nana Addo conspired with the Electoral Commission to steal John Mahama’s victory? I hope these questions will provide you some opportunity to reflect on the implications of your decision,” he said.
Read Kpessa-Whyte’s Letter to Rojo
*Kpessa-Whyte Writes*:
Dear Comrade Rojo Mettle-Nunoo
I wish to make a few remarks and observations about a recent letter you signed on behalf of friend of Dr. Kwabena Duffour to our party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Council of Elders. The letter in question is dated December 23, 2022.
*For the avoidance of doubt, I am an ardent and unrepentant supporter of His Excellency John Mahama and firm believer that he, more than anyone else, is our party’s surest bet for 2024 presidential elections, as well as, the person who has what it takes to lead our country’s “second liberation” struggle.*
Just as I support His Excellency John Mahama, I will respect the choices made by others including you. What is unacceptable is the attempt to play victim in your letter when there is no reason to do that. In your letter, you claim that the organizers of the party’s recent congress gave His Excellency John Mahama undue advantage to market himself over others.
I find your claims to be fallacious at best. The party’s recent congress did not depart from the protocols of previous congresses. As far as I know, since the early 2000s former presidents have always attended and addressed the party’s congress. In my opinion, the organizers and His Excellency John Mahama followed the tradition and that should be applauded rather than condemned.
Sir, your claim is even more problematic given that the party has not given any indications of when presidential primaries will be held let alone open nominations for candidates to file and campaign. Is it your intention to deny Excellency John Mahama his rightful place as former president in the affairs of the NDC just because a member of the party has interest in contesting the presidential primaries?
Sir with all due respect, your decision to sign a letter suggesting that you are supporting anybody else besides John Mahama did not only raise serious questions but also lacks emotional intelligence. When did you decide not to support John Mahama again given that you were one of his representatives (myself included) in the Electoral Commission Strongroom? Were you representing His Excellency John Mahama to fail in the 2020 elections so you can opt for another candidate for 2024? Don’t you think you have a moral obligation to stand with John Mahama given your own testimony that the NPP and Nana Addo conspired with the Electoral Commission to steal John Mahama’s victory? I hope these questions will provide you some opportunity to reflect on the implications of your decision.
I sincerely hope that you will understand why I share my observations about your letter to the Council of Elders in public. Ideally, I would have called to express my concerns privately but since you led the way by sharing your letter to the party’s Council of Elders in public. I cannot but follow your lead.
Sir, note that while we are all free to make choices, in the end, *integrity matters*, so we must all be guided accordingly.
Some officers of the Ghana Police Service have been deployed with their K9 dogs to ensure the security strategy for the festive season and beyond.
In a statement, the Police said this initiative is to ensure safety for all across the country.
“The K9 Unit of the Ghana Police Service has deployed its officers with their K9 dogs to ensure the security and safety of commuters on our roads, as part of our grand security strategy for this festive season and beyond, as we work toward ensuring the safety of all.”
K9, is a term used to describe canines or dogs assigned to the police unit.
K9’s are trained to assist police and other law enforcement officers to among other things, search for drugs and explosives, locate missing people, find crime scene evidence, protect people, and sometimes to attack criminals who are fleeing from or attacking police officers.
The leader of the minority caucus of Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, has said that the House failed Ghanaians in 2022.
He explained that the house failed Ghanaians because it did not check the unbridled borrowing of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government.
Haruna Iddrisu, who said this in a TV3 interview monitored by GhanaWeb, added that the huge debt accumulated by the government is the cause of the economic challenges in the country now.
“Where the country is today, you will hear everybody talking about unsustainable debt. It means we overborrowed. We borrowed excessively.
“Parliament, under Article 181 of the Constitution, exercises that mandate (to check the executive) for and on behalf of the people of Ghana. So, it simply means that Parliament has failed the people of Ghana. We didn’t hold the executive to check to say that don’t borrow any longer or borrow at this limit.
“We all know that when debt exceeds 70 percent of GDP you are debt distressed. So now Ghana is a debt-distressed high-risk country,” he said.
Haruna Iddrisu, the Member of Parliament for Tamale South, however, indicated that the minority caucus cannot be blamed for failing to hold the executive in check.
“There are those who have been very critical of the minority including me, saying that why did we pass the budget. It was because we don’t want the country to come to a standstill. A budget means a lot not just for government or the New Patriotic Party (NPP) but for citizens,” he added.
The founder and leader of the Prophetic Hill Chapel, Prophet Nigel Gaisie has indicated the readiness of him and other prophets to call the bluff of the Ghana Police Service over the communication of prophecies.
Prophet Nigel Gaisie argued in an interview on Power FM that prophets are the mouthpieces of God and that controlling them is akin to putting a check on God which is not possible.
He insisted that God has so far given him 47 prophecies to communicate to Ghanaians on 31st December watch night.
Nigel Gaisie says that the number is likely to increase as he continues to prepare for what he believes will be a mega service.
“We are not scared of the prophecies because we speak the mind of God not humans. Already God has revealed 47 things to me and there could be more. Before midnight Saturday, we could get more.
“God has revealed a lot of things to me and I’m not alone. Other prophets have also received prophecies. We are ready to speak the minds of God so Ghana police should avert their minds to the serious in the country and leave the prophets and church to do the work of God.
“If the spirit of God is in you, you say it as it is, you don’t get scared. There will be prophecies on Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, and England. We have prophecies on IGP. Prophecy number 14 is about the IGP. I’ve seen something about him so I will say it. I’m surprised he is acting that way because he is Pentecostal,” he said.
Prophet Nigel Gaisie also offered his view on how ‘fake’ prophets can be distinguished from genuine ones.
He mentioned that the accuracy of prophecies and the boldness of the prophets are some of the ways Prophets could be determined in the country.
“The best way to differentiate between fake and real prophets is whether their prophecies manifest. No prophet has a 100% record on prophecies. It can never be 100% because we pray against some of things and we also sometimes see things halfway. The sign of boldness is also another factor,” he said.
The majority leader and Minister for Parliament Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has said that the 8th Parliament of Ghana is not strong compared to previous Parliaments.
Speaking in a TV3 interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu explained that this appears so because parliament’s committees are weak.
According to him, the leadership of some of these committees in the House are inexperienced.
“I generally agree that our Parliament is not strong. I keep saying that a Parliament is accessed on account of the strength of its committees. So, any Parliament is as strong as its committees are.
“Our committees are not that strong. That is one of the reasons why our Parliament is not very strong. I keep relating to the structure of our committees including the leadership of committees. In established democracies, the Parliament will vote on who becomes the leader of a particular committee.
“In our case, for instance, today, we happen to have some first-timers appointed as vice chairmen of committees even when we don’t know their strengths. That cannot be good for Parliament,” he said.
He added that in established democracies, there is no way a newcomer in Parliament will be made a leader of a committee because the person at that point may not be able to grasp properly, the workings of the House.
The Ghana Union of Traders Association(GUTA) is seeking the advice of the Ghana Health Service(GHS) in relation to business trips to China following the intended lifting of travel restrictions to the country.
“The Ghana Health Service should evaluate the situation in China and advice Ghanaian travelers accordingly,” GUTA said in a statement issued on Thursday.
Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, China placed restrictions on travel to that country.
However, reports say China will effective 8th of January, 2023 remove all restrictions on travel to the country.
GUTA in its statement signed by the President, Dr. Joseph Obeng thus indicated that most Ghanaian businesses will want to resume their business trips to China, however, the prevalence of Covid-19 is still a worry.
“As we all know, China is a major destination of import for many Ghanaian traders, and as a result of the long wait, most Ghanaian businesses will want to resume their business trips to this productive and beautiful country.
“However, we have heard that, the Covid-19, is still prevalent in China hence our call on the Ghana Health Service to examine and evaluate the situation and advice Ghanaian travelers.”
The University of Cape Coast was also ranked 3rd best university in the country and 2,205th in the world.
The report also indicated that the University of Ghana retained its position as the best Ghanaian university under Impact ranking category while the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University for Development Studies came in 2nd and 3rd respectively.
It added that the University of Ghana (UG) was also ranked the best in the Openness ranking category followed by KNUST and the University of Cape Coast.
KNUST and the University of Cape Coast were also beaten to the first by UG in the Excellence ranking category.
Webometrics.com indicated that its ranking is to engender healthy competition among the various university in the world in terms of web presence.
“We intend to motivate both institutions and scholars to have a web presence that reflect accurately their activities.
“If the web performance of an institution is below the expected position according to their academic excellence, university authorities should reconsider their web policy, promoting substantial increases of the volume and quality of their electronic publications,” is quoted to have said.
About Webometrics.com:
Ranking Web started in 2004 (current is the 18th year of publication) to offer full coverage of Higher Education institutions whatever the country or discipline involved. Currently, we ranked 31 000 HEIs from more than 200 countries.
