A young woman has recently got many social media users talking after sharing a video of herself.
The post sighted by YEN.com.gh on the TikTok timeline of @tabsalterego had her sharing a picture of herself before she got pregnant alongside photos of her during pregnancy.
Many who saw the young mother’s video took to the comments section to share their experiences and opinions. At the time of this publication, the post has gathered over 1.3 million likes with close to 14,200 comments and 33,000 shares.
Some of the comments have been highlighted below by YEN.com.gh;
@Sassyjammy replied:
Your baby is absorbing your beauty. Everything will be back once you give birth
@user4409472368536 wrote:
Pregnancy will humble you
@Marcus commented:
When my sister who lives abroad was pregnant I went to visit her and I walked past her in the airport because I didn’t recognise her
@Ellie said:
My nose is already huge. Ain’t no way I’m getting pregnant.
From @AshleyRamirez:
Bruhhh that was me and people be saying “ omg you have such a glow” like ma’am ma’am where
@Mimi202 commented:
Give your children your last names. Y’all do all the work and put your lives on the line to create life!
@MaggMonya commented:
you only had to do your hair, you were not bad at all❤
Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh earlier reported that a woman showcased her body’s transformation by sharing her before and during pregnancy pictures and video.
The touching video shared by @yabaleftonline on Instagram showed the petite woman in jeans before her pregnancy.
The next photo that followed showed that her stomach was beginning to protrude, signalling that she was pregnant. What followed next is a hilarious and emotional video capturing her entire ordeal at the hospital moments when she was to give birth.
Ghanaian comic actor, Kofi Adu, popularly known as Agya Koo, has stirred reactions online after he was spotted driving an expensive Infinity vehicle.
In a hilarious video, Agya Koo was approached by a young man as he was headed for his vehicle.
The actor looked stylish and was well-dressed in a beautiful white long-sleeve shirt, a round hat and a pair of fashionable designer shoes.
The young man asked Agya where he was headed, and he hilariously replied that he was attending a TikTok meeting.
He sarcastically told the young man free cars would be shared at the meeting, so he should come along with him. Agya Koo quickly hopped in the car and sped off after.
The white Infinity looked luxurious and showed that the actor was wealthy. Agya Koo has been actively involved in the movie industry for over a decade and seems to have made a good fortune since rising to stardom. Fans of the actor found the video hilarious and dropped funny comments.
Agya Koo Gets Peeps Laughing
tettehgideon116 reacted to the funny video:
Free car like seriously I can’t stop laughing.
Bra Dan commented:
agya i like your style
Otoobea also said:
Once a legend, always a legend
Uncle Fred also commented:
Agya atwa seven
Maytvgh1 also reacted:
We miss you kofi
Agya Koo: 5 Times the Kumawood Actor Turned a Funeral Party into Highlife Concerts
In other news, popular Kumawood actor Agya Koo has proven to be a force to reckon with not only in the movie and comedy industry.
The legendary Ghanaian actor is also known for his show-stopping music performances with his Tete Mmofra Band.
After a week of suspense over rumoured layoffs after Elon Musk’s takeover last week, the job cuts have become a reality. Unfortunately, Ghana’s own Benard Kafui Sokpe has confirmed his exit from working with the bird app.
Bernard Kafui Sokpe, popularly known as Meistermind on Twitter, senior partner manager for Ghana and Nigeria Twitter partnerships in Ghana, tweeted to confirm his current job status and in solidarity with the thousands of other ex-twitter employees.
Meistermind tweeted: “It’s been a year working at a place I never imagined I’ll ever get to work. I’m glad that I could represent Africa & I didn’t let us down. My best career experience by far & it was beautiful whilst it lasted. Much love to all the amazing tweeps that made it worth it. #OneTeam”
According to a companywide email from Twitter, workers were instructed to go home and not go to the offices on Friday. As badge access was to be revoked until further notice.
“In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce. We recognize that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is, unfortunately, necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward,” the email read.
Twitter email to employees preceding layoffs
However, the email notice did not mention the total number of employees who will lose their jobs. It was also not signed by Elon Musk or any executive. Just a generic “Twitter” signoff.
Mr Elon Musk, after buying Twitter on October 27, 2022, at a whopping $44 billion, fired its chief executive and other top managers. Managers were also asked to reevaluate their team’s performances whilst other executives resigned.
#One Team is currently trending on Twitter as ex-employees share their experiences. Some employees said they couldn’t access the company’s laptops or log in to their official work emails.
These changes are said to have been in effect sometime at 3 am this dawn. Thus, affected employees woke up this morning without a job – and with no warning.
It’s 5 o’clock somewhere — and boy, could the executives at Warner Bros. Discovery and Lionsgate use a drink. But first, they’ve got to get through these earnings conference calls. Perhaps we should refer to this round as “losses conference calls.”
On Thursday afternoon, within a span of 15 minutes, Warner Bros. Discovery revealed it lost $2.3 billion in the July-September quarter of 2022 and Lionsgate reported an operating loss of $1.8 billion from the same time period. Better make it a double.
The good news for Warner Bros. Discovery is that a loss of $2.3 billion is better than a loss of $3.4 billion, which is the unfortunate figure it posted last quarter. It’s pricey to merge two major media companies, and so far, not so good.
WBD ended the third quarter with 94.9 million combined direct-to-consumer subscribers. That all-in number includes linear HBO and streaming services HBO Max and Discovery+, and represented an additional 2.8 million subs from the end of the prior quarter. The timeline to combine HBO Max and Discovery+ has been moved up from Summer 2023 to Spring 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery’s president and CEO David Zaslav said on his company’s Q3 conference call.
Before the call, in a prepared statement accompanying the disappointing financials, Zaslav again touted his company’s content. He also found another $500 million in synergies between WarnerMedia and his former Discovery, Inc.
“At Warner Bros. Discovery, we have one of the strongest portfolio of assets and IP across sports, news, and entertainment, and the best leadership team in media executing against the right strategy and financial framework to drive profitability, generate meaningful shareholder value, and ultimately position us for long-term success,” Zaslav said. “We are reimagining and transforming the organization for the future while driving synergy enterprise-wide, increasing our target to at least $3.5 billion, and making significant progress on our combined DTC product. While we have lots more work to do, and there are some difficult decisions still to be made, we have total conviction in the opportunity ahead.”
There was no way to spin company revenue. Warner Bros. Discovery suffered an 11 percent decline in Q3 ad sales and saw an 8 percent drop in overall revenue, posting $9.82 billion vs. a market forecast of $10.36 billion. After sharing an already rough Thursday with the rest of the stock market, shares in WBD declined a few percentage points more in after-hours trading.
“Clerks III”
Lionsgate/courtesy Everett Collection
Here we should admit that it’s a bit unfair to lump Lionsgate’s second (fiscal) quarter in with Warner Bros. Discovery. Lionsgate’s wasn’t so bad — it beat on both revenue estimates and adjusted earnings per share — and its stock is moving in the right direction following the market close. (Before the market closed, shares in both companies sank 6 percent.) But still.
Lionsgate will exit seven Lionsgate+ (the former StarzPlay International) territories — France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Benelux, the Nordics, and Japan — to “streamline the business,” in their words. That streamlining cost Lionsgate $218.9 million in content write-offs. Tack that on to the $1.48 billion (non-cash) write-off from the Starz acquisition, reflecting changes to future free cash-flow projections, and boy would they have liked to sell that thing.
The Lionsgate earnings call has yet to begin — it’s set for 6 p.m. ET. In the interest in fairness, we’ll give CEO Jon Feltheimer his say.
“We reported another strong library performance and continued growth in Lionsgate Television series deliveries as our studio businesses continued to perform in line with expectations in the quarter,” Feltheimer said in a prepared statement included in the financials. “Economic and industry headwinds are having the greatest impact at Starz, where we are exiting seven international territories. This will allow us to streamline Starz’s international business and return it to profitability more quickly while continuing to build on the opportunities created by a strong Starz original series slate and focused content strategy domestically.”
Amidst the mourning of Ifeanyi, ace Nigerian investigative journalist Kemi Olunloyo has made matters worse with her latest utterances about Chioma.
Speaking in a needless video, Kemi Olunloyo wildly alleged that Chioma aborted 3 girls before finally conceiving Ifeanyi because she wanted to give Davido a boy for the reason that he will inherit a larger part of the musician’s wealth when he’s no more.
According to Kemi, it’s karma which is dealing with Chioma for claiming three innocent lives through abortion.
Kemi claimed to have spoken to Davido’s 4th baby mama, London-based make-up artist Larissa, who is the mother of the singer’s second son, Dawson.
She claimed that Chioma was apparently determined to have a son for Davido because he was the father of two girls during that period and hadn’t accepted her son as his biological son yet.
Kemi claims Larissa told her that each time Chioma became pregnant and discovered the baby was a girl, she aborted it.
Watch the video below to know more…
This video has caused massive rage on the internet because a lot of social media users strongly believe Kemi wants Davido to divorce Chioma reason she’s spewing such terrible lies about her at this inappropriate time.
Meanwhile, both Davido and Chioma are yet to officially react to the death of tier beloved son Ifeanyi who drowned to death in the family’s swimming pool three days ago.
Three teacher unions have declared an industrial action effective November 4, over the failure of government to revoke the appointment of Dr. Eric Nkansah as acting Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES).
The unions made up of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, National Association of Graduate Teachers and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana said Dr. Eric Nkansah is a banker with no teaching background, the reason for their rejection.
They announced the strike action at a press conference on Friday, November 4, 2022.
Addressing the media, President of GNAT, Rev. Isaac Owusu said,
“It is unacceptable for a banker to be appointed as a Director-General of the Ghana Education Service instead of an educationist at the same time when many teachers who did the same courses and related ones were rejected by GES because it is not related to education
“We stated that both the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service should apologize to teachers for accepting the very qualifications they rejected when teachers presented them…We have been compelled under the current circumstances to publicly communicate to Ghanaians on our intention to go on strike, having reached the November 4 deadline we gave the government. Consequently, we have decided to embark on strike from today, Friday, November 4, 2022. By this, we are informing the general public that we are withdrawing all our services in all the pre-tertiary institutions,” he added.
The Nation Council of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has appointed members and chairpersons to serve on the party’s standing and ad hoc committees.
In a press release dated November 3, the appointment by the National Council was in line with the party’s constitution.
“Pursuant to Article 10(3)(6) of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Constitution, the National Council, at its meeting held on October 5, 2022, and upon further consultations with relevant stakeholders, appointed the following persons to serve on the Standing and Ad hoc Committees of the Party,” parts of the release read.
The appointed members are to serve on the party’s finance, constitution and legal committees; organisation; research; disciplinary and communication committees.
The finance committee will be chaired by Abankwa Sekyere; the constitutional and legal committee by Frank Davies; the organisation committee by Lord Oblitey Commey; the research committee by Osei Bonsu Amoah; the disciplinary committee by Kwasi Amoako-Atta and the communication committee by Nana Akomea.
An Adentan Circuit Court has imposed a fine of GHS3,000 on a businessman for stabbing his co-tenant over a woman.
Duro, in default, would serve six months imprisonment.
The Court presided over by Mrs. Sedinam Awo Balokah also ordered Duro to pay compensation of GHS5,000 to the complainant, a “Financial Engineer”, by November 30, of this year.