Editors of the Ranking Web are scientists working at one world-class public research institution with long experience in metrics-guided evaluation
The Ranking Web or Webometrics is the largest academic ranking of Higher Education Institutions offering every six months an independent, objective, free, open scientific exercise for providing reliable, multidimensional, updated and useful information about the performance of universities from all over the world.
The Ashanti Regional Women’s Organiser for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Ama Ampomah has appealed to persons hawking in front of streets around the Kejetia Redeveloped market to turn to the Race Course and take over sheds that are lying unoccupied.
The Women’s leader speaking to the media on Wednesday afternoon after presenting food items and organising a buffet for 68 market queens at the race course said she was surprised to see about 600 sheds and shops unoccupied at the arena.
She noted that spaces available could cater for all hawkers seen selling around the streets of Dr Mensah, Hello fm and other streets in the Central Business District of the Kumasi Metropolis.
“I am shocked seeing all these sheds unoccupied and I would therefore appeal to all hawkers in and around Adum and Kejetia to come here and occupy sheds here so that we can continue our trading activities in decent atmospheres”, Nana Ama Ampomah appealed.
SUPPORT The Women’s Organiser also appealed to the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and all stakeholders including the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council (ARCC) to work out a plan to encourage the hawkers to take spaces at the race course.
The Women’s Organiser also asked the NPP regional executives to take interest in the matter and carry out some sensitization efforts to get hawkers in the metropolis to occupy spaces at the Kumasi race course market.
The Women’s Organiser also promised to lobby for funds from the Micro and Small Loans Scheme (MASLOC) to resource market Queens who needs such to expand their businesses.
“I know you need funds to expand your businesses and as Women’s leader I promise to use my influence to lobby the MASLOC secretariat to advance some support to you”
APPRECIATION Nana Yaa Foriwaa, Race Course Market Queen commended the Regional Women’s Organiser for visiting them every year to show them kindness and to eat with them.
She also praised for her listening to their concerns and touring to the arena to see things for herself.
Madam Foriwaa said she was happy that assurances had been given them to attend to their issues including lobbying for them to get loans from MASLOC and also the bad bridge leading to the main arena.
“We are happy that our lady, Nana Ama Ampomah has once again taken time to eat with us and to tour the place where we trade so she could best help to carry our concerns to government and those who matter for redress and we know when this place is well set up many would rush to come here”, the Queen Mother stated.
The Ghana Police Service announced that it had interdicted two of its officers under the Asokwa Divisional MTTD in Kumasi for improper conduct.
According to the police, the two officers, Inspector Martha Ackah and Sergeant Felicia Ocran, were captured in a viral video acting unprofessionally.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, December 28, 2022, the police said that the two officers will be prosecuted upon the completion of an investigation it is conducting on the incident.
GhanaWeb has sighted the viral video of the two female officers acting unprofessionally.
The video showed the police officers taking money from a driver, who they suggested had committed a road traffic offence.
The officers threatened to arrest the driver after he initially offered them GHC5.
“Why are you giving us GHC5?” one of the policewomen said in Twi.
The other officer also said in Twi, “We will take you to the Kasoa Police Station if you don’t take care”.
After the driver gave them a GHC10, she added “We are even being considerate.”
Some soldiers on guard at the Bank of Ghana (BoG) premises in Takoradi, in the Western Region on Tuesday, December 27, 2022, allegedly brutalized some innocent members of a masquerade group who were parading through the streets of the metropolis.
Narrating the incident to Empire News’ Kwame Malcolm, the victim, Roberta Monkah said she has been left with wounds under her right eye following the assault.
“We were in a procession and someone lighted firecrackers and rushed back to my fiancé and I. Out of nowhere three soldiers from the Bank of Ghana approached us and started assaulting my fiancé. So it was there I told them that he is not the one who lit it. But out of nowhere a soldier from behind kicked me and I fell and he hit my lower eye with the butt of his gun leaving blood gushing out,” she narrated.
She was thus taken to the Ghana Ports and Harbours Hospital in Takoradi for medical attention.
She however added that upon lodging a complaint at the Takoradi Central Police station, she was asked to bring a doctor’s report which she’s yet to obtain at a cost of GHc500.
The Christmas period in the Sekondi Takoradi metropolis is marked by various masquerade groups parading and dancing to brass band music on the streets of the metropolis.
Takoradi has earned the accolade as the preferred Christmas destination.
The Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Dr. Clement Apaak, has taken a swipe at President Akufo-Addo over the current state of economic hardship.
According to him, Ghanaians are struggling to survive in this economic crisis due to what he termed the government’s blatant corruption and mismanagement of the economy.
He claimed that President Akufo-Addo’s monumental corruption, combined with the massive size of the government, which he has refused to reduce, is negatively impacting the economy.
“We are where we are largely because of gross mismanagement, blatant corruption, and indeed, a disregard for laid-down laws and procedures. I mean the banking sector; how do you spend about 26 billion to solve a 12 billion Ghana cedi problem? Who does that? I mean, couldn’t there have been alternative ways of dealing with this issue? Did anyone put a gun to their heads?
“Then we will talk about power outages (Dumsor). We (NDC) resolved the dumsor before we left. Your own sitting vice president said that John Mahama could not take credit for having solved a problem that he caused, and this is on paper,” Mr. Apaak stated on Metro TV.
He continued: “So when we say that this government has been the most reckless, has unleashed the most painful and severe hardships, and yet is not even taking responsibility in terms of managing the government itself, the size of government, government activities, and unjustified expenditure.”
The MP also questioned why the Finance Minister would propose 1.4 billion for an emergency vault in light of the current economic situation.
“Why? Such an amorphous name. Shouldn’t we know every dollar, every cedi, and where it is going to go at this time? Why are you allocating 1.4 billion? To do what? Why are you still allocating money to a cathedral that has no immediate benefit to us,” he said.
“If you look at areas we are calling for action, we are calling for the size of government to be reduced. There’s no need to keep an Executive Director in charge of the Keta Port with a staff of 33 people who are being paid and even being offered bonuses for no work that we are seeing.”
Deputy ranking member of the Education Committee of Parliament, Dr. Clement Apaak, has slammed the New Patriotic Party government for the reintroduction of the quota system for colleges of education.
The Builsa South legislator believes the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration owes Ghanaians an apology for breaking a promise made to the people of Ghana.
“The current NPP government promised to, and restored a diluted form of teacher trainee allowance. And they assured Ghanaians that they would not reintroduce the quota system that restricted more teachers from being trained. They have since made a U-turn.
“From the foregoing, it smacks of dishonesty when the same government that made a promise to win an election has turned back on its words and is now doing what was not even close to what it condemned to win the 2016 election.”
“I strongly insist that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government has an obligation to tell Ghanaians the justification for the reintroduction of a quota system they promised not to introduce, and admitted will close the door to many prospective teachers.”
Below is the full statement from the Dr. Clement Apaak
Return of quota system for Colleges of Education and Matters Arising (1)
The Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government owes Ghanaians an apology, and an explanation for abandoning mid-stream a promise made to the people of Ghana. The current NPP government promised to and restored a diluted form of teacher trainee allowance. And they assured Ghanaians, that they will not reintroduce the quota system that restricted more teachers from being trained. They have since made a U-turn.
As evident in the leaked GTEC letter to the Principals of Colleges of Education, the cardinal reason for the introduction of the admission quota system for Public Colleges of Education for the 2022/2023 academic year, is due to government’s inability to fund the feeding grant and allowances for as many who qualify and want to train as teachers.
The GTEC letter – with the list of allocations per College – dated December 16, 2022, states categorically, that allocations to various Colleges cannot be varied and must be adhered to. The letter added, that “for the avoidance of doubt, payment of feeding grants and trainee allowances will be guided by these numbers.”
On the face of the allocations list attached to the GTEC letter to the Principals of the Colleges of Education, the highest number allocated to a College is 320 students, while the lowest number is 160 students. Based on the list of allocations given, the impact of this sudden policy change is reflected in the fact, that only a paltry 12,002 prospective teacher trainees will be admitted into the 46 Colleges of Education for the 2022/2023 academic year. This means 260 students per College on average, a clear waste of space, and an obvious hindrance to training more and much needed teachers.
So no doubt, that the quota system announced for admission will prevent many prospective applicants from getting admission into Colleges of Education. And this is bound to have negative consequences. With thousands of qualified applicants chasing few spaces, partisan-influenced protocol admissions and the ‘whom-you-know’ syndrome will deny many qualified and worthy applicants who truly desire to become teachers a fair opportunity to gain admission.
Below are two reasons, culled, courtesy citinewsroom.com, which I believe, justify my call on government to apologise to Ghanaians for the U-turn as far as the promise to pay trainee allowances and still allow as many who qualify to train as teachers to do so. Evidently the reintroduction of the quota system has badly exposed the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government as captured in the words of the then Minister of State in Charge of Tertiary Education:
1) “Professor Kwesi Yankah, then Minister of State in Charge of Tertiary Education in 2017, said Colleges of Education could admit as many qualified applicants as their available facilities can allow but without compromising quality and standards.”
2) “He insisted that the Ministry of Education under the Akufo-Addo government will not introduce a quota system for admission which could prevent many prospective applicants from getting admission into teacher training colleges.
From the foregoing, it smacks of dishonesty when the same government that made a promise to win an election has turned back on its words and is now doing what was not even close to what it condemned to win election 2016.
I strongly insist that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government has an obligation to tell Ghanaians the justification for the reintroduction of a quota system they promised not to introduce, and admitted will close the door to many prospective teachers.
Truth Stands! Dr. Clement Apaak
M.P, Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member On Education Committee of Parliament
A middle-aged farmer at Juaso, in the Ashanti region, is asking a High Court in Kumasi to order the Chief of Juaso and the Ghana Cocoa Board (GCB) to compensate him with Gh¢750000 for destroying his 25-acre cocoa plantation.
The farmer, Mustapha Musah, claims the chief, Nana Asafo Atta Tabi, and the Seed and Production Unit of the GCB of the Juaso division illegally invaded his plantation and destroyed it. He says some other crops including plantain, which were inter-planted, were also destroyed.
In his statement of claims, the plaintiff asserted that each acre of the 25 acres often yielded 7 bags of cocoa. He added that he would have enjoyed such return for the next 50 years if the plantation had not been destroyed.
The case, titled Mustapha versus the Juaso Stool, Nana Asafo Atta Tabi, and the Seed and Production Unit of Ghana Cocoa Board, has Juaso Stool, Nana Asafo Atta Tabi and the Seed and Production Unit of Ghana Cocoa Board as 1st defendant, 2nd defendant and 3rd defendant respectively.
The plaintiff said he was realizing an average annual income of Gh¢87,000 from his farm before the defendants destroyed it.
The plaintiff claimed he entered into an agreement on the 12th of May 2006 with the chief of the area at the time, Nana Akwasi Prempeh, to cultivate the land. The said agreement was deduced into an indenture at a Circuit Court in Juaso. The plaintiff also stated that he was always driven away and insulted whenever he sought to know why the defendants invaded his farm.
So far, the plaintiff has been crossed-examined by the defendants’ lawyers. The defendants and witnesses are scheduled to have their turns for cross-examination early in 2023.
Below is a copy of the plaintiff’s statement of claims:
The Plaintiff’s Claims against the Defendants herein as follows:
A declaration by the Court that the Plaintiff has a legal and equitable interest in all that piece of land(s) lying and situated at a place commonly known and called Pentimpa on Juaso Stool lands, across River Kome, and shares boundaries with Op. Kwasi Krah, Op. Babanatu, Op. Kwabena
Maame Mary Fosua near Morso in the Ashanti Region, measuring approximately 42 acres for forest land and 50 acres for grassland and that the 1st and 2nd Defendants cannot unilaterally grant the disputed land(s) to the 3rd Defendant without the Plaintiff’s consent.
ii.A declaration that the 3rd Defendant’s entry unto the land in dispute is/was unlawful and same amount to trespass and an order of recovery of possession of same.
iii. An order for interlocutory/perpetual injunction against the defendants herein, their agents, servants, assigns, workmen, or person(s) claiming through them from any or further cultivation(s) on the land in dispute.
Special damages for the loss of income in the next 50 years for an amount of Ghe750,000.00
General Damages.
Costs, including Legal fee.
Any further order(s) or other relief(s) that the court may seen fit to make.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has told the newly-sworn justices of the Supreme Court, Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu; and Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu to bear in mind that the growth of the nation demands a Judiciary that commands the respect of the people by the quality of its delivery of justice, as well as by the comportment of its judges.
Mr Akufo-Addo told them that application of the laws of the land must occur without fear or favour, affection or ill-will, and, therefore, without recourse to the political, religious or ethnic affiliations of any citizen of the land.
The President said these on Wednesday, December 28 when he swore in the two new justices of the apex court at a ceremony at the Jubilee House.
Mr Akufo-Addo also used the occasion to swear into office the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Lariba Abudu and her Deputy, Francisca Oteng-Mensah.
Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State and President of Asogli Traditional Area was given the name James Akpo at birth. He was born on 23 April 1957. He is a twin whose twin brother Philip died at an early age.
The great chief was born to Corporal Patrick Akpo and Madam Rose Anyawoe in who in the Volta region.
Togbe Afede XIV is a product of Labone Secondary School in Accra where he excelled in the GCE “A” Level examination in 1976.
He however began his education at Ho Bankoe Roman Catholic Boys School in 1961 and then entered Kpedze Secondary School in 1969, successfully completing his GCE “O” Level in 1974.
Togbe Afede XIV is an alumnus of University of Ghana where he obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration qualification in Accounting in 1979. He also holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management in 1989.
Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II
Born Nana Barima Kwaku Duah on 6th May 1950, he rose to become the 16th Asantehene, when he was enstooled on 26 April 1999 and took the kingly title Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
He is the third son and youngest of the five children (three sons and two daughters) of Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, Asantehemaa (Queen-mother of the Ashanti) and his father Nana Kwame Boakye-Dankwa, who was from Kantinkyere in Ashanti and was also the Brehyia Duke of Asante. Nana Kwame Boakye-Dankwa died on 1st January 2002, in Kumasi, Ashanti.
Otumfuo is a product of the Sefwi Wiaso Secondary School where he obtained his ‘O’ Level and was taught by the late Omanhene of Sefwi Wiawso, Nana Kwadwo Aduhene II who was a cousin of Otumfuo’s guardian uncle, Oheneba Mensah Bonsu, Hiahene.
He also attended the Osei Kyeretwie Secondary School (OKESS). He studied accountancy studies at the erstwhile Institute of Professional Studies, which is today known as University of Professional Studies in Accra.
He then enrolled at the Polytechnic of North London (now London Metropolitan University), where he earned the Diploma in Management and Administration. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university at a ceremony at the Barbican Centre on 11 January 2006.
Okyenhene Amoatia Ofori Panin
The current Okyenhene Amoatia Ofori Panin had his secondary education at the Abuakwa State College in the Eastern Region. He was born on the 10th October, 1952 as Odehyie Kwame Boakye Ofori Atta to Nana Yaw Boakye and Odehye Abena Akoto into the Asona clan in ER.
He ascended the throne on October 4th, 1999, after the passing of his predecessor.
Okyenhene Amoatia Ofori Panin also attended the Oxford University in UK, where he studied Political science and administration.
He is the 35th King to have ascended the throne referred to as the Ofori Panin Stool.
To become the president of Ghana is the zenith of politics in this country, but getting there is not much of a walk in the park.
Even for those who have ever won the presidency before, the ability to stay for the two constitutionally-permitted terms (a total of 8 years) gives them an even better upper hand over their peers.
That has been the case for the sitting president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and only two of his predecessors: Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor.
All the other remaining presidents in the Fourth Republic of Ghana have only completed one term of four years, except for John Dramani Mahama, who is seeking another mandate to complete a four-year term, and to boast of a few other months in addition to his reign – this was after he took over the presidency upon the death of John Evans Atta Mills.
But Ghana could have had even more presidents.
The only problem with the possibility is that all of those candidates were never able to convince the Ghanaian electorates enough to give them their votes.
GhanaWeb takes a look back at the personalities who fall within this bracket, as well as the political parties they represented during their attempts to become president of Ghana.
The following list is in no particular order.
Dr. Edward Mahama:
Dr. Edward Mahama was at the People’s National Convention (PNC) in 2016.
George Aggudey:
George Aggudey was the 2004 presidential candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP).
Thomas Ward-Brew
Thomas Ward-Brew was the presidential candidate of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) in the 2008 elections.
Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom:
Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom is a three-time failed presidential candidate who stood on the tickets of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and his own party, the Progressive People’s Party (CPP).
Hassan Ayariga:
Hassan Ayariga was a one-time presidential candidate of the People’s National Convention in 2012, and then again on the ticket of his party, the All People’s Congress (APC) in 2020.
He is an accountant, entrepreneur and a politician.
Michael Abu Sakara Foster:
Michael Abu Sakara Foster was the presidential candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) in the 2012 general polls.
He is an agronomist and politician.
Akwasi Addai Odike:
Akwasi Addai Odike is a Ghanaian businessman and politician.
He was the presidential candidate of the United Front Party (UFP) in the 2012 general elections.
Jacob Osei Yeboah:
Known famously as JOY, Jacob Osei Yeboah contested as an independent candidate in the 2012 and 2016 elections.
He is also the first independent candidate to stand for president in the fourth republic.
Henry Herbert Lartey:
Henry Herbert Lartey was the candidate of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) in the 2012 general elections.
He replaced his father, Daniel Augustus Lartey, as the leader of party.
Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings:
Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings was the First Lady of Ghana from June 4, 1979, to September 1979, and from December 31, 1981, to January 7, 2001.
Both times were under the presidency of Jerry John Rawlings, her husband.
In 2016, she became the first woman to run as president in Ghana, on the back of her break away political party, the National Democratic Party (NDP).