Duro, who was held on the charges of conspiracy to commit a crime, namely causing harm and causing harm, pleaded not guilty.
When the case was called, Duro informed the Court that he wanted to change his plea from not guilty to guilty.
The Court obliged him and convicted him on his own plea.
Duro’s accomplice, known as Raphael, is said to be at large.
The facts, as narrated by Chief Inspector Maxwell Lanyo, are that the complainant (name withheld), a “financial engineer”, resided at Nanakrom near Nmai Dzorn, Accra.
The complainant and Duro reside in the same house.
It said on July 12, 2022, at about 1:30am, while the complainant was sleeping in his apartment, he heard a knock on his door, then Duro and Raphael allegedly called out his (complainant’s) name, ordering him to come out.
When the complainant came out, Duro questioned him why he wanted to sleep with his wife, Asantewaa.
The prosecution said before the complainant could say a word, Duro and Raphael started beating him.
It said the complainant managed to enter his room, but the accused persons followed him holding broken bottles.
The prosecution said they allegedly stabbed the complainant’s eyebrow, his neck, and his right arm with the broken bottles.
It said the accused persons abandoned the complainant in his room and escaped when he started bleeding profusely.
The prosecution said the complainant was rescued, and a report was made to the Police.
It said Duro was arrested, but Raphael could not be traced.
According to the prosecutor, Duro, in his caution statement, admitted the offence and mentioned Raphael as his main accomplice.
Two persons were killed in a robbery on the Ejura-Nkwanta–Nyinase road in the Ashanti Region, on Monday.
Kipo Sumaila,50, died on the spot, while Ibrahim Iddrisu, 40, died, at St Luke’s Hospital in Kasei, where he was receiving treatment.
The body of Iddrisu has been deposited at the Ejura Government Hospital mortuary.
Meanwhile, Masawudu Sumaila, 20, son of Kipo Suamaila, who was wounded in the back, during the incident, was still on admission at the emergency unit of St Luke’s Hospital, at the time of filing the report.
Ashanti Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Afful Boakye-Yiadom, led a team to the crime scene, on Tuesday, and also visited Hiawonwu and Ejura, to commiserate with the bereaved family and made donations to them.
The Regional Commander promised that the Ghana Police Service would take action to curb the robbery menace.
He mentioned the deployment of personnel on motorcycles and vehicles to patrol all the robbery-prone areas to give protection to the people.
A source confirmed the incident and said that the police received a distress call from Mr. Philip Appiah, Assembly Member of Ejura-Nkwanta, about the incident.
The police proceeded to the scene and found a 255 Massey Ferguson tractor with registration number AS 2736-Y parked in the middle of the road with, deceased KipoSumaila, with a gunshot wound on the neck lying in a supine position in the trailer of the tractor.
The source said three persons were on board the tractor returning to Kpaliguni at about 6:30 pm, and on reaching a section of the road, they were attacked by armed men, three of them being of Fulani extraction.
According to the police source, one of the armed men asked Kipo Suamaila to surrender all the money on him, but he, refused and the suspect shot him twice in the neck.
The robbers took away an unspecified amount and mobile phones belonging to the victims, while the police mounted a search for them.
The Ashanti and Ewe royalties in one place for a historical event! That’s what’s happening in a few hours.
On Saturday, November 5, 2024, the Ashanti King, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II will meet the Ewe Paramount Chief, Awoemefia Togbi Sri III to mark the 2022 Hogbetsotso Festival in the Volta Region.
It could be added to the historical books containing records of the long-lasting cordial relationship with Ashanti and Ewe royalty.
As part of efforts to mark the 60th edition of the historical festival this year, the Awoemefia who is the Paramount Chief of all Anlo States invited Otumfuo Osei Tutu, the Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, Paramount Chief of Kwahu Traditional Area, Daasebre Akumoah Agyapong II and the current King Agorkoli of Nortsie of Togo.
Ahead of the event, a list has emerged online that is allegedly the full list of people who will form the entourage accompanying the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to the 2022 Hogbetsotso Festival.
While GhanaWeb cannot independently confirm the authenticity or otherwise of the list, the list indicates that there will be a total of 211 people.
According to the list, there will be 8 Nkonwasoafuo, 25 Afenasoafuo/Atuntufuo, 10 Kyineyetufuo, 1 Apimasantan, 1 Sika Akua, 4 Sanaafuo, 10 Afotosanfuo, 10 Abenasanfuo, 10, Nsumankwafuo, 6 Asomfo, and 8 Nseneefuo.
The others are 4 Danponmu/Papahufuo, 8 Ahoprafuo, 10 Akyemfuo, 3 Somisisi, 5 Adwareye, 5 each for Adum/Abrafuo, 2 Animuyesum, 10 Fontomfrom/Atumpan, 10 Fontomfromsuafuo, 4 Mpebi/Nkrawi, 4 Apeede, 4 Kwadwomfuo. 2 Drugya, and 10 Nyahera.
The rest are 10 Kokwanagya, 5 Mentiahyenfuo, 6 Sodoofuo, 2 Camera Men, and 3 Video Men.
Ewe-Ashanti relations:
Contrary to perceptions that Akans and Ewes have some rather unresolved differences and don’t meet ‘eye to eye’, the two have had inseparable relationship between the Anlos and the Ashantis.
Per history, a treaty was signed in 1865 between the then Asantehene and Awoemefia. Both leaders agreed at this point, to halt any further fights between them and forge to become allies.
2022 Hogbetsotso:
The theme for the celebration is “60 Years of Anlo Hogbetsotso Za: Uniting for Development, Sustaining our Unique Cultural Commonwealth for Future Generations”.
The Hogbetsotso Festival is a migratory festival that has been celebrated by the Anlos for many years now.
It also serves as a uniting event for citizens of Anlo both at home and abroad. It is one big event that attracts lots of tourists from far and near to see the beautiful display of culture and tradition.
The Registrar of the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, Dr. Kingsley Agyemang, has called on the leadership of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) to calm their members as it prepares to pay their scholarships.
According to him, the Secretariat has been working around the clock to make payments to all the students on their scheme.
“Ghanaian students studying on government scholarships should keep calm; these arrears are not something usual in our operations ever since we took over, and I can assure you, we are working around the corner to end,” he assured.
Dr. Kingsley Agyemang made this known when the leadership of NUGS paid a call on him to discuss, among other things, the issues of non-payment of scholarships to beneficiaries both at home and abroad.
The President of NUGS, Dennis Appiah Larbi-Ampofo, who led the delegation, commended the Registrar of the Scholarship Secretariat for spelling out the challenges students on scholarships are currently facing.
“Students studying on the government of Ghana scholarship are crying. For close to a year, a lot Ghanaian students on local and international scholarships by the Government of Ghana through the Scholarship Secretariat have not disbursed students’ bursaries to them. This has made it difficult for the students to fund their education due to the challenges confronting them as a result of this situation,” he said.
He also indicated that some of their members have been receiving notices of eviction from their hostels and apartments, with many of them at high risk of being rendered homeless.
Dr. Kingsley Agyemang admitted being very aware of these challenges but was quick to say that the global financial crisis has also been greatly affecting its operations.
He, however, assured them that they would be attended to in the shortest possible time.
“We have commenced payments of fees and in some areas stipends are also being paid. We have been engaging both the institutions and students to ensure we continue to keep our students in school. Let us continue to work as faithful partners and calm your students down as we sail through these challenges together,” he said.
A transport analyst, Magnus Quarshie, says the implementation of an efficient transport system by the state would ease the financial burden of commuters.
Speaking to Citi News, after the recent transport fare increases, Mr. Quarshe said the Greater Accra Passengers Transport Executive (GHAPTE), should have been used to better organise the transport space.
But as things stand, he said GHAPTE had been led away from its mandate to manage the system in Accra.
“We set up GHAPTE as a quasi-government arm to plan, manage and organise the system. Then all of a sudden we bought buses and gave the buses to them and turned them into an operator.”
Mr. Quarshie explained that the government, through state-owned transit organizations, could subsidize the cost of transportation by ensuring that the entities have the needed funds to operate.
He warned that commuters would continue to bear the brunt if nothing is done about the situation.
“We seem to have fine plans. When it is about implementation, we get so disorganised and that is what is happening.”
“We need to bite the bullet and implement a win-win system. It is so sad. Commuters spend almost 50 or 60 percent of their salary on transport,” Mr. Quarshie said.
The Accra Circuit Court has granted GHc250,000 bail to a married couple for allegedly engaging in prohibited business related to suspected narcotic drugs and giving bribes to influence a public officer.
The pleas of Mr. Richard Mensah, a 40-year-old carpenter, and Ms. Augustina Yawa Benuyewa, a 35-year-old trader, were not taken as the substance was yet to be tested.
Mr. Mensah was charged with prohibited business related to narcotic drugs, while the wife, Ms Benuyewa, was also charged with giving a bribe to influence a public officer on behalf of her husband.
The court, presided over by Mrs. Ellen Offei-Ayeh, admitted Mr. Mensah to bail in the sum of GH₵150,000.00, while Madam Benuyewa was granted GH₵100,000.00 bail with three gainfully employed sureties each, one to be justified.
The court ordered Mr Mensah to report to the Accra Regional CID every Monday and adjourned the case to November 28, 2022, for their pleas to be taken.
Police Inspector Daniel Ofori Appiah, prosecuting, told the court that the complainants were police personnel of the Regional Alpha Swat Patrol Team, whilst the couple resided at Abeka Flat Top.
The prosecution said Mr Mensah had allegedly engaged in the sale of Indian hemp to the youth in the community.
Insp Appiah said the police arrested Mr Mensah for allegedly selling Indian hemp, and a search conducted in his room revealed a number of dried leaves, suspected to be Indian hemp (wee).
The prosecution said when Mr. Mensah was taken to the Regional Police Headquarters for investigation, Ms. Benuyewa offered GH₵20,000.00 to the leader of the Patrol Team to withdraw the case against her husband, and she was also arrested.
Lawyers of Gregory Afoko and Asabke Alangde, the two persons standing trial for the death of New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Upper East Regional Chairman, Adams Mahama, have filed a notice of appeal to challenge the order of the High Court to open their defence.
The application is seeking the intervention of the Court of Appeal, the second highest court of the land, to overturn the decision by the High Court that a prima facie case has been established against them.
Afoko and Alangde are being accused of the acid incident which allegedly killed the NPP Regional Chairman on May 20, 2015. They have pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy and murder.
On June 14 this year, State Prosecutors closed their case after parading 16 witnesses, but lawyers of the accused persons filed a submission of no case to answer on the grounds that, the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses have not established a prima facie evidence against them.
Ruling on the submission of no case on Friday, October 7, the court presided over by Her Ladyship Justice Efua Merley Wood, said the elements of prima facie evidence have been established by the prosecution.
The court also ruled that, for the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses to be believed, it would be fair to hear from the accused persons.
Justice Merley Wood, a Justice of the Court of Appeal sitting with additional responsibility as a High Court Judge, ruled that the court is satisfied that the prosecution has made sufficient evidence that requires the accused persons to open their defence.
EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, reports that, due to the pendency of that appeal, the directive for Afoko to open his defence on November 2 has been deferred to November 16, by which time the appeal would have been determined.