Ivor Greenstreet:
Born on May 31, 1966, Ivor Kobina Greenstreet was the presidential candidate for the Convention People’s Party (CPP) in the 2020 general elections.
He is the first physically-challenged person to run for president of Ghana.
Asiedu Walker:
Asiedu Walker was an independent presidential candidate in the 2020 elections.
Christian Kwabena Andrews:
Popularly known as Osofo Kyiri Abosom, Christian Kwabena Andrews stood on the ticket of his party, the Ghana Union Movement, as presidential candidate in 2020.
Brigitte Dzogbenuku:
Brigitte Dzogbenuku was one of the few female faces that appeared on ballot sheets for a presidential poll in Ghana. She was a former beauty queen, who won Miss Ghana 1990.
During the 2020 general elections, she was the presidential candidate for the Progressive People’s Party (PPP).
Akua Donkor:
Akua Donkor is the founder and leader of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP).
She appeared on the presidential ballot sheet in 2020.
Marricke Kofi Gane:
Also known as Kofi Ghana, Marricke Kofi Gane was an independent candidate in the 2020 general elections.
He is a management consultant, Chartered Accountant, a public speaker, and a book author.
Kwasi Busumbru:
People’s Action Party
Kofi Akpaloo:
Kofi Akpaloo is a Ghanaian politician and the leader of the Liberal Party of Ghana.
He was the party’s presidential candidate for the 2020 general elections.
David Apasera:
Daavid Apasera was the presidential candidate of the People’s National Convention (PNC) in the 2020 general elections of Ghana.
He was once a Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga in the Upper East region between 2001 and 2009.
The Ghana Aids commission continues to express worry over the low usage of condoms by the general population, especially during festive periods.
The Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr. Kyeremeh Atuahene tells GHOne news Nadima Umar Uthman that the perception that casual sex without a condom is better, continuous to lead a lot people especially the youth astray.
In the first half of 2022 alone, 23,495 people tested positive for HIV.
However, over one hundred thousand persons are living with HIV without having been tested or on any form of treatment.
The festive season is often a time for people to make merry and break away from ironclad routines.
But as people celebrate, sex cannot be removed from the equation.
The Ghana AIDS commission says more people are having casual sex than ever before.
Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr. Kyeremeh Atuahene says eighty percent of all HIV infections are through risky sexual behaviors like casual sexual encounters such as hookups, booty calls, and one-night stands.
“Casual heterosexual sex contributes to over 70 percent of all new HIV infections, but people still continue to engage in casual sex without condoms. Sex is fun but whiles having fun, remain cautious.’’
Kwaku Ankomah is the pharmacist in charge of the lesson pharmacy. He says there has been a reduction in condom sales compared to last year.
‘’Sales are quite low compared to December last year. Every month we sell about fifty packs of condoms but this month, it is less than ten. I think we need to up the advocacy.’’
Previously, the commission would embark on mass condom distributions, testing and advocacy during festive seasons like Christmas in all regions across the country. However, none of these activities have taken place this year as the commission says it lacks resources.
Funding from donor partners has significantly reduced over the period, a situation which continues to affect advocacy campaigns the commission intends to embark on.
“We are calling on all Ghanaians to come to the aid of the AIDS commission financially as this should be a collaborative effort between all stakeholders.”
As the New Year approaches, Ghanaians are advised to remain cautious and adopt healthy sexual lifestyles if the country is to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.
A former secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Tain constituency, Adama Coulibaly, has described Ghanaians as ungrateful.
He said Ghanaians are ungrateful because they have failed to commend the government following the appreciation of the cedi against the dollar, and reduction of fuel prices, among other things.
He claimed that Ghanaians slammed President Akufo-Addo when the cedi fell against the dollar and food prices skyrocketed.
They have, however, refused to commend the President after things have stabilized. Ghanaians must come out in support of the President. Those who attacked him on social media should go back and commend him for what he is doing,” he added.
He believed that while Ghanaians had various opinions about the government when things were bad, they should also praise it when efforts were made to alleviate the problems.
According to him, he was taken aback by Ghanaians’ silence now that things are improving in the country, but when things were worse, people were insulting the government.
Member of Parliament for Atwima Kwanwoma, Kofi Amankwa-Manu has said that contrary to perceptions that the current Parliament is good for Ghana, the hung Parliament is actually not ideal for the country.
According to him, the current system in Parliament prevents the realization of the full benefits of a hung Parliament.
He noted that the whip system which is to ensure that members of Parliament are almost always on the side of their party does not allow for the benefit of Hung Parliament.
Speaking in an Oyerepa FM interview, the MP said that the whip system prevents the MPs from executing their jobs independently and effectively.
He said that hung parliament will be beneficial for Ghana if the whip system is removed and MPs are at liberty to support the opposing side.
“I agree with the school of thought that Hung Parliament is not good for Ghana. It is certainly not the best. The country has not gotten to the point where a hung parliament is good for the country.
“There are certain things in Parliament I disagree. I disagree with the whip system. Whipping me in line basically means that I’m blockheaded and have no mind of my own. I disagree because this system does not make you grow. It prevents you from being independent.
“We must get to a situation where you must be able to disagree with your government. When the country gets to that level and we have a hung parliament, I’d go for it but currently if certain individuals disagree with government, they can’t come out to say it because they are being whipped,” he said.
Ghana’s eighth Parliament currently has 137 MPs on either side with an independent candidate who has chosen to do business with NPP caucus making them the majority group in Parliament.
Whereas the government has had its way with the passage of E-levy, VAT Amendment Bill and others, the Minority caucus has also chalked some successes including the shooting down of the budgetary allocation for the National Cathedral.
A 32-year-old National Security Operative and two others have been put before an Accra Circuit Court for possessing a pump action gun without lawful authority.
The gun was allegedly concealed in a car during a snap check conducted by the Police on December 25, this year at Osu in Accra.
The accused persons are Dawood Akwasi Agyemang, the National Security Operative and a Chief, Chris Mawunyo Oteiku, a 28-year-old trader, and Joshua Kwame Gbeti, a 27-year-old entrepreneur.
Charged with possessing firearms without lawful authority, the accused persons have pleaded not guilty.
The court presided over by Mrs Evelyn Asamoah has admitted them to bail in the sum of GHC250,000 with three sureties.
The sureties are to be public servants earning not less than GHC3,000 a month. The court further ordered the accused persons to be reporting to the Police every first Wednesday in a month until directed otherwise.
The matter has been adjourned to January 12, 2023.
Earlier, counsels for the accused persons took turns to argue for bail saying they were not flight risk, had fixed places of abode and had people of substance ready to stand as sureties for them.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Maxwell Oppong opposed to the grant of bail saying documents covering the weapon were not genuine and that the weapon had been fired severally.
ASP Oppong told the Court that the Police would like to take fingerprints of the accused persons to ascertain if they marched with what the Police had in their system.
The prosecution further held that there were other weapons that were found in the car of the accused persons.
It said during a search, the police found clubs, nails among others in the car. The prosecution recounted how people had been using flashlights on their vehicles illegally to outwit the Police, adding “it takes experienced police officers to fish such people out.”
Narrating the facts of the case, the prosecution said on December 25, this year, at about 0140 hours, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and some members of the Police Management Board visited the Oxford Street at Osu to interact with the public.
The prosecution said during the interaction, some Police officers spotted the accused Chris Otieku, who was driving a blue-black Toyota Tundra with registration number WY 1088-20, driving with security flashlights.
The prosecution told the court that “this attracted the attention of the officers and the vehicle was quickly intercepted”.
During a search in the car, it said, a pump action gun with serial number PS 33743 was found concealed in the vehicle.
The prosecution said Otieku and Joshua Kwame Gbeti who were in the vehicle were arrested and sent to the Cantonment Police Station.
During investigations, the prosecution said Dawood Akwasi Agyemang, a National Security Operative showed up and produced documents of the pump action gun, but they were detected to be invalid.
The prosecution said Agyemang who also claimed ownership of the gun was arrested.
Government has assured road contractors across the country that it will continue to work in their interest to ensure prompt payments of the debts owed them.
According to Government, it will pay “a chunk” of the debts before the end of 2022.
Speaking at the festival of lessons and carols held by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Sector Minister, Kwasi Amoako-Atta said:
“Contractors of this country are doing a yeoman’s job despite all the difficulties, and I want to assure them that government will continue to work in their interest and all their outstanding payments from now onwards will be done from time to time”.
He noted that: “A chunk of outstanding (payments) are going to be effected before the end of the year and it will continue.”
The Minister further appealed to persons living in areas that are yet to benefit from government’s road development to be patient.
“The people deserve to have good roads.”
“I appeal to all those who haven’t had their turn to be patient and calm,” the Minister said.
The Chief Operations Officer at Dalex Finance, Mr. Joe Jackson, has reiterated calls to the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to cut down the size of his government instead of a planned reshuffle.
Mr. Jackson made the call through his Twitter handle.
“Dear HE Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, we need a reduction, not a reshuffle! Please cut the size of government significantly.#BrokeGhana#HardDecisions #FiscalDiscipline,” he tweeted.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, according to the Chief Operations Officer at Dalex Finance, must immediately reduce the number of appointees serving in his government.
In the view of Mr. Jackson, the country can no longer afford to pay for the number of appointees; hence, the government must be downsized.
The Chief Operations Officer at Dalex Finance’s call is in reaction to reports in a section of the media that President Akufo-Addo will be reshuffling his ministers.
In the next 72 hours, the year 2022 would officially be over and the dawn of 2023 will be heralded in but that has not completely ruled out everything that can be done in this year.
Having been a generally difficult year for many people, many may wonder what they can do with very little money, especially too as the year grinds to an end soon.
And besides, let us not forget that the first month of every new year comes with its own mysteries – one that many believe is the longest month of the year due to several superstitious reasons.
The fact that in January, most people would have lavished all their monies on the Christmas holidays and only come to the realisation that there is a whole month ahead of them where they might have to live on almost nothing, makes the matter an even more difficult one.
If proper financial planning is not put in place, it compounds the situation even more for people.
GhanaWeb has however devised a strategy around how you can have little and still be able to manage it within a very short period.
So, have you wondered what you can do adequately do with an amount of GH¢100 in 3 days? This question must be placed in perspective as the present is when standards of living are very high.
With GH¢100, instead of stepping out these holidays to eat, you can visit the market and consider a stay-at-home plan that will see you making your own food to eat.
It doesn’t have to be an elaborate meal, much as the temptations of the period could demand it. Sometimes, little is more and there would not be the need to prove any kind of point to anyone with a ‘show off.’
In more specific terms, you can, for instance, prepare stew (which should not exceed GH¢50, provided you have to buy oil).
But corn dough for GH¢10 that you can use to prepare banku. That leaves you with GH¢40, from which you can buy bread at GH¢15, leaving you with a balance of GH¢25.
For the next three days, if you prepare to have any beverage for breakfast, you can get some GH¢9 for either Hausa koko or any of tea replacement.
With GH¢16 left on you, you can now decide to commit it into purchasing mobile data on your phone just so you are in touch with the social world. It can also be a perfect backup for you in case you really, badly have to contact an emergency contact for some urgent financial support.
And just in case you are not a banku person, you can either cook a cup of plain rice, buy some kenkey, or get yourself some gari from the shop nearby and prepare your own eba at home.
At the end of it all, the aim is to stay alive and what you put into your stomach may not mean much to most people as long as you are satisfied so, live within your means.
Don’t forget that January comes and there can be no certain projection on how well or not it will get for anyone until the next salaries come through, but you can play smart and stay alive.
The Ghana AIDS Commission has said it has spent $323.7 million on HIV/AIDS-related activities in the last three years.
According to the Commission, the total HIV/AIDS-related expenditure for 2019, 2020, and 2021 will be $88,648,568, $107,280,242, and $127,828,300, respectively.
Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Kyeremeh Atuahene, who disclosed this, also revealed that the spending for the years mentioned came from the government, the private sector, and international donors.
Dr. Atuahene stated this during the launch and distribution of the National AIDS Spending Assessment (NASA) report for 2019-2021.
NASA is a comprehensive and systemic resource tracking method for HIV/AIDS programmes that describes the financial flow, actual disbursements, and expenditures.
The report is hinged on three dimensions, including financing, provision, and consumption, and the overall estimates of the expenditures of the public, private sectors, and international donors on the national HIV and AIDS response.
Some principal streets in Accra have been taken over by filth shortly after the three-day Christmas holidays, the Ghana News Agency observed during a tour of some streets of the capital on Tuesday.
However, the sanitation situation was better on some streets around the Ministries, Independence Square, areas near the Accra Psychiatric Hospital and Holy spirit Cathedral, and Osu Oxford Street.
Though measures have been put in place to ensure proper sanitation in the city during the festive season in line with the Government’s vision of making Accra the cleanest city in Africa, filth continues to remain a challenge in the capital.
Madam Akosua Oteng, a street vendor around the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, attributed the garbage heaps on the streets to pedestrians, who litter indiscriminately and evening traders who dump their garbage during the night.
“Those who dump here are often passers-by and some traders. When you confront them, they tell you that Zoomlion will come and sweep,” she said.
She further stated how the various Assemblies had refused to do their jobs hence causing the practice to be perpetuated with impunity. She said this was a bad attitude that needed to change.
Adwoa Amankwa Boadi, a food vendor at the Kaneshie market, attributed the delay in emptying rubbish bins at the market as one of the causes for poor sanitation and the habit of littering, which she said had increased during the festive season.
Madam Boadi was more concerned with the choked underground drains that had not been desilted for a long time, which she said could end causing flooding and disease outbreak with the slightest rain.
“The pile of rubbish since we hit December has increased because a lot of people have flocked to town to trade and shop. Though rubbish bins have been provided, they are usually not emptied on time so there is always a spillage which end up in the underground drain which is already choked. What I am afraid now is flooding when it rains and a cholera outbreak”, She said.
Evans Boakye, a coconut seller at the Tema Station, was not surprised at the level of filth that had engulfed the surroundings, as according to him, this had always been the trend and increases during the yuletide.
For him, the solution to the problem is for traders, passengers, and drivers to cease the habit of littering and for the Assemblies to enforce the byelaws on sanitation.
Festus, a driver nearby, agreed with him that an attitude change was a prerequisite for cleanliness but, more stringent actions such as the arrest and prosecution of sanitation offenders needed to be applied.
Poor sanitation, according to a 2012 desk study carried out by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) and published by the World Bank costs Ghana more than US$290 million each year, an equivalent of US$12 per person in Ghana per year or 1.6 per cent of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In 2017, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo pledged to make Accra the neatest and best city in Africa by the end of his first term of office.
However, for more than two years into his second administration, the issue of Sanitation continues to remain a challenge in the country, particularly in Cosmopolitan areas such as Accra, Kumasi among other urban areas with huge populations.
At least 14 people have been killed and 24 others injured after a vehicle ploughed into crowds watching bikers at a popular carnival in Nigeria’s southern port city of Calabar.
Eyewitnesses said that a speeding driver lost control of the car.
Pictures shared online in the immediate aftermath of the incident show bodies strewn across the street.
The month-long annual carnival, which features several events, has become a big draw since it was launched in 2004.
Dubbed Africa’s biggest street party, it attracts local and foreign tourists throughout December.
Tuesday’s incident took place during the popular bikers’ parade on one of the major carnival routes which had been closed to vehicle traffic.
The event features riders, including celebrities, from across the country, some adorned in colourful costumes, performing stunts.
The police said a drunk driver – who has been arrested – had lost control of the car and ploughed into the crowd.
Cross River State Governor Prof Ben Ayade cancelled the rest of the bikers’ parade and called for an immediate investigation.
Other events planned for the rest of the carnival – which is set to end on New Year’s Eve with a fireworks display – have not been cancelled.
Hong Kong is dropping almost all its Covid restrictions this week, following a similar move by mainland China.
From Thursday, people arriving in the city – a special administrative region of China – will no longer have to do mandatory PCR tests.
The vaccine pass system will also be scrapped – but compulsory masks in public places will continue.
It is a dramatic move by the city, which once had some of the toughest restrictions in the world.
Also being scrapped from Thursday is the rule that limits the number of people allowed to gather outside to 12.
This was increased from four people in October as part of measures to begin reopening the city.
Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee, cited high vaccine rates as one of the reasons for lifting restrictions.
According to government figures, 93% of the population have had two vaccine does, while more than 83% have received three.
Unlike mainland China, which has developed its own vaccines, Hong Kong has also used mRNA vaccines – including the BioNTech jab made in Germany – that have been shown to be more effective.
“Hong Kong has a sufficient amount of medicine to fight Covid, and healthcare workers have gained rich experience in facing the pandemic,” Mr Lee said on Wednesday.
“The society has established a relatively extensive and overall anti-epidemic barrier.”
Mr Lee added that instead of the vaccine pass, which has limited access to public places for unvaccinated since it was introduced in February, the city would take “more targeted measures” – including promoting vaccination for the elderly and children.
More than 11,000 people have died with Covid in Hong Kong, according to official numbers, from more than 2.5m cases.
Since the pandemic began, the city has largely followed mainland China’s lead in efforts to tackle the virus, including attempts to eliminate it with a “zero-Covid” strategy.
This has been criticised by some residents and business owners – who said the policy damaged Hong Kong’s economy and international standing.
The scrapping of the Hong Kong’s Covid restrictions comes weeks after mainland China made a similar move following landmark protests against the strict controls.
On Monday and Tuesday, Beijing announced further plans to ease travel restrictions. Hong Kong has said that it will fully reopen its borders with the rest of China before mid-January.
The mainland is currently experiencing a surge in cases, with reports suggesting hospitals are overwhelmed and elderly people are dying.
Hong Kong is part of China and is governed by the “one country, two systems” principle, but Beijing has tightened control in recent years.