The Kaneshie District Court has imposed a GH¢6,000 fine on Francis Awusi, an evangelist, for making false and offensive statements about Prophet Gabriel Akwesi Sarpong, General Overseer of Cross of Miracles International, Accra.
Awusi, who is also a YouTube host, would in default serve one-year imprisonment.
The said publications indicated that Prophet Sarpong (the complainant) was an occult pastor and a murderer, who had killed his wife for occultism to run his church.
The court ordered Awusi to go to Peace FM, a private radio station, Daily Graphic Newspaper, and use his YouTube channel where he had defamed the complainant and render an apology.
Awusi who was charged with offensive conduct and publication of false news earlier pleaded not guilty.
However, when sitting resumed, Awusi, who was represented by a lawyer, informed the court that he wanted to change his plea.
The prosecution had called three witnesses and played three videos at the ongoing trial.
The court presided over by Ms. Ama Adomako Kwakye convicted Awusi on his own plea.
His counsel, prayed the court to have mercy on him, saying he was a first offender, married with children, and was a man of God with a huge congregation.
Prosecuting, Detective Chief Inspector Richard Amoahsaid the complainant was Prophet AkwesiSarpong.
The court said the convict was also a host of a YouTube channel programme, known as “Hell and Heaven”, whiles Isaac Gyasi, the second accused, aka K2 Temple, was at large.
Chief Insp Amoah said Prophet Sarpong said the complainant reported to the police that in August 2020, Gyasi whose face was covered with a veil, made certain false and offensive statements about the complainant during a live YouTube TV programme, hosted by Awusi.
Prosecution said Gyasi alleged among other things that the complainant, Prophet Sarpong, was an occult pastor and a murderer, who had killed his wife for occultism powers to run his church.
Chief Insp Amoah said Awusi, who was hosting the live TV programme, also published the pictures and videos of some church activities of the complainant on the screen and had warned the public to stay away from his church.
The prosecution said Awusi was arrested and during investigations, it was established that Awusi hosted the programme with Gyasi as his guest.
Chief Insp Amoah said Awusi also supported the allegations made against the complainant by showing pictures and videos of the complainant on the YouTube channel on the internet.
The prosecution said Awusi admitted the offence and explained that he only interviewed Gyasi, who was invited to participate in his programme by his producer and that he did not know Gyasi personally.
Seven Ministers are expected to appear before the house in parliament to answer questions during the third week.
The ministers expected to appear are; the Minister for Youth and Sports, Minister for the Oti Region, Minister for food and Agriculture, Minister for Lands and Natural resources, Minister for the interior, Minister for Roads and Highways and Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development.
The ministers will respond to over 40 questions during the week.
Aside from that, motions may be debated and their consequential resolutions, if any, taken during the week.
Statements may also be admitted by the Speaker from members in accordance with Order 72.
Also, there will be a joint caucus meeting on Wednesday, November 9, 2022 to discuss pertinent issues affecting members.
As part of the efforts to control prices of foodstuff, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture is set to begin selling foodstuff within its premises to serve people in Accra.
The products will be brought from the farms to the ministry and sold to consumers at a cheaper price.
Speaking at a meeting with farmers in Sefwi Wiaso in the Western North Region, sector Minister, Dr. Owusu Akoto Afriyie said; “the ministry itself is going to take its own initiative.”
“We are going to link up with the farm gate so that we make all the arrangements to ensure that we put up kiosks on our compounds at the ministry, specifically for food from here [Sefwi Wiaso] and we are going to give it a lot of publicity,” the minister said.
Ghana is recognized as the nation with the biggest increases in food prices by the World Bank. With a 122% increase in food prices, the nation has achieved the toughest achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. Food costs have risen significantly since the beginning of the year in a number of nations throughout the world, primarily as a result of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
According to the World Bank, Ghana is the nation in Africa with the highest food prices. According to the World Bank’s October 2022 Africa Pulse report, Ghana is the sub-Saharan African nation with the highest rate of food inflation.
Police has announced, they have been directed by the Attorney General to charge Richard Appiah, with murder and to also send him to the Psychiatric Hospital for a thorough mental review.
This follows the arrest of the accused, 28-year-old Richard Appiah, for allegedly killing two children. The suspect, is alleged to have gruesomely murdered two boys, 15-year-old JHS 2 student, Stephen Sarpong and his 12-year-old stepbrother, Louis, and another yet to be identified body.
He kept some of their body parts in a fridge in his house in Abesim, Bono Region. The Attorney General has asked police to charge Richard Appiah
with murder.
A duplicate docket on the accused was sent to the Office of the Attorney General for advice. “We, therefore, pray for an order of the court to enable us to send him to the Psychiatric Hospital.
The court presided over by Ama Adomako Kwakye ordered the Police to send Appiah to the Psychiatric Hospital and adjourned the matter to 22 November.
Appiah, a footballer, is standing trial for allegedly killing Louis Agyeman and Stephen Sarpong in cold blood.
His plea has been preserved by the court. According to the police, some body parts and intestines were recovered from a farm during the investigation.
The minors have since been buried. However, according to police sources, the suspect revealed his motivation for killing humans.
He is said to have told investigators that he began killing dogs before moving on to killing humans.
According to the source, he told his interrogators that something compelled him to kill a black dog, which he did, but only ate the dog’s head.
The source said, “there is evidence to show that he really killed a black dog first before he turned to the people he killed.”
“That ‘something’ he is claiming influenced him to commit the heinous crimes, we do not know. The police do not dwell on spirits
to do an investigation,” the Police source said.
Speaking to the media, he stated that the activities of illegal miners also known as galamseyers are affecting the cost of treating water.
“In the short term, we will not get treated water at all, and we will have to shut down, most of the equipment will be destroyed.
“In the long term, agriculture will be affected, food security will be affected, and economic growth will suffer… It is a complete system
and our livelihood is on the line as well,” he said.
GWCL has for some time now lamented the dire impact of “galamsey” activities on the production of water. The Water Resources Commission disclosed that the volume of water that GWCL has in its possession is limited, as such, the country is already engaging external bodies for assistance.
“When we say Ghana is importing water, we often look at the physical importation, but on the face of it, that is already happening. We are importing labour and tools into our water supply mechanisms.
“Whatever we consume is produced with water and if you don’t develop your water resources, and then you import some country’s products, what you are importing is what they have done as far as their water development is concerned.”
On the other hand, managing director of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Dr. Clifford Braimah has called on the government to take pragmatic measures to rescue the country’s water bodies to prevent the country from importing water.
“The cost is unbearable. We are resorting to more expensive chemicals to be able to reduce the process lost. The cost of treatment continues to go up.
“Our system is not made for wastewater, but for fresh water. If we do not take the issue of illegal mining seriously enough and address it, our systems may break down, and we may not be able to produce water for Ghanaians anymore,” he added.
Illegal mining remains a battle for the country, government in its attempt to rid the nation of the menace has launched a variety of initiatives, such as Operation
Vanguard and Operation Halt, yet illegal mining still continues.
On Friday, October 21, 2022, President Akufo-Addo placed a ban on the manufacture, distribution, and sale of Chanfangs, which is predominantly used for illegal
mining on riverbeds.
According to him, “We have increased significantly, the level of sanctions against people who engage in galamsey, today, Ghanaians who get involved will get a 15-year minimum sentence if convicted and foreigners will get as long as a 25-year imprisonment if convicted,” President Akufo-Addo stated.
Meanwhile, the deputy minister in-charge of Mines at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker has stated that in order to eradicate the canker, it is necessary to look at the main cause of the issue, thus the purchase of Changfans must be examined.
“Per the law that governs the small-scale mining sector, those who are in a way mobilizing, manufacturing or assembling Changfans are not allowed in any way.”
“Obviously, when these things are being manufactured or assembled, they are not going to be used for taxi purposes, they are obviously going to put them on river bodies, so why do we allow them to manufacture them in the respective communities and then transport them to the riverside? I don’t think we need to wait for that or the finality of the process before we take an action and if we tackle from the source these struggles will be curtailed,” he added.
Embattled Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has spoken about how invested he has been in the management of Ghana’s economy citing the exertions that he has been going through.
In an interview posted on Joy FM’s social media handles, the Minister is heard stressing that the managers of the economy understood the task at hand.
He stressed that they were dealing with incessant challenges and taking cognizance of the available resources.
“Just to assure you that you have a finance minister who has gone through all the pains and aches and nobody can really come and say we don’t understand what we are doing.
“The question is what resources do we have and how we are going to deploy them in the nation that we have in very difficult circumstances but being very confident that the nation is purposed for greatness and we are blessed to have the opportunity to lead where we are going,” Ofori-Atta added.
“Let me assure you all that your best bet is still Ghana,” he told the gathering believed to be a group of investors but the time of the meeting is, however, unknown.
Calls for Ofori-Atta, Adu Boahen to be axed
A group of NPP MPs, numbering over 80, on October 25 held a press conference demanding the removal of the Finance Minister and Minister of State at the Ministry, Charles Adu Biahen, over management of the economy and hard times that citizens were facing.
President Akufo-Addo intervened and got a concession on two grounds, that the Ofori-Atta be allowed to conclude initial talks with the International Monetary Fund and present the 2022 budget and see to the passage of its appropriation.
The president has also addressed the nation on the economic challenges and how the government intends to tackle them.
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has recently stated that the view advanced by the Ken Must Go MPs is now the Majority position.
Meanwhile, the Minority Caucus is pushing a vote of censure t remove Ofori Atta from office.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has met Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first G7 leader to visit Beijing since the Covid-19 pandemic.
But his trip has sparked controversy in Germany and concern elsewhere in Europe.
It follows an extraordinary and bitter row within the Berlin government.
It had emerged that a Chinese company was poised to buy a significant stake in a part of the port of Hamburg.
No fewer than six government ministers reacted furiously.
The deal, they argued, would give China significant influence over critical German infrastructure. Germany’ssecurity services also urged caution.
But the German chancellor appeared insistent the deal should go ahead. He reportedly pushed through an agreement, albeit one that limited the size and influence of the stake, reducing it to 24.9%.
No-one is quite sure why he seemed so determined. A former mayor of Hamburg, Mr Scholz remains close to the city authorities who argued that the deal represented vital investment.
But plenty of other commentators suspect an ulterior motive; that Olaf Scholz did not want to turn up in Beijing without a “gift” for Xi Jinping.
That has raised both eyebrows and concerns.
Reuters
We will seek co-operation where it lies in our mutual interest, but we will not ignore controversies… When I travel to Beijing as German chancellor, I do so also as a European
As has the chancellor’s decision to take with him a delegation of German business executives. That was standard practice for his predecessor, Angela Merkel, who pursued a policy of “Change through Trade”, believing that economic ties could influence political relations with countries like China and Russia.
The chancellor’s visit comes hard on the heels of the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, at which President Xi tightened his grip on power and raised concerns in the West about his intentions towards Taiwan.
“The signal that’s being sent is that we want to extend and intensify our economic co-operation – that must be questioned,” says Felix Banazsak, a politician from the Green Party, a partner in Mr Scholz’s coalition government.
The Greens have long sought a tougher line on China. Just a few days ago the party’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, sternly and publicly reminded him that his government came to power promising to readjust its China strategy.