The US is considering imposing new Covid restrictions on Chinese arrivals, after Beijing announced it would reopen its borders next month.
American officials say this is due to a lack of transparency surrounding the virus in China, as cases surge.
Japan, Malaysia and Taiwan – worried at importing Covid cases – have already outlined tighter measures for Chinese travellers, including negative tests.
Beijing has said Covid rules should be brought in on a “scientific” basis.
India is also stepping up measures for Chinese arrivals, but this was announced before Beijing said it would relax its strict border policy.
Passport applications for Chinese citizens wishing to travel internationally will resume from 8 January, the country’s immigration authorities have said.
Travel sites have reported a spike in traffic, leaving some countries fearful over the potential spread of Covid.
“There are mounting concerns in the international community on the ongoing Covid-19 surges in China and the lack of transparent data, including viral genomic sequence data,” US officials said in a statement quoted by news agencies.
Wang Wenbin, China’s foreign minister spokesperson, subsequently accused Western countries and media of “hyping up” and “distorting China’s Covid policy adjustments”.
He said China believed all countries’ Covid responses should be “science-based and proportionate”, and should “not affect normal people-to-people exchange”.
Mr Wang called for “joint efforts to ensure safe cross-border travel, maintain stability of global industrial supply chains and promote economic recovery and growth”.
The true toll of daily cases and deaths in China is unknown because officials have stopped releasing this data. Reports say hospitals are overwhelmed and elderly people are dying.
Last week, Beijing reported about 4,000 new Covid infections each day and few deaths.
Before the relaxation of travel rules, people were strongly discouraged from travelling abroad. The sale of outbound group and package travel was banned, according to marketing solutions company Dragon Trail International.
Within half an hour of Monday’s notice that China’s borders would reopen, data from travel site Trip.com – cited in Chinese media – showed searches for popular destinations had increased ten-fold on last year.
Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and South Korea were the most popular destinations.
Separately on Wednesday, Hong Kong’s leader John Lee announced that his city was scrapping the last of its Covid rules almost immediately – apart from the wearing of face masks, which will remain compulsory.
“The city has reached a relatively high vaccination rate which builds an anti-epidemic barrier,” Mr Lee told a media briefing.
The US still requires international travellers to show proof of being fully vaccinated against Covid on entering the country.
The website for the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends that anyone travelling to the US gets a Covid test beforehand and has their result to hand – but this is not a legal obligation.
In their statement, the unnamed US officials added they were “following the science and advice of public health experts” and “consulting with partners”.
China’s loosening of travel measures – the last part of the country’s controversial zero-Covid policy – follows weeks of unrest which saw people take to the streets in rare protests against President Xi Jinping and his government.
A British woman has been stabbed to death during a break-in at her home in Australia.
Emma Lovell, 41, originally from the Ipswich area, died after confronting intruders at her home in North Lakes, Brisbane, on Boxing Day night, police said.
Her husband Lee Lovell, 43, who was also stabbed, described his wife as the “glue to our family”.
Two boys, aged 17, have been charged with murder.
Mr Lovell, whose injuries were non-life threatening, told reporters his family was “devastated”.
Image caption, The fatal stabbing took place at the Lovell’s home near Brisbane
“Emma was the glue to our family,” he said
“She was such a beautiful person. We’re all just devastated from her loss.
“It’s senseless. I don’t know what people do it for.”
The Lovells have two daughters.
Mr Lovell, who is also from the Ipswich area, shared photographs on social media of them all together at a nearby Sunshine Coast beach on Christmas Day.
Image caption, People have left floral tributes outside the Lovell’s Brisbane home
In a statement, the Queensland Police Service (QPS) said an altercation took place inside an address in Whitfield Crescent at 23:30 UTC and “moved outside to the front yard”.
“Two offenders fled on foot prior to police arrival,” it said, and “investigators, with the assistance of the dog squad, located four teenagers at a nearby location just before 04:00” on 27 December.
Two 17-year-old boys, one from Holland Park and the other Zillmere, the QPS said, were charged with one count each of murder, attempted murder and entering a dwelling with intent in company.
Both have been denied police bail and were due to appear in the Brisbane Children’s Court.
A 17-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy continue to assist police with inquiries, the force said.
Thirteen-year-old Nika Selivanova made a heart shape with both her hands, waving goodbye to her best friend Inna who was pressed up against the glass partition that divided the entrance hall of Kherson’s train station from the waiting area.
Moments earlier, they’d hugged, tears welling up in their eyes. Inna had kissed Asia, a tan dachshund dog wrapped up in a warm blanket, carried by Nika in her arms.
The girls didn’t know when they might see each other again.
Nika’s family was leaving Kherson, not sure of where they would end up eventually. For now, they were heading to the western city of Khmelnytskyi, hoping they would get some help there.
The past few days in Kherson had simply been too much for Nika’s mother Elena.
“Before, they [Russian forces] shelled us seven to 10 times a day, now it’s 70-80 times, all day long. It’s too scary.” Elena said. “I love Ukraine and my dear city. But we have to go.”
Elena and her three daughters are among more than 400 people who have left Kherson since Christmas Day, after a sharp increase in the intensity of the bombardment of the city by the Russian military.
On Tuesday, a hospital maternity ward was shelled. No-one was hurt but it has further escalated fear among people.
Elena left by train, in an evacuation facilitated by the Ukrainian government.
Image caption, These cars were driving out of Kherson on Christmas morning
Hundreds of people are leaving on their own, a queue of cars building up at the checkpoint leading out of Kherson, filled with terrified civilians.
Iryna Antonenko was in tears when we walked up to her car to speak to her.
‘We can’t take it anymore. The shelling is so intense. We stayed this whole time and thought it would pass and that we would be lucky. But a strike hit the house next to ours, and my father’s home was also shelled,” she said.
She planned to travel to Kryvyi Rih, a city in central Ukraine where she has family.
Image caption, This image shows the aftermath of one of many strikes which hit Kherson on 24 December
Just last month, there had been jubilant scenes in Kherson. Taken by Russian forces on the second day of the invasion, the city was liberated on 11 November.
Close to the spot where masses had gathered waving Ukrainian flags to celebrate being freed from Russian control, a mortar attack on Christmas Eve left eleven dead, and dozens injured.
Among the dead were a social worker, a butcher and a woman selling mobile Sim cards – ordinary people working at or visiting the city’s central market.
That day, Kherson was hit by mortars 41 times, according to the Ukrainian government.
The Russians are firing from the left (east) bank of the Dnipro river, where they withdrew to; the waterway has become a de facto frontline in the south of Ukraine.
Kherson is a strategically important region, often called the gateway to Crimea. Many analysts say that Russia has now been forced into a defensive position here.
It’s hard to see what it hopes to gain from the pounding of Kherson. In addition to mortar shells, we have also seen incendiary munitions being used – fiery sparks raining down on the city, intended to set fire to targets.
It’s also unclear if the Ukrainian military is attempting to take back control of areas on the left bank of the river.
Here in the city, there’s barely ever a break from the constant sound of mortar shell attacks.
Serhii Breshun, 56, was killed when he was asleep. His home collapsed on him after a shell hit it.
Image caption, Serhii’s passport was retrieved from the ruins of his home
The day after he died, we met his mother, 82-year-old Tamara, who had come to search for his passport in the rubble. She needed the document to get his body released from the morgue.
“I must have had a sense that something would go wrong that day. Because I spoke to him [over the phone] and urged him to leave the house. He didn’t and that was it. Our lives have been ruined,” she wept.
We’d barely finished talking to her, and there were more loud explosions.
The elderly mother’s lone pursuit to give her son a dignified farewell is a dangerous one, because no part of Kherson is safe.
Image caption, Tamara, 82, must now bury her son
Surviving here, whether out in a street or inside a home, is a matter of chance.
Thirty-nine-year-old Red Cross volunteer Viktoria Yaryshko was killed in a mortar shell explosion just outside the organisation’s base in Kherson, a few feet away from safety.
Her mother Liudmyla Berezhna showed us the medal of honour Viktoria was given.
“I’m very happy she helped a lot of people. She was so kind. But it’s also painful for me. I must recover and raise her two children. I tell them they should be proud of their mother because she is a hero,” she said.
Image caption, Viktoria was a Red Cross volunteer and the mother of two children
Viktoria had been living in the underground shelter of the Red Cross with her two children – 17-year-old Alyonushka and 12-year-old Sasha. They continue to live there, feeling comfort and protection amidst a group of volunteers who’ve become family.
‘When someone so close dies, it is difficult. But if we give up and stop, then her death would have been in vain. We work to make sure people live. Everything else is secondary,” said Dmitro Rakitskyi, Viktoria’s friend and another volunteer.
But it’s hard to do that knowing your own family could be in danger every minute.
When a few moments later, more bombs go off, Dmitro paces up and down trying to call his wife, tension visible on his face. He has two children.
“They don’t want to leave. They worry about me, and I worry about them. That’s how we live,” he said.
Image caption, Dmitro, a friend of Viktoria’s, knows he and his family remain at risk in Kherson
“What makes me most angry is that they [Russian forces] always hit civilian infrastructure. Houses, apartment blocks, boiler rooms. It’s impossible to understand the logic behind these attacks,” Dmitro said.
“We almost never have power or water. It comes briefly sometimes and is gone again because of shelling. It’s very scary at night. We still have gas though, and are able to stay warm,” one resident, Larysa Revtova, said.
Tens of thousands of civilians are still living in Kherson, but at least twice this week the regional administration has urged them to leave.It is a city haunted by relentless and indiscriminate attacks.
The UN Security Council has denounced Taliban government policies targeting women and girls in Afghanistan.
The 15-member Security Council said it was “deeply alarmed” by the increasing restrictions on women’s education.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the latest restrictions “must be revoked”.
A statement from the Council called for the “full, equal, and meaningful participation of women and girls in Afghanistan”.
It urged the Taliban “to reopen schools and swiftly reverse these policies and practices, which represents an increasing erosion for the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
The ban on female humanitarian workers “would have a significant and immediate impact for humanitarian operations in country”, including for the UN, it added.
Mr Guterres said that the latest restrictions were “unjustifiable human rights violations”.
“Actions to exclude and silence women and girls continue to cause immense suffering and major setbacks to the potential of the Afghan people,” he wrote on Twitter.
At least five top NGOs halted work in Afghanistan after women were banned from working for them by the Taliban government.
Care International, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and Save the Children said they could not continue their work “without our female staff”.
The International Rescue Committee also suspended services while Islamic Relief said it was stopping most of its work.
The Taliban last week arrested five women taking part in a protest in the Afghan capital, Kabul, over the ban on female education. Three journalists were also arrested.
Since seizing back control of the country last year, the Taliban have steadily restricted women’s rights – despite promising their rule would be softer than the regime seen in the 1990s.
As well as the bans on NGO workers and female university students – in the case of students, now being enforced by armed guards – secondary schools for girls remain closed in most provinces.
Women have also been prevented from entering parks and gyms, among other public places.
Bekwai Circuit Court in Ashanti Region presided over by His Honour Mark Diboro has sentenced a 31-year-old farmer, Michael Nhyira Cobbina to 20 years imprisonment in hard labour for robbing a woman of her itel mobile phone worth GH¢500.
Michael Nhyira Cobina was convicted on his plea of guilty to offence of robbery.
The prosecutor, Chief Inspector Eric Twum told the court that the complaint Bernice Yeboah and the convict live in Aduabin community in the Bosomtwi district in the Ashanti region.
One Thursday, December 1, 2022 at about 9:00pm, Michael Nhyira Cobbina, armed with knife attacked the complainant who was sleeping with her two children in a room.
The traumatized children started screaming for help but could not be heard due to the remoteness of the house.
Under knife point the convict threatened and demanded the complainant to give him money but the complainant had no money hence gave him her itel mobile phone which contained GH¢2000 e-cash in mobile wallet.
Days later, a witness in the case who bought the mobile phone for the complaint saw the wife of the accused in possession of same stolen phone.
The witness gave the complainant a tip off which she quickly reported the case at Feyiase police station on December 8, 2022.
Police trailed and retrieved the mobile phone. A search on the phone saw the pictures of Michael Nhyira Cobbina together with his wife.
Cobbina was immediately arrested by the Police.
He admitted robbing the woman during interrogation and led police to his room to hand over exhibits.
Michael Nhyira Cobina was charged with robbery contrary to section 149 of the criminal offences Act, Act 29 of 1960 and arraigned.
Prof Godfred Bokpin, an Economist and Finance Lecturer at the University of Ghana, has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to as a matter of urgency reduce the size of his government.
According to him, if the president thinks he will not be able to manage Ghana’s economy with at most 40 ministers of state, he should step down.
He added that some ministers and their ministries have become idle and should be merged to other ministries, myjoyonline.com reports.
“As a matter of urgency, a reduction in the size of ministers… if our President cannot govern with less than 40 ministers and the other reforms, he should resign and give Ghana a chance.
“.. with the number of ministers and associated calls, State Owned Enterprises, new agencies being created, some of them are actually not doing anything but their lifestyles are loaded on the public purse,” Prof Bokpin is quoted to have said on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Friday.
The Economist added that the president must also temporarily suspend some emoluments given to political office holders including ex-gratia.
He reiterated that if President Akufo-Addo wants Ghanaians to sacrifice to help the country get out of the current economic situation he must lead by example by cutting the government’s expenditure drastically.
Bismark Boateng, the chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Ayawaso Central constituency, believes breaking the 8-year jinx is a possibility for the party in 2024.
The party’s chair indicated that the unprecedented achievements of President Akufo-Addo will make it easier for the NPP to win the 2024 general elections.
According to him, what the party needs are to unite its front, avoid the infightings and any differences and unite its front for victory in 2024.
In his opinion, the party should improve its communication and communicate its achievements so that Ghanaians are aware of what the president has accomplished, making it easier for them to vote for the NPP in 2024.
He was speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm.
He admitted that there had been some economic challenges, but the current administration is putting in measures to address these challenges.
“Breaking the eight is possible. Nothing has changed. The belief we had and the factors that gave us hope of breaking the eight have not changed. We still have hope. We are doing a lot to make this country run smoothly. We must deal with our conflicts and remain united in order to break the eight.”
Despite financial difficulties, the president is building roads. Despite the fact that we are experiencing hardship, we are seeing massive works across the country. President Akufo-Addo has accomplished much, and we are confident that we will surpass the eight-year mark as a result of his efforts.
The Ghana Physician Assistants Association (GPAA) leadership has ordered all of its members to postpone renewing their medical and dental council licenses for the upcoming year 2023.
According to them, all physician assistants should not renew their licenses for the year 2023 until the Ministry of Health comes out with modalities of getting their own regulatory body through the amendment of the Health Regulations Bodies Act, 2023 (ACT 857) with the involvement of all the key stakeholders.
Physician Assistants (PAs) are middle-level cadre in the health service delivery machinery with a level of training apt and appropriate for the basic and essential healthcare needs of the people of Ghana.
According to them, the physician assistant is so indispensable that their work gives a good blend of clinical, preventive, promotional and administrative services at rural, urban and peri-urban communities especially, where human resources are scarce, thus making the physician assistant an epitome of versatility and efficiency in human resource crises.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra, the Vice President of the Association, Emmanuel Kofi Nti said, the leadership of GPAA is highly aware of the legal implications of this decision to both practitioner and the employer but to stand by their directive to register their displeasure about the way the Medical and Dental Council has treated them since joining the Council over a decade ago.
He reiterated that the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Health as a matter of urgency get their own regulatory body through Act 2013 (ACT 857)
Mr Nti, therefore, advised their members not to renew their licenses with the Medical and Dental Council.
In the year 2010, the Ministry of Health directed the Medical and Dental Council to temporarily regulate the practice of the Physician Assistant cadre and this regulation was subsequently backed by law with the enactment of the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act, 2013 (ACT 857).
Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asah Asante, has warned that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s only legacy will be the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme if he fails to reshuffle his government.
Speaking in a Peace FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, on Monday, December 26, 2022, Dr Asante said that calls for the president to sack his non-performing minister of state are long overdue.
He added that the insistence of the president on maintaining his appointees will certainly have an impact on the electoral fortunes of his party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“There is something called political cost. If your mother is dead but you keep saying she is alive, let her resurrect for us to see. The president has been saying that his ministers are performing well but you and I know that, that is far from the truth.
“Because if they were performing well, we will not be in the current situation we find ourselves in… He should close his eyes and sack his ministers who are not performing well and bring in people who can do the job.
“He should put his feet on the ground and sack his ministers who have failed so that he will leave a legacy. So that in the future if the Free SHS is mentioned other achievements will be added to honour his name,” he said in the Twi dialect.
Every year, Ghanaians anticipate December 31 watch night services held across churches. This is because it is known as the day some renowned prophets release tall lists of prophecies for the new year.
Many Ghanaians are always eager to hear what these prophets will predict for the coming year.
2022 was a bit different because the Ghana Police Service cautioned the Christian Council that prophets who caused fear and panic with their prophecies would be arrested. This reduced the number of revelations these men of God dished out to the public.
Despite all the cautioning, in 2022, three popular prophets, Bishop Salifu Amoako, Rev Owusu Bempah, and Prophet Nigel Gaisie topped the trends with their prophecies.
As 2022 comes to an end, GhanaWeb takes a look at the prophecies by some of these prophecies that dominated headlines.
Nigel Gaisie drops prophecies about ‘Umuofia’ with details from Ghana
Prophet Nigel adopted a strategy to deliver his prophecies about Ghana without directly referring to the country.
Right before delving into his prophecies, the controversial pastor issued a disclaimer saying his prophecies will be about a nation called Umuofia and not Ghana.