Mr Banazsak says his country must learn from its previous dependence on Russian energy: “We must make ourselves as independent as possible from individual states, particularly if these are states which do not share our values.”
But Olaf Scholz will be painfully aware of the complexity and depth of his country’s ties with China, which remains Germany’s largest trading partner, although Germany imports more than it exports.
More than a million German jobs depend on that relationship. Take as an example car giant Daimler, which sells more than a third of its vehicles in China.
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption,German company Daimler is expanding its resources in China
In the first half of this year, German businesses invested more in China than ever before. Chemical company BASF has just opened a new plant in south China and expects to invest €10bn (£8.6bn; $9.9bn) in the site by the end of this decade.
On the eve of the visit, the head of the German Automotive Industry Association pointed to Germany’s reliance on China for raw materials and warned that “de-coupling” would be an economic and geo-strategic mistake.
Her counterpart at the Association of Small and Medium Businesses also advised against a sudden change in course, saying “the advice can only be not to smash any Chinese porcelain now”.
Chancellor Scholz will spend less than 12 hours in Beijing. His aim, he said ahead of his journey, was to find out how much co-operation was still possible – because “the world needs China” in the fight against the global pandemic and climate change.
“If China is changing, then our approach to China must change,” he said.
Many in Berlin and beyond will be looking for evidence of that Mr Scholz’s response to a shifting China may yet come to be the defining test of his chancellorship.
Assin Central Member of Parliament, Kennedy Agyapong, has admitted that things are hard under the present economic conditions, especially so for businesses.
Without enumerating the specifics of his claim, the outspoken lawmaker called for decisive action by way of rethinking plans, policies and programmes to ensure Ghana is weaned off donations and external support.
Agyapong was speaking on the October 25 edition of Net2 TV’s Morning Show programme.
“Business is tough, the economy is tough. If I sit here and say it is otherwise, I will be lying. I must admit that things are tough.
“But there is hope and what we should bear in mind is that it is situations like this that births inventions and innovations,” he stressed.
He said Ghana needs to reset and recalibrate economic models because “everyone the world over is taking care of themselves and to that end, we cannot depend solely on donations and handouts. It is time to review our policies and programmes and be bold.”
He related to pragmatic policies citing the touted policies of Dan Lartey’s Great Consolidated Popular Party, GCPP, and the Acheampong era. “We should put policies in place to help us live as normal human beings created by God.
He also referred to a list of imports and how much it costs, advancing thus, “let us address the importation of certain goods, import substitutions and build more factories,” citing how the 1D1F projects can help build an export-oriented economy as compared to the import-dependent one Ghana is grappling with.
Later that morning, a group of NPP MPs held a press conference demanding the removal of the Finance Minister over his management of the economy and the hard times that citizens were facing.
President Akufo-Addo intervened and got a concession on two grounds, that the Minister be allowed to conclude initial talks with the International Monetary Fund and present the 2022 budget and see to passage of its appropriation.
The president has also addressed the nation on the economic challenges and how the government intends to tackle them.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader, has stated that the entire Majority Caucus in Parliament, now support calls for the dismissal of Ken Ofori-Atta, Finance Minister.
According to him, even though the issue started with over 90 NPP MPs who organised a press conference to demand the removal of the embattled minister else they boycott any government business in the House, the entire Majority Caucus now aligns with the position of the group.
The Suame MP speaking at a news conference on Thursday, November 3, 2022, explained, “even though the issue started with the group of 80 plus, the caucus meeting aligned with the position of that group, so it is no longer the cause of the 80 plus MPs. It is the agenda for the entire caucus and we are having some discussions on that.”
The Majority Leader who is also the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs had earlier stated on Accra-based Joy FM that there had been an attempt by a wealthy businessman to influence the MPs who organised the press conference to back down on their decision.
“I’m told on authority that some businessman came here and tried to do something. I was told that he came here and tried to mediate in his own way what he thinks the problem is…he was repelled by the people and told he was told not to involve himself. So he went away,” Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu told Joy News in an interview.
“With particular reference to the attempted bribery, it’s come before me. We’ll investigate if it is true and if it is true, establish the motive of that person. Sometimes, these things come up.
“You remember the issue of a minister who was nominated to appear before the vetting committee. There was an allegation that he had attempted to bribe some people or influence some people. Eventually, it turned out to be – I will not say falsehood – but an untruth,” he stated further.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had already appealed to the NPP MPs to allow Ken Ofori-Atta to stay in office until the IMF negotiations and the 2023 Budget statement is presented.
He made this appeal in a meeting with the MPs at the Jubilee House shortly after they held the October 25 press conference to demand the sacking of Mr. Ofori-Atta.
The economic hardship facing Ghanaians has worsened, especially with the recent increase in fuel prices.
Currently, at the fuel pumps, diesel is being sold for more than GH¢23 whilst the price of petrol is hovering around GH¢18.
The recent hikes have not affected only ordinary Ghanaians but also some Members of Parliament, MPs. This is despite the widely held notion that the state fuels their vehicles.
Kobina Tahir [K.T.] Hammond, the Adansi Asokwa NPP MP has been detailing how he nearly fought with a fuel attendant after he was told about recent hikes at the pump.
In a Joy News interview on Thursday, November 3, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, the MP lamented about the current hardship, especially the fuel price increment, and its effect on Ghanaians.
K.T. Hammond said, “a few days ago, I went to the garage, they pumped the fuel into the car and they came to give me the bill, it almost turned into a Third World War at the station. I asked why is he giving me this, and he said just yesterday price of super moved to what the price of diesel used to be.
“It is a particularly difficult situation and I do not envy the lot. Those who are really having to juggle.”
He added, “it is not a situation peculiar to only Ghana. We have heard about the situation in Sri Lanka. It is a redeeming situation for those of us in Ghana. At least, we are not in long queues. Oil-producing countries like Nigeria and others are all in queues, we are not.”
The MP, who is also a member of the Mines and Energy Committee in Parliament is of the view that the current price hikes is largely blamable on Oil Marketing Companies and Bulk Distribution Companies trying to make astronomical profits but he did not rule out the poor performance of the cedi as a factor.
He stressed that he is completely against removing taxes and other margins on the fuel price build-up because there are serious governmental efforts underway to ease the pressure in the system.
“It’s the OMC, the big ones and the BDCs. I have a problem and they better sort it out well. They got the dollar at whatever rate so somebody should pay for it…I am concerned that some OMCs are making unnecessary profits and I think we should be careful how they are also playing the market, we are in this together.
“President has travelled out of the country many times and sent out a delegation to make sure that in a very short time we would be able to flood the market with some petroleum products. I am not happy with the way the BDCs are going about this situation,” K.T. Hammond observed.
Some frustrated drivers in the Greater Accra Region have pledged to review their prices anytime there is fuel increments in the country.
According to them, they will not wait on the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) to engage with government on the upward adjustment percentage.
Speaking to Accra-based TV3, one driver argued that, Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) don’t give any announcement prior to the increment of fuel, thus, drivers don’t need to alert government about their transport fares as well.
“We wake up and petrol and diesel prices have been increased. Do the operators announce their decision to increase it? So why should we inform government about our decision to increase transport fares?
“Nowadays, we will just make things simple. If we go to the filling stations and fuel prices have increased, we will just increase our fares as well,” one angry driver told the journalist.
This comes after the Concerned Drivers Association increased transport fares for the second time in two weeks.
Drivers on Saturday, October 29, started the implementation of the 19% increment in transport fares. At the time a litre of diesel and petrol was sold at ¢15.99 and ¢13.99.
A litre of diesel now sells at ¢23.49 and petrol sits at ¢17.99.
This has forced drivers to unilaterally increase transport fares again without any consultation with government.
The drivers bemoaned the state of the economy. Describing it as terrible, one driver asked, “Where are we going? Does government want to kill us?”
Considering the impact of skyrocketing prices of fuel on the economy, one driver suggested that government should revamp the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to prevent the import of expensive fuel.
“Things are really getting out of hand so this move will help to an extent.” Meanwhile, the GPRTU says it will not make any public comment on the matter until a meeting is held.
An Environmental Scientist, Professor Chris Gordon, has described illegal mining popularly known as galamsey as a “mental problem” adding that if urgent measures are not taken to stop the menace, the country will be mortgaging its future.
Speaking on Citi TV’s roundtable discussion on Galamsey, on Thursday, November 3, 2022, the former Director of the Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies at the University of Ghana said Galamsey is a full-time problem that cannot be solved with part-time responses.
“Galamsey is a mental problem, it is a mental problem because you cannot steal today and expect to eat your cake tomorrow,” Professor Gordon said.
Professor Gordon who enumerated some of the dangers of illegal mining said the major danger with galamsey is the destruction of water bodies which makes treatment difficult for domestic use.
“There is no substitute for water, if you don’t eat yam, you can eat cassava, but water may be beer, but there is no substitute for it.”
The discussion touched on the potential effects of galamsey on water bodies, as well as measures to restore these water bodies.
The Citi Galamsey Dialogue dubbed “Galamsey and Ghana’s Water Security” aimed at bringing together important stakeholders in the water sector to deliberate on the state of Ghana’s water resources and examine the effects of illegal mining on Ghana’s water security.
Dr. Bob Alfa, Director of Planning at the Water Resources Commission; and Dr. Adwoa Yirenkyi Fianko, a Senior Lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) spoke at the event.
The Director of Planning at the Water Resources Commission, Dr. Bob Alfa says Ghana is already importing water.
Speaking at the Citi TV’s Roundtable Discussion on Galamsey, Mr. Alfa said: “I hear people say all the time that if we don’t take time, we will soon import water. When we say Ghana is importing water, we often look at the physical importation but on the face of it, that is already happening. We are importing labour and tools into our water supply mechanisms.”
“Whatever we consume is produced with water and if you don’t develop your water resources, and then you import some country’s products, what you are importing is what they have done as far as their water development is concerned,” he explained.
He blamed the issue on the country’s lack of investment in its water resources.
“We do not even invest in our water resources, we do not manage our water resources very well.”
The Water Resources Commission (WRC) was established by an Act of Parliament (Act 522 of 1996) with the mandate to regulate and manage Ghana’s Water Resources and coordinate government policies in relation to them.
The Act stipulates that ownership and control of all water resources are vested in the President on behalf of the people, and clearly defines the WRC as the overall body responsible for water resources management in Ghana.
The Commission, which provides a forum for integration and collaboration of different interests, is composed of the major stakeholders involved in the water sector.
The Citi Galamsey Dialogue dubbed “Galamsey and Ghana’s Water Security” aimed at bringing together important stakeholders in the water sector to deliberate on the state of Ghana’s water resources and examine the effects of illegal mining on Ghana’s water security.
A former Chief Justice of Ghana, Justice Sophia Akuffo, has called for a focus to also be placed on discussions of subjects related to refugees in the country when issues of human rights are being discussed.
The former head of the judiciary explained that issues concerning refugees should be given attention because a lot of them also concern human rights.
She made this known when she addressed the maiden public lecture series of the Central University’s Faculty of Law on Reflections on the Law on Wednesday, November 2, 2022.
“Many times, we forget that refugee-ism also raises a lot of human rights issues. And when we are talking about human rights, we must never forget about refugees,” she said.