Strikingly, however, were the similarities between details about the nation of Umuofia and Ghana as disclosed in his prophecies.
“I saw a heavy cloud like the cloud of darkness covering the head of state of Umuofia. Let’s take this prophecy very seriously, I saw a cloud of darkness covering the head of state of Umuofia. I saw that his deputy is using mediums to trigger the quick passing away of the head of state. I saw in the realm of the spirit that the shoe of the big man is being worn by the deputy. I saw in the nation of Umuofia that something that has happened there is about to reoccur again,” he stated.
Prophet Nigel also warned of a terror attack in the nation of Umuofia. He warned that a pending explosive attack will occur in the nation of Umuofia and that the attack will be an external one with internal collaboration.
Without mincing words, Prophet Nigel said the Lord revealed to him that former President John Dramani Mahama will win power in 2024 but warned that the current government of “Umuofia” will do everything to subvert the ballot.
“The hand of the Lord rested upon me and carried me into the election of 2024 or 2025 in the nation of Umuofia, and the Lord told me to tell them, to tell the CND people they should forget about the Ashanti Region. They should focus more on the Northern region. Because the election will be determined by these two regions. I saw a flag with red and black taking dominance. But let the CND people focus more on the northern region.
“Again, the Lord carried me in the realm and said I should say. The Lord said if the CND people of Umuofia do not wake up they will use systems and the EC and the NIA to twist the agenda and the will of the people. So let the CND people be more vigilant.
He also predicted that 2022 will be a difficult year with a famine similar to that of 1983 likely to occur. On the works of parliament, Prophet Nigel said there is a conscious effort to reduce the minority seats and added that there will be a by-election.
He also gave several prophecies about the speaker of parliament, the NPP’s internal election, and the Greater Accra Regional Minister.
He added that the current Special Prosecutor will resign just like his predecessor but issued all the prophecies alluding to the nation of Umuofia.
List of Owusu Bempah’s coded prophecies
Leader of the Glorious Word Power Ministries International, Isaac Owusu Bempah, begged his congregation to accept a proverbial edition of prophecies during the 2021 Watch Night and Cross Over event at the church headquarters in Accra.
Whiles admitting that this year’s session may not have been enjoyable as previous years due to the manner of prophecies, he tasked them to accept it as such and pray about the issues to the best of their abilities.
GhanaWeb lists a number of the proverbial prophecies that Owusu Bempah delivered during the well-attended service that ended in the wee hours of January 1, 2022.
Prayer for Parliament
Owusu Bempah requested prayers for MPs because two persons holding candlesticks clashed causing their flames to be extinguished. “We need to remember Parliament in prayers, we will remember them in prayers,” he stated.
Escalating tribal conflict
Without giving specifics or mentioning in which region, the prophet said two tribes with serious disagreements were revealed to him and the spat became a public issue and military intervention was required.” The offshoot was not palatable so we need to pray about it,” he added.
Prayers for Asanteman
“I saw darkness over Asanteman, I will pray that God intervenes,” he stated.
Prayer for people living along the coast
“We will pray for people living along the coast. I saw a man who was in the shape of water and he had walked to places inhabited by people. When he was going back, he went along with some people from the living world.
“We will pray water does not invade people,” he added.
A religious leader who travelled and never returned
“I saw a religious leader travelling, when he went he stayed on and delayed for so long and I saw nothing more about him. Prayers must go on,” he stated.
A big musician to get into trouble
Owusu Bempah announced that big musicians must be remembered especially the very prominent and popular ones.
“I saw a popular musician who is well respected and largely followed, lose his hair and I saw his bare head. He lost all his hair. We will pray for prominent musicians,” he added.
Combative Kangaroos in security uniforms
“I also saw a kangaroo wearing military attire and another in police attire fighting and all trees around were in commotion. Trees were trying to intervene but it was impossible, even after a leader tried to intervene and it came down a bit.
“(Let us pray) if not, Kangaroo in military and police attire will clash,” he stated.
Sleigh drawn by horses and donkeys crash
Owusu Bempah said he saw a sleigh with horses in lead. The eyes of the horses lights like car headlights. “I saw donkeys, horses and sleighs going at speed. The street before them rose and they entered a ditch. What emerged was bad.”
Encounter with silent destructive darkness
“I saw darkness walking and I asked where it was going and it discarded me. It refused to answer me, ‘darkness stop, what are you doing,’ it refused to respond.
“I saw darkness go and stand at a big house and cover it with its hands, whiles rising, I heard shouts and screams in the house all subsequent questions, it refused and left the land of the living. I didn’t see it again.”
In his closing remarks, he stated: “2022, if you walk well with God, you will be blessed. There will be marriage, which means the end time is almost here. The Bible says women will be given in marriage. Take good care of yourselves.”
Details of Elisha Salifu Amoako’s prophecies
During his first Sunday of 2022 service, the Founder and Leader of the Alive Chapel International, Archbishop-elect Elisha Salifu Amoako listed out some prophecies about the nations of the world.
He called for prayers to be made against a lot of deaths and major confusion.
Starting from the United States of America, right down to Ghana, the prophet told his congregation about how there have been major attacks initiated in the realms of the spirit against major personalities and groups of persons in the world.
“The angel of the Lord carried me into the nations, into the kingdoms. And the Lord said, in 2022, beginning from this month, the enemy has designed destruction and mind-boggling destruction against the world leaders. I’m talking about the present and the past. If we don’t pray for them, this year will be a year of major destructions.
“And the angel settled me in the United States and I saw a major death; a national one in the United States of America and the Lord said, ‘Son of Man, pray against this destruction against the world leaders,’ he said.
Archbishop-elect Salifu Amoako also spoke about what he said will be major deaths in India that will be occasioned by heavy rains, resulting in floods.
“And the angel settled me in the land of India. The Indian problem this year is going to be rain; rainfall will wipe away many lives. It will be heavy rainfall … with heavy floods that is destroying people. The Lord said I pray also for the nation of India,” he said.
In Africa, he began his prophecies from Nigeria, calling for prayers to be made for the pastors in the country because a wind of many deaths has been directed at them.
He also urged the actors in the country to take their prayer lives seriously otherwise they will be very surprised by the way people in the industry will die.
“Then He brought me to Africa and when I came to Africa, we settled in Nigeria. The Lord said, this year, certain high men of God need to pray in Nigeria because the enemy will kill some men of God; certain men of God, not only Nigeria too. Some men of God are going to die in Ghana; many men of God. You’d be surprised the way it’s going to happen. We need to pray.
“And I looked and I saw actors in Nigeria, and many of them, they have names, and the enemy attacked them and they started falling one after the other. The Lord says we should pray,” he said.
In Ghana, the prophet spoke to the media and the country’s lawmakers, stating that major attacks have been planned for them and that there is the need for prayers to be said for them, against all those evil.
Salifu Amoako also said that the two main political parties should be guided since a major confusion is likely to break out between them.
“Then when he brought me to Ghana, this year, all the media houses – the media houses, the media men, need to pray because they’ll be attacked and there’ll be a major occurrence of death in the sector of the media. The Lord said we should pray because the media will be attacked.
“Number two, in Ghana here, the Lord said we must pray for the parliamentarians because this year will be a year of political confusion. There will be a major confusion between NPP and NDC. I see a lot of confusion but the Lord said we should remember them in prayer,” he said
He also spoke about directly sending an information to a sitting president who needs foreknowledge on something that is to happen between now and February of 2023; prayer for the Queen of England; that a Christian will rise up to lead in Nigeria; confusion in Uganda in June; and for the former president of Cote d’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo to be prayed for because there is a plan to poison him since the people want him back but people in power do not.
Archbishop-elect Salifu Amoako also spoke about the world’s economies getting better, adding that in 2022, Ghana’s economy will grow by 7%, among other things.
A planned press conference by students of the Mensah Sarbarh and the Commonwealth Halls of the University of Ghana has been prevented from happening.
This is after a joint team of police personnel, and UG security prevented the aggrieved group of students from going ahead with their planned presser, GhanaWeb can confirm.
The students were to hold the press conference in protest of the decision of the management of the university to revoke accommodation and residency for continuing male students their respective halls.
The decision, captured in a statement by the school management, follows the recent clashes involving the two halls on the university campus.
In a statement signed by the Registrar of the University, the residents were to be randomly assigned to available rooms in any of the University of Ghana Enterprise Limited Hostel (UGEl) and private hostels.
The statement furthered that, continuing female students of Mensah Sarbah Hall and students with special needs in both halls will not be affected.
According to the University Council, the recommendations were from the residence and Academic Board, regarding changes to student residence arrangements and the changes were requested by the council of the University following the repeated incidences of violence involving students on campus.
“All continuing students of Commonwealth Hall and continuing male students of Mensah Sarbah Hall will not return to these halls, or to any of the traditional halls. They are to be randomly assigned to available rooms in any of the UGEL and private hostels. Continuing female students of Mensah Sarbah Hall and students with special needs in both halls will not be affected by this measure,” the statement said.