The public lecture was on the topic, “The Enforcement of Human Rights in Africa.”
A 40-year-old Ghanaian man, Joshua Opoku has been jailed in Dubai for trafficking a narcotic substance believed to be cannabis also known as weed.
Mr. Opoku was said to have been arrested at an airport in Dubai after the Gulf country’s officials found the substance on him.
According to the brother of the convict, Yaw Amponsah, his brother did not know there was such a substance on him.
He claimed that the substance was implanted on him unknowingly and Ghanaian Custom Officers at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) allowed him to pass after taking One Hundred dollars from him.
Narrating how Opoku was arrested, Mr. Amponsah told crimecheckghana.org that his brother was introduced to a Dubai-based Ghanaian known as Prince by a friend.
This he said was after his brother was promised a job in the Gulf State.
He continued that his brother did not know Prince but were only in touch via phone.
Mr. Amponsah indicated that Prince asked Opoku to bring along with him some local food items, which he obliged.
The distraught man said when it was due for Opoku to go aboard the Dubai-bound airplane, Prince requested him to receive one last item from his brother for him.
That particular item, according to Mr. Amponsah was already in a wrapped container and when Opoku wanted to know its content, Prince told him it was hair food.
Mr. Amponsah said security officers at the Dubai airport arrested him when they found out that the content of the container was weed.
“Opoku had visited South Africa and wanted to go to Dubai for greener pastures. Opoku should have been arrested in Ghana but Customs officers at the KIA took $100 from him. So I think the officers saw the substance on him but they allowed him to pass,” Mr. Amponsah alleged.
Mr. Amponsah furthered that when Opoku was arrested, he mentioned that Prince asked him to bring him the substance.
He said the Dubai authorities did not go after Prince but went ahead to imprison his brother for ten years.
“When we managed to contact Prince, he denied knowledge of the substance. The Dubai authorities did not go after him which is why they have jailed my brother. Opoku is an innocent man and he would never perpetrate such a crime,” he said.
Mr. Amponsah appealed to Ghanaian authorities to help serve his brother justice and enable him get his freedom.
The Deputy National Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Hamilton Nixon Biney, a.k.a Chief Biney, has revealed the identity of the policeman who allegedly infiltrated his “Ghana Must Work” demonstration against Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
Speaking in a UTV TV interview monitored by GhanaWeb on Tuesday (November 1), Chief Biney, who showed pictures of the said police officer to the cameras, mentioned his name as Kwaku Gameli.
He said that the leadership of the Ghana Police Service should take the matter seriously because the policeman wore the attire of the demonstrators, which could have led to him breaching the court order that stated that only 20 people should participate in the demonstration.
The NDC deputy national organizer added that the police should investigate the matter because the alleged infiltrator claimed not to be a police officer, but he had pictures of him in police uniform.
“When I confronted this man (the infiltrator), he said he was not a police officer, and the media has a video of this. And I said to him that you know me, and I know you, Kweku Gameli; you are a police officer.
“This is the gentlemen (holding up a picture) wearing my t-shirt, “Ghana Must Work”. This is a picture of him holding placards. Look at the danger; this gentleman was right behind me. If he had done something wrong, I would have been held responsible for it.
“This is the policeman (holding another picture of the man with police apparel and a gun). This is him (another picture of him on a motorbike).
“Kweku Gameli came into the police and was a visibility officer. He is a rider and has been involved in an accident on more than one occasion. Because of that (the accidents), he is no longer a rider, but he works as an intelligence officer at Tesano (Police Station),” he said in Twi.
He added that if the Inspector General of the Ghana Police Service, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, fails to take action against Kweku Gameli, he will sue the police.
Chief Biney and his cohorts were protesting against Dr. Bawumia’s handling of the country’s economy.
The protest started at Kawukudi Park, through 37 to the Lands Commission junction, and turned right to the DVLA, where the demonstrators presented a petition to the Office of the Vice President.
Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has admitted that the long delay in the construction of the Pwalugu Multipurpose dam project is as a result of financial constraints.
Speaking at the launch of the Northern Development Authority’s five-year strategic plan in Tamale, Dr. Bawumia said government will look for funds to construct the dam.
“Even though the project is facing financial challenges, we are determined to find the resources to complete the construction of the dam.”
Sod was cut for the construction of the Pwalugu Multipurpose dam project in 2020 and was to be funded with a Sydohydro facility of $993 million.
The project awarded to China Power International group was scheduled for completion four years after the sod cutting.
The project was aimed at addressing the perennial flooding associated with the spillage of the Bagre dam from neighbouring Burkina-Faso and also providing 60MW and 50MW of hydro and solar electricity respectively.
But physical construction of the project at Kurugu in the North East Region is yet to commence after two years and ten months into the project execution period.
Last week, peasant farmers in the Northern part of the country demonstrated over the delay in the construction of the dam.
The farmers expressed fears that the project had been abandoned and called for a probe into it.
According to Dr Donkor who disclosed this in Parliament, “the financials don’t speak well of GNPC. He thus has called for stringent measures to be rolled out to forestall the collapse of the institution.
He bemoaned the fact that the GNPC is funding activities unrelated to its mandate, and warned of dire consequences if this development continues.
“We will urge that from a purely financial analysis, without injection of new funds, GNPC is on the brink of bankruptcy,” he said.
The GNPC is the state agency responsible for the exploration, licensing, and distribution of petroleum-related activities in Ghana.
It has been in operation since its establishment in 1983 by the PNDC Law 64, to support the government’s objective of providing adequate and reliable supply of petroleum products and reducing the country’s dependence on crude oil imports, through the development of the country’s own petroleum resources.
It is on record that the company in 2020, made a loss of USD163.392 million.
The company blamed this on the COVID-19 pandemic which wreaked havoc on many economies.
However, commenting on the report of the Committee on Employment Welfare and State Enterprises on the Financial Performance of GNPC for 2019 and 2020, Mr Duffour noted that the corporation’s coffer is in a bad shape.
He, thus, charged Parliament to take a keen interest in the management of the corporation.
“…Mr Speaker, in supporting the motion. I want to call the attention of this house to the need to bring GNPC, even if it is a committee of whole, to bring GNPC before this house for more critical scrutiny,” he said.
Also, Chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee Samuel Atta Akyea, noted that it appears the GNPC has drifted from its core mandate, a development which has accounted for its current woes.
Worried over the current state of the corporation, a ranking member on the Mines and Energy Committee, John Jinapor, bemoaned that the financial position of GNPC is devastating – a situation he said could lead to the collapse of the company.
He further lamented the huge losses recorded over the period in review. “I’m very, very worried about the state of GNPC reading this report. And if you look at Page 4, is tasked with the profitability assessment of the company. If we look at the gross profit margin, which is the gross profit expressed as a percentage of your total sales, it has reduced from 50% in 2018 to 26% in 2019 to 0.3% in 2020.” “If you look at the operating profit… it has moved from 28% to -19.23%, nearing the point that money doesn’t like noise.”
This comes after policy think tank IMANI Africa and the Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP) alleged that GNPC could cost Ghana between US$5 billion and US$6 billion. According to the two companies, the GNPC’s current arrangement with Genser Energy Holdings, a US-based Ghanaian-owned energy company, would lead to financial loss to the state.
GNPC, however, has debunked the assertion, emphasising that the figures quoted by ACEP and Imani to represent programmed losses are in fact budget deficits.
GNPC further stated that what it presents to Parliament in its annual Work Program is what the Corporation intends to spend on its activities and the sources of funding for such projects, and the means of financing the forecasted deficit, if any.
“It is based on these mis-represented figures that ACEP and Imani draw their conclusion that GNPC’s operations raise significant debt concerns, and that cumulatively, the Corporation’s actions could cost Ghana between US$5 billion and US$6 billion. These conclusions cannot be any further from the truth,” a document from GNPC sighted by The Independent Ghana read.
“The two organisations make basic errors, in their inability to distinguish between deficit financing and profit/loss,” the Corporation added.
According to GNPC, it remains a perennial loss-making organisation that has made a loss in only one year, i.e. 2020.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has explained that customs valuation primarily relies on the first (1st) out of the six (6) methods of valuation provided under the WTO valuation methods, which is the Transactional value.
A statement issued by GRA, said, “Goods are benchmarked to the prevailing world prices as a risk management tool, to reflect the true market dynamics of those commodities”.
Below is a statement from GRA:
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) wishes to clarify issues surrounding the application of benchmark values in determining Customs values for duty purposes.
Customs valuation is based on the General Agreement on Trade & Tariff (GATT), Article VII which is adhered to by all member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This has been captured under Section 67 & 68 of the Customs Act 2015, Act (891).
Customs valuation primarily relies on the first (1st) out of the six (6) methods of valuation provided under the WTO valuation methods, which is the Transactional value.
However, where the Customs values cannot be determined under the first method of the WTO methods of valuation, some risk management tools allowed by the laws and procedures are used to determine the value under Methods 2 to 6 of the WTO methods. This includes the use of reference price list otherwise known as the Benchmark Values.
Goods are benchmarked to the prevailing world prices as a risk management tool, to reflect the true market dynamics of those commodities. The Benchmark Values are not meant to replace or substitute transactional values. They are only used when the conditions for the acceptance of the Transactional values are not met.
The GRA therefore wishes to inform the general public that, Customs valuation is based on international best practices, procedures and treaties that Ghana has acceded to and passed into the Customs Act.
We wish to inform members of the trading community that they have a right to appeal to the Commissioner-General for a possible review of any Customs valuation they deem unfair.
Maternal deaths have declined significantly in the Upper East Region within the first 10-months of 2022.
At the end of October 2022, the region recorded 22 deaths, compared to the 39 deaths recorded within the same period in 2021 and 42 deaths in the whole of 2021.
This is attributed to the many interventions being rolled out at the regional, district and community levels by the authorities of the Ghana Health Service(GHS) and partners in the region.
Dr Josephat Nyuzaghl, the Deputy Regional Director, Ghana Health Service in charge of Public Health, announced this in Bolgatanga at the launch of a STAR-Ghana Gender Rights and Empowerment Project (G-REP) organised by the Rural Initiatives for Self-Empowerment (RISE-Ghana), a Non- Governmental Organisation.
The three-year project with funding support from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is aimed at strengthening health committees and citizens groups to champion access to quality maternal health in the Talensi and Nabdam Districts.
Dr Nyuzaghl underscored the need for collective and sustained efforts from all stakeholders to consolidate the gains made in reducing maternal deaths.
He, however, said the Eastern corridor of the region, comprising the Bawku enclave had in recent years recorded high maternal deaths and noted that lack of district hospitals to serve as referral facilities and other critical health professionals contributed to that effect.
He expressed the hope that government’s agenda 111 and the move by the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council to task all the Municipal and Districts in the region to take measures to attract medical doctors to their respective areas would contribute to address the problem and improve upon maternal and child health.
“Last year, more than 50 per cent of the deaths came from Bawku, Pusiga, Tempane, Garu, Binduri and Zebilla enclave but a lot of work has gone on at the community level to try to encourage them to report early for antenatal care and get the minimum package for pregnant women,” he added.
Mr Awal Ahmed Kariama, the Executive Director, RISE-Ghana, said apart from the country’s agenda of achieving Universal Health Coverage by 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals called for the need to prioritise and improve healthcare delivery systems, especially at the health facility level for improved maternal health.
To this end, he said, the project sought to mobilise women, girls and citizen groups, including civil society organisations and the media to champion issues of maternal health financing and policy implementation to ensure that the service provided at the healthcare facilities were quality and accessible.
He said as part of the project, the facility health committees in 14 sub-districts and health facilities in the two districts would be strengthened to use the scorecard to help them develop action plans.
“We want to further use these action plans to influence the budget and plans of the local district assemblies in Talensi and Nabdam as well as engage the private sector actors.
“We want to create an enabling environment and local dialogue around increasing financing for maternal health service delivery,” Mr Kariama added.
When President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo‘s brother appeared before the Accra High Court where he is suing Class Media Group, the Executive Director of the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), Mensah Thompson, and others for defamation, Lawyer Victor Adawudu grilled him under cross-examination.
Lawyer Adawudu was representing the Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson.
Thompson is accused of falsely claiming on the Accra-based Class FM that Mr. Akufo-Addo travelled to Abuja for his personal business using the presidential jet.
Edward Akufo-Addo in his answers to some of the questions posed confirmed using the presidential jet ‘two or three times’ only in the presence of the president.
Bumpty, as he is known popularly, had earlier indicated in his suit that the claim by the accused was “utterly false and a product of the defendant’s imagination.” He demanded among other reliefs that the court orders Thompson to pay ¢10 million as damages.
The brother of the president, on October 31 opened his case and informed the court of his decision to rely on his six-page witness statement.
Here is a portion of the transcript of what transpired in court between Lawyer Victor Adawudu and Edward Akufo-Addo:
Question: Have you ever boarded the Presidential Jet?
Answer: Yes My Lord. 2 or 3 times with the President and once with the 1st Lady.
Question: Can you tell this court the destination when you used the Presidential Jet with the President?
Answer: I believe to Kumasi and with the 1st Lady, returning from Kumasi.
Question: Is it your case that the 2 consecutive flights that you had with the President was from Accra to Kumasi and back?
Answer: Yes, to the best of my recollection.
The President’s brother explained that he boarded the jet because the President asked him to accompany him.
Question: Is having the privilege of using the Presidential Jet with your brother, His Excellency, in what capacity did you board the jet?
Answer:He asked me to accompany him.
Question: In other words, you did not go with him as a public official. Not so?
Answer:That is so, I am not a public official.
Question: And the privilege extended to you by the President was because you are his family. Not so?
Answer: That is so. I am his brother.”
He was then questioned on how much he paid each time he boarded the Jet. Mr Akufo-Addo replied that he did not pay anything.
Answer: I didn’t pay anything. The President did not ask me to pay.
Question:: Putting it to you that the courtesies that you enjoyed without paying were borne by government machinery from public funds.
Answer: I am sure the flight was paid for from public funds, I do not think my joining the flight incurred any additional costs. My brother was going there in any event”, he answered.
Background:
The ASEPA Executive Director alleged on the media outlet that Edward Akufo-Addo had used the presidential jet for a private trip to Abuja.
The plaintiff subsequently dragged Thompson and Class Media to court for defamation demanding GH¢10 million as damages.
In his suit, he described the claims as “utterly false and a product of the defendant’s imagination.”
It is not the only time Thompson has made such allegations; he is on record to have claimed that relatives of the president used the jet for a shopping trip to the United Kingdom.
He was arrested for the publication of fake news after the military denied that the jet had been used for the said trip. He later apologized for the claim stating that his source had misled him.
Other reliefs being sought:
Aside from the GHc10 million cedis in damages, Edward is seeking other reliefs from the court, among others:
“An apology and retraction of the words complained of particularly in paragraph 9 of the Statement of Claim with the same prominence as the impugned publication”.
And a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, whether by themselves, their servants, agents or assigns, from repeating the same or other, similar words of and concerning the plaintiff.
Lastly, he is asking for costs inclusive of legal fees.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has said austerity measures are inevitable in efforts to stabilize the economy.
On the path to full recovery from Ghana’s economic crisis, the people are bound to face either IMF conditionality or home-grown tough decisions that will affect the domestic market, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey observed.
“The road back to robust growth, which Ghana and a number of African countries experienced successively in the years before COVID-19 struck, is currently a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. We have to either impose IMF-guided austerity, potentially leading to labour retrenchment and accompanying social instability, as witnessed in Argentina and elsewhere, or home-grown yet equally tough decisions to satisfy the markets and, hopefully, pave the way back to a functioning economy.
“The harsh sacrifices required, themselves, have become a source of instability and an invitation to malign actors,” she said in a statement on the sidelines as Ghana assumes Presidency of the United Nations Security Council.
Already, the Minority in Parliament has signaled an imminent debt restructuring billed to happen in the next 14-days that will possibly affect the investor community as part of the IMF negotiations.
President Akufo-Addo in an address on the economy on Sunday assured Ghanaians that no individual or institutional investor, including pension funds, in government treasury bills or instruments will lose their money, as a result of the ongoing IMF negotiations.
However, in reaction to the remarks by the President, the minority leader Haruna Iddrisu maintained that contrary to assurances by the President that there will be ‘No haircuts’, investors in government bonds and other pension funds will be adversely affected by the move.
Below is the Statement by the Foreign Affairs Minister:
We Are Running Out of Time
By Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Republic of Ghana.
I was told many years ago about a common refrain in newsrooms: “If it bleeds, it leads”. In other words, the bloodier an event, the more prominent its place in the newspaper or bulletin. I believe this axiom still holds true today. It explains why the catastrophic sights and sounds – the bleeding – in Ukraine is top of mind for the world. And justifiably so.
However, as Ghana assumes the Presidency of the United Nations Security Council in November, the world cannot afford to focus solely on events in Ukraine, its impact on the living conditions of people everywhere notwithstanding. We cannot forget that before the invasion of Ukraine, COVID-19 had exposed the lack of resilience of the economies in which the majority of the global population live. In fact, the war in Ukraine exacerbated the harsh effects of the downturn many countries were already experiencing, deepening poverty, unemployment and food insecurity.
We cannot forget either that the UN Security Council faced a leadership crisis in finding better ways to respond to threats to international peace and security, as the nature of those threats were, themselves, changing. Africa, for instance, has become the epicentre of terrorism. Meanwhile, in the countries where the UN maintains its signature peacekeeping missions, some of the host countries have chosen, instead, to engage third parties, sometimes in conflict with the operations of UN peacekeepers.
It is clear that the ways in which the Security Council approaches the mandate for international peace and security ought to change, if we are to have sustainable peace, which is a prerequisite for achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030. Right now we are running out of time in transforming the lives of people and saving our planet.
At the UN, Security Council reforms are often seen only in terms of expanding the permanent membership and power of veto to make the council more representative of all of the peoples of the world. Those reforms are important and necessary. But we believe that it is equally important to look at another area of reforms that would enable peace to serve the needs of ordinary people for resilience and a good quality of life.
In this we are inspired by the example of the second Secretary‐General of the UN, Dag Hammarskjold, who had an innovative approach to the possibilities of the UN and its Charter, and is credited with the introduction of peacekeeping. The bold act of adopting a General Assembly Resolution on 7 November, 1956, which launched the first peacekeeping operation in history, the UN Emergency Force in the Middle East (UNEF), at a time when it was urgently needed, should inspire us in our time to act equally boldly because circumstances have changed.
Like Hammarskjold, we must recognize that “the purposes of the Charter (are) fixed and binding, but the working methods of the Organization must be flexible and innovative”.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana and I are calling on the Council to consider that time has come for another departure from the norm as Hammarskjöld did when UNEF was established.
As my country, Ghana, prepares to preside over two high level debates of the Council, we want to focus, like a laser beam, on the security gap and the need for a new and innovative template for success. That template should take into account the factors that make peace keeping operations almost permanent, and why individuals and communities become susceptible to radicalization and recruitment as terrorists, driving the new face of threats to international peace and security.
In the Sahel and coastal West Africa, the countries that were the most successful in reaching striking distance of the SDGs, especially on poverty reduction and education, now find themselves struggling, as poorer countries rather shoulder the worst impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Climate Change and conflict in Europe. High fiscal deficits, escalating debt and downturns in economic activity are pushing us out of the bond markets at a time when inequality soars and unemployment and underemployment of millions is turning frustration into hopelessness. Increasingly, even some among the middle classes in Africa and other developing countries are beginning to lose faith in the democratic systems they fought so hard to establish.
The road back to robust growth, which Ghana and a number of African countries experienced successively in the years before COVID-19 struck, is currently a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. We have to either impose IMF-guided austerity, potentially leading to labour retrenchment and accompanying social instability, as witnessed in Argentina and elsewhere, or home-grown yet equally tough decisions to satisfy the markets and, hopefully, pave the way back to a functioning economy. The harsh sacrifices required, themselves, have become a source of instability and an invitation to malign actors.
In the Sahel, climate-induced insecurity, poverty, high illiteracy rates and education that neither teaches skills nor a culture of peace and non-violence (SDG Target 4.7), youth unemployment and the absence of the State in large swathes of territory have created the environment in which terrorists thrive and undermine the effectiveness of the kinetic military operations to root them out.
It is clear that the critical need to fill the security gap brought on by economic and other root causes of conflict should be a priority for the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been insistent on the need for funding the entire peace continuum, including increasing resources for programmatic financing, and for a mechanism for fighting terrorism in Africa.
The Council can no longer turn a blind eye to the accumulating evidence before us. That means ensuring that UN Security Council-mandated peace support missions or counter terrorism have a balanced approach to both the military and civil components, with as much resources devoted to building community resilience, access to good quality education and training, and mitigating climate impacts and reclaiming land and water bodies on which communities depend.
It means standing with other organs of the UN to advocate for a new model of development cooperation that reinforces the capacity of developing countries to deepen their development resilience. I know that these may not make for easy headlines but we must bring attention to, and act on, them as a matter of preventive urgency.
It is time for bold thinking and bolder action or we shall simply run out for time, leaving us with neither peace nor development – except bloodier headlines.
The Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye, has stated that not all the factors affecting the country’s economy are external.
It will be recalled that on several occasions, government officials, including President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, have blamed the economic crises being experienced in the country on the effects of COVID-19 and the recent Russia-Ukraine War.
But speaking on Thursday, November 3, 2022, edition of Good Morning Ghana and monitored by GhanaWeb, the former Member of Parliament for Ledzokuku explained that admittedly, some of the factors affecting the country are internal.
He cited debt levels as part of the reasons the country is battling with the economy.
“Not all the factors responsible for our situation are external; our debt levels are also not so good. Debt servicing swallows most of the funds we get,” he said.
Not all the factors responsible for our situation are external; our debt levels are also not so good. Debt servicing swallows most of the funds we get – @OkoeBoye#GoodMorningGhana
Workers of VALCO have debunked claims by the management that they have rejected a 22% salary increment.
Speaking on Starr Today with Joshua Kodjo Mensah Wednesday, the Local Union Youth Rep for VALCO, Mr. Courage Nunekpeku said that management’s press release indicating that workers have rejected salary increment is false.
“How will someone you work for instead of him seeking your welfare will rather want to damage you or let you look stupid in the public eye. The issue is not what they put out. We went for negotiation and we agreed in principle that they were going to restore us, which is a policy in VALCO. Which has to do with the dollar to cedi ratio.
“For instance, if my salary was Ghc1,989 which would be $337 dollars. It means that now that the dollar has shot up to Ghc12 our salary should automatically increase. So this has been the norm since 2010 between management and us since the restoration policy was instituted. Then management scrapped it without letting us know,” Mr. Nunekpeku explained.
He continued: “So when we raised the alarm or concerns to the Chief Executive Officer, he promised us that he was going to work on it. That he has instructed the Human Resource Director to work on it. Later we met the Board and they were also of the opinion that that was the best way to go and that it will be addressed in September.”
Mr. Nunekpeku added that mathematically the increase of their salary cannot be 22 percent as management has put out in the public domain.
According to him, what management is demanding per the rate of dollar is Ghc4 to the dollar instead of GHC12 adding that the workers have even reduced it to Ghc10 to the dollar but the management is adamant.
“It is 57% restoration, in fact asking for reduction in the first place is wrong. Because going forward quarterly whenever the dollar appreciates our salary in cedi must also change,” he added.
The Minority Caucus in Parliament has called on the government and President Akufo-Addo to save the suffering masses now as there is a severe economic crisis.
According to John Jinapor, government can do something about the galloping fuel prices because Ghana has exceeded more than fourfolds of the annual projected oil revenue, and Ghanaians are suffering.
“Something can be done. The president said he was going to look for cheaper oil, from where? And he did not even give us timelines. This will not solve the problem, the only thing that can solve the problem is a practical way, and we have enumerated steps we can take to address the challenge we are going through,” he noted.
He is therefore calling on the government to take measures to address the dire needs of Ghanaians.
The Minority also urged government to revamp and operationalize the Tema Oil Refinery to provide Ghanaians with cheaper and sufficient petroleum products and avoid the hikes.
Glencore is facing fines in millions of dollars for a series of corruption offences in which it used a private plane to fly money to bribe officials in different African governments.
In June, a division of the FTSE 100 commodities behemoth admitted to paying many bribes to get access to oil supplies.
Following the filing of a number of charges by the Serious Fraud Office, it was the first time a firm had ever been found guilty of bribery under UK law (SFO).
Glencore may face fines of over £243 million, and the SFO is requesting the highest confiscation order ever against a British business of £93.4 million, as well as £4.5 million in fees.
At today’s sentence hearing at Southwark Crown Court in London, the exact sum will be decided.
Glencore’s attorney stated on Wednesday at a hearing that the company “unconditionally regrets the harm caused.”
However, prosecuting attorney Alexandra Healy asserted that “corruption was pervasive inside the enterprise” and that “offering of bribes was an accepted method of conducting business for the company.”
After a protracted inquiry, it was discovered that Glencore’s London-based oil trading department paid bribes totaling more than £24 million to get privileged access to cargoes in South Sudan, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Ivory Coast, and Nigeria.
The investigation discovered that a Glencore agent in Nigeria took over £3.6 million from a slush fund and often used a private plane to fly the money to Cameroon to bribe authorities, among a long list of other offences.
Agents, executives, and dealers for Glencore were so casual that they frequently addressed one another as “senorita” and “bro,” even when talking about bribery.
Another agent received £870,000 in 2011 to pay bribes to Equatorial Guinean authorities in exchange for access to oil cargo, and the company reportedly approved £5,000 in “hotel charges” for the agent during a trip to London.
A top SFO team comprised entirely of women led the Glencore inquiry.
Photo credits: The Guardian
These included, (above) from left to right: Sara Chouraqui, joint head of fraud, bribery and corruption and Victoria Jacobson, the prosecutor for Operation Azoth – codename for the Glencore probe – as well as department director Lisa Osofsky and case controller Liz Collery.
A Glencore official made a request for approximately £700,000 from the business’ Swiss cash desk the same year, purportedly for “establishing an office in South Sudan” soon after the country gained independence.
Results of the Global InfoAnalytics have shown that as much as 54% of Ghanaian respondents to a poll want President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to resign.
According to a report by citinewsroom.com, the respondents to the poll indicated their support for the call for the president to step aside, with 40 percent of respondents disagreeing that he should step down.
The poll also asked respondents whether they want the Economic Management Team (EMT), led by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to be replaced due to the current economic downturns in the country.
The report indicated that as much as 78% of the 1407 respondents supported that call, with 18% being against it.
The Global InfoAnalytics poll also found out from respondents who they believed would be a better manager of the current economic crisis in the country between John Dramani Mahama, Alan Kyerematen, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Kennedy Agyapong, and Kwabena Agyapong.
The respondents voted as such: 43%, 17%, 14%, 8%, and 1%, respectively.
The news report indicated that there, however, 19% of the respondents said they preferred someone else to manage the economy.
Respondents for the poll were selected randomly from across all 16 regions of the country.
All the interviews for the poll were conducted in the space of two days: October 31 and November 1, 2022.
The Municipal Chief Executive Officer for Jaman South, Andrew Bediako, has called on the Minister of Interior, Ambrose Dery, to revoke a 5-year-old curfew placed on two towns in his area, Japekrom and Brobo.
Giving his reasons, the MCE stated that for a long time now, the region has been at peace and as such, the need for the longstanding curfew is no longer relevant.
According to a news report by asaaseradio.com, Andrew Bediako said that even though the violence that broke out in April 2018 in the communities halted economic activities, such challenges have been long resolved.
“I am in talks with the interior minister… We’ve come to a level where everybody is aware that we are one people. So, we cannot continue to have curfew in Jaman South. So, in our next meeting we will discuss and take it to national so they lift curfew. The president and the interior minister need to look at this curfew again,” he said in an interview.
The Jaman South violence of April 2018 led to the deaths of three persons, with 14 others sustaining various degrees of injuries.
The MCE also explained that the curfew is not affecting development of the area.
In the meantime, he has appealed to the inhabitants of the two towns to continue to show that they are at peace so that they can properly develop their areas.
“What we need in Jaman South is togetherness, so what we have to do is that as people let’s come together. Before we talk about development, the first thing we need to talk about is unity,” he added.
Members of Parliament (MPs) on Wednesday took turns to hail the role of journalists in nation building.
Mr Akwasi Konadu, the MP for Manhyia North, who presented a statement on the floor of the House to mark “International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists”, entreated the House to help in any way possible to ensure that media practitioners go about their duties without fear or favour.
This, he said, could be achieved by ensuring the safety and security of media practitioners and giving them all the necessary support to do their jobs.
He urged the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) not to relent in its pursuit of justice for all journalists who had suffered any form of injustice in their line of duties.
He also appealed to the Police to ensure that the killers of Mr Ahmed Hussein-Suale, an investigative journalist and Mr Samuel Kwanena Ennin, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the GJA, were brought to book.
“Parliament, we also want to assure all media practitioners that we stand shoulder to shoulder with them,” Mr Konadu said.
The United Nations General Assembly in 2013 set aside November 2, as the “International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists” to condemn attacks and violence against journalists.
Contributing to the presentation, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader, said the National Media Commission that was charged to regulate the conduct of media practitioners captured under Article 167 of the 1992 Constitution was to promote and ensure the freedom and independence of the media for mass communication or information.
To take all appropriate measures to ensure the establishment and maintenance of the highest journalistic standards in the mass media, including the investigation, mediation and settlement of complaints made against or by the press or other mass media and to insulate the state-owned media from governmental control.
“Mr, Speaker, the Media Commission, regardless of their intention, they are toothless in trying to call media practitioners who to astray to order,” Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said.
“Mr Speaker, we need the media, but the media should not otherwise assume positions that are abhorrent to our society.”
Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minority Leader, said the Day provided journalists an opportunity to evaluate their own performance and to their contributions to Ghana’s functional democracy.
He lauded the contributions of journalists in their collective efforts for Ghana to attain the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“But Mr Speaker, as reported by the UN Secretary General, some 70 journalists have been killed this year in the course of their work and in the course of their duty of contributing to a more enlightening world,” Mr Iddrisu stated.
He said they were demanding Justice for the killing of Ahmed Husein-Suale and urged nvestigative or prosecutorial body handing the matter to discharge the responsibility with some credibility to give assurance to practicing journalists that they would not just wither away their lives in their services without support or compensation for their family.
“It is important that we celebrate and commend the Ghana Journalists Association and to urge them, what we need is the commitment of Government to continue to respect those freedoms,” he said.
He said Ghana still needed a new broadcasting law to regulate broadcasting generally.
Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, the MP for Abuakwa South, in his submission, said, as a legal practitioner, he had had to represent some people in the courts of law, who were defamed by certain media publications.
He noted that when someone’s hard won reputation was defamed through the publication of the journalist, it was difficult repairing, especially when it was carried on the internet.
“In trying to fly your story to make some money, be careful of the reputation of others, because money cannot buy the reputation of someone,” Mr Atta Akyea said.
Dr Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, MP for Wa Central, urged Ghanaians to hold journalists in high esteem and not to look at them with disrespect.
He said Ghana was seen as an oasis of peace in the subregion, and that Ghanaians should ensure to handle journalists with pride; saying that journalists would be comfortable in doing their jobs, and that Ghana could be a source of inspiration for other nations.
An aspiring General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Peter Boamah Otokunor, has described the bid of the ruling party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), going into the 2024 elections as a “last kick of a dying horse.”
The current Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, who is seeking the substantive office of the Chief Executive position of the opposition party, explained that he knows for sure that the NPP will not give them an easy race in the impending elections.
He added that it will be a desperate attempt for them to hold onto the power they currently have.
“The power 2024 will not be child’s play. It will not be a joke. The NPP is not going to allow us to take it easy. It is going to be the last kick of a dying horse and you know what the last kicks of a dying horse means: the NPP will do anything to hold onto power,” he said.
Speaking to GhanaWeb TV’s Nimatu Yakubu Atouyese on Election Desk, Dr. Peter Otokunor further stated that while that is the case, there is a need for the NDC to go into the race with a bold and fearless person.
Putting himself forward as that candidate to be able to go head-to-head with the NPP in 2024, the politician said that he is ready to sacrifice it all.
“Now, that would mean you would need somebody who is courageous, who is bold and fearless. Somebody who is ready to sacrifice it all. Somebody who wants to leave a legacy. Somebody who is very hungry for power to lead the party, and that is Dr. Peter Boamah Otokunor for you,” he said.
North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Thursday but it failed mid-flight, say the South Korean military.
The ICBM launch is Pyongyang’s seventh this year, and comes amid concerns that it will soon test a nuclear weapon.
It comes a day after both Koreas fired missiles in an escalation of tensions.
That exchange saw the most number of missiles launched by the North in a single day.
North Korea’s multiple launches comes as the US and South Korea are staging their largest-ever joint air drills, which Pyongyang has strongly criticised as “aggressive and provocative”.
On Thursday North Korea fired a long-range missile at around 07:40 local time (23:40 GMT), according to a statement from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. A source confirmed with the BBC that it was an ICBM.
It flew for about 760km (472 miles) and reached a height of around 1,920 km.
But the launch was “presumed to have ended in failure”, South Korea’s military said.
Pyongyang also fired two short-range ballistic missiles.
The launches led the Japanese government to issue a rare emergency alert on Thursday morning to residents in some of its northern regions, telling them to stay indoors.
Tokyo initially said the missile had flown over Japan, but Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada later said it did “not cross the Japanese archipelago, but disappeared over the Sea of Japan”.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida later condemned North Korea’s “repeated missile launches”, calling them an “outrage”.
The US said the launch demonstrated the threat North Korea’s missile programme poses to neighbours and international peace and security.
“Our commitments to the defence of the Republic of Korea and Japan remain ironclad,” a State Department spokesman said.
Meanwhile South Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said the launches were “deplorable, immoral” during a phone call on Thursday, according to South Korea.
It comes just a month after North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Japan – the first time it had done so in five years.
The North has tested a record number of missiles this year as tensions have risen.
Despite crippling sanctions, Pyongyang conducted six nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017 and is believed to be planning a seventh.
It has continued to advance its military capability – in breach of United Nations Security Council resolutions – to threaten its neighbours and potentially even bring the US mainland within striking range.
Wednesday’s launch saw one of Pyongyang’s ballistic missiles cross the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a disputed maritime border between the Koreas.
It landed outside South Korea’s territorial waters but was the closest a North Korean missile got to the border.
Seoul responded with warplanes firing three air-to-ground missiles that also crossed the disputed maritime demarcation line. It fired a total of 23 missiles on Wednesday.
And they were launched from various points across the country, according to Kim Jong-dae, a visiting scholar of Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies.
“South Korea and the US believe that if they find the starting point of the provocation, they can precisely strike it. But there are starting points all over North Korea, and North Korea is posing multi-dimensional, systematic and simultaneous threats that they can fire (missiles) anywhere in their land. This is a situation which I’ve seen for the first time,” he told local news channel YTN.
With accelerated activity from North Korea since late September, “the end of this is likely to be the seventh nuclear test, to prove their nuclear capabilities and determination,” Park Won-gon, North Korean studies professor at Ewha Woman University, told the BBC.
“It’s unrealistic to expect North Korea to denuclearise, as it wants de facto nuclear state status to sit on the negotiation table with the US.”
Days after a group of New Patriotic Party, NPP, Members of Parliament openly demanded the removal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Attaand Minister of State at the Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen from office, it has emerged that four major statutory payments have been released.
The payments were confirmed by Charles Adomako-Mensah, NDC-MP for Afigya Kwabre North Constituency in the Ashanti Region.
He was answering a question by the host of Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV, Randy Abbey on developments after their October 25 demand via a press conference at the precincts of Parliament.
The four payments made so far are in respect of Common Fund (Quarters 1 and Two), MPs Moni Monitoring and Evaluation (Second quarter), Q1 and Q2 of District Common Fund as well as the Disability Relief Fund to districts.
After confirming the payments individually, the MP added: “That is true, it is true. The payments were supposed to come and there were delays, and it has been paid. It is true.”
Reacting to a shocked co-panellist in the person of Kwesi Pratt, the MP added: “Uncle Kwasi, these are statutory payments, there were delays fortunately they have been paid, thank God, they have been paid…they’ve been paid because they have to be paid.
“I am not too sure if it was because of the demands …the fact that it was after but I am not too sure if it was because of the demands,” he stressed.
“Oh Randy, delays in Common Fund payments are not something new,” Adomako-Mensah added.
The demand for Ofori-Atta’s removal sent shockwaves in the polity with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo hurriedly arranging a meeting with the disgruntled MPs.
Their demand was premised on the tanking Ghanaian economy headed by the embattled minister but a deal was reached.
Under the deal, Ofori-Atta is allowed to stay in office to conclude initial talks with the International Monetary Fund and also present the 2023 budget and oversee the passage of its appropriation before Akufo-Addo decides on his fate.
Ghana’s Eastern neighbour, Togo spends $20 million every month to ensure the prices of essential goods are stable to protect consumers.
Amid the double whammy of Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Togo has been able to keep single digits with both headline and food inflation rates for September pegged at 7.90% and 8.60%, respectively.
According to Togo’s President, Faure Gnassingbe, who was speaking at the 2022 Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, the government is spending $20 million a month to cap prices of basic goods such as wheat, corn and fuel in their economy valued at $8.5 billion.
The President admitted, “That’s not sustainable for our finances so we are trying to set up a new strategy for the mid-and long-term.”
The West African nation is also taking steps to substitute essential imports and reduce emerging spending to curb inflation. For example, the state plans to urge bakers to mix wheat with locally-grown cassava to cut the import bill. At the same time, drivers of petrol-fueled motorbikes, the most widely used form of transportation, are also expected to switch to electric vehicles gradually.
Elsewhere in West Africa
Although Togo’s headline inflation has gone up by more than tenfold, countries like Cote D’Ivoire have seen inflation move from a negative rate of 1.1% in 2019 to 6.3%. Senegal’s inflation rose from 1.8% in 2019 to the prevailing rate of 11.9%. In Ghana, inflation has skyrocketed from 7.1% [pre-Covid] to 37.2% for September 2022.
In his recent address to the nation, President Akufo-Addo admitted that “the whole world has been taken aback by the speed with which inflation has eaten away people’s incomes. Economies, big and small, have experienced, over this year alone, the highest rise in cost of living over a generation…”.
He emphasised that “between the end of 2019 and now, inflation in Ghana has increased by five-fold, in Togo by sixteen-fold, by eleven-fold in Senegal, and by seven-fold in Cote d’Ivoire.”
Despite President Nana Akufo-Addo’s warnings to his Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executive (MMDCEs) to frown on illegal mining activities or risk being sacked, the youth and opinion leaders of Asaman Tamfoe in the Atewa East Constituency of Eastern Region are accusing the District Chief Executive (DCE), Lawyer Kwabena Payin Nkansah, of dabbling in the illicit activities also known as galamsey in the name of community mining.
The two groups are accusing the DCE of dereliction of duties in the declared fight against galamsey in the area. They accused the DCE of turning a blind eye to galamsey activities in the area.
In September, 16 persons were arrested in connection with a shooting incident at Asaman Tamfoe in the Atewa East District of the Eastern Region.
A statement signed by Police Superintendent Ebenezer Tetteh of the Public Affairs, Eastern Region, said the incident occurred between some persons believed to be illegal miners and a community anti-galamsey taskforce on September 29, 2022, when they clashed in the area.
The DCE vehemently denied this allegation speaking in an interview with Emmanuel Quarshie (The Hitman), the host of Ghana Yensom morning show on Accra 100.5 FM on Wednesday, November 2 2022.
According to the DCE, he is not aware that galamsey activities are ongoing in the Asaman Tamfoe area.
He was categorical to say there were no galamsey activities in the area.
“I don’t know if there are any galamsey activities ongoing in the area.
“My attention has not been drawn to any such activities in the area,” he said.
He maintained that the people who are making the allegations should have called on his office to inform him of any galamsey activities in Asaman Tamfoe rather than coming on the radio.
He expressed his displeasure about the issues of galamsey in the area adding that he is rather aware of community mining which has not even started since it was launched in July in the area.
“I‘m aware the people making the allegations have all been against me in the area.
“What I know is what I’m telling you, I don’t know anything about galamsey in the area,” he stressed.
Wofa Yaw Owusu, an opinion leader at Asaman Tamfoe insists the DCE and the chief of the area, Osabrima Kwame Kuh II, are complicit in the activities of illegal mining in the area.
He alleged that the chief has allocated a stool land for galamsey activities in the area.
According to him, they know what the DCE and the chief are doing concerning galamsey activities so they have refused to answer queries from the media any time they are called upon.
A youth leader, Ernest Butha also told The Hitman that the youth in the area have registered their displeasure about galamsey activities in the area because it had destroyed the main source of water named Tamfoe.
When The Hitman further called up the chief, he flatly denied the activities of galamsey in the area adding that he was rather aware of community mining in the area.
The Executive Director of Crime Check Foundation (CCF), Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng who lost his wife to breast cancer seeks answers to whether a Covid-19 injection his late spouse took triggered the disease.
Mr. Kwarteng in his narration of how his wife, Amina Oppong Kwarteng died, said she complained of a lump in her left breast three weeks after she had gone for a Covid-19 jab.
Whiles speaking in an interview with Radio Ghana, it baffled him how in a few weeks her healthy wife’s condition deteriorated so fast that she did not survive despite her treatment in one of the countries with the experts in curing cancers.
“By the time she went to the hospital for treatment, her lymph nodes which fight against diseases had been damaged,” he indicated.
Mr. Kwarteng wants an investigation into who and what category of persons could go for the injection.
“Could it be that there is a category of people who must be eligible for the Covid jab? I think it is worth digging deeper because I suspect the injection triggered the disease. Let’s investigate further the composition of people who should take the jab,” said.
However, Mr. Kwarteng’s consolation has been his lead in the fight against the disease, which gave him a big blow.
The vision of his wife whiles she was in her sick bed mounting an unending fight against breast cancer, according to him, has cemented his motivation to save the lives of patients who cannot afford treatment.
This birthed the Meena Breast Cancer Foundation (MBCF).
“Cancer is very destructive. It does not matter if you have money when the damage has been caused already. It is not all about the money though we need to support the passion and the drive to create awareness of the deadly disease.
With passion, the support will follow so we are keeping the momentum across the country. Taking up my wife’s dreams and vision to help needy patients consolidates my motivation to go all out,” he said.
The MBCF has begun a sensitization and screening outreach in Senior High Schools across the country.
A founding member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, has criticized President Akufo-Addo for failing to mention the menace of corruption and illegal small-scale mining in his address to Ghanaians on the hardship in the country.
In an XYZ TV interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe said that the country was losing a lot of money because of illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) and the president failing to mention it is telling.
He added that corruption, which the president also failed to mention, is the main cause of the hardship Ghanaians are currently facing.
“One thing that was surprising is that the president didn’t talk about galamsey when he was addressing the nation. He should have taken the opportunity to touch on the sensitive areas that have run the economy down.
“Because just as the Asantehene was saying the last time, the gold that comes out of our soil appears to be smuggled out. Our water bodies and forests are just being destroyed for nothing.
“He also failed to touch on corruption which shocked me. Because I can tell you that 70 percent of the problems we have now are because of corruption. And if that is put right, this country will have no problem. There is corruption from top to bottom; that was what I was expecting the president to address,” he said.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, during his address on Sunday, admitted that times are hard economically and that his government is working assiduously to provide relief to the citizenry.
He stressed in an address on the economy that his administration was ready to work towards restoring and resetting the economy on the path of progress and stability.
These views were contained in his October 30, 2022, address to the nation on the state of the economy.
“For us, in Ghana, our reality is that our economy is in great difficulty. The budget drawn for the 2022 fiscal year has been thrown out of gear, disrupting our balance of payments and debt sustainability, and further exposing the structural weaknesses of our economy.
“We are in a crisis; I do not exaggerate when I say so. I cannot find an example in history when so many malevolent forces have come together at the same time,” he added.
“But, as we have shown in other circumstances, we shall turn this crisis into an opportunity to resolve not just the short-term, urgent problems but the long-term structural problems that have bedevilled our economy.
“I urge us all to see the decision to go to the International Monetary Fund in this light,” he stressed.
