TIG Post

Author: Phoebe Martekie Doku

  • Establish a debt limit in the constitution to control borrowing – Dr. Atuahene

    Banking and Corporate Governance Consultant, Dr. Richmond Akwasi Atuahene, has urged Parliament to place a cap on borrowing in the constitution.

    This he believes will prevent the borrowing spree that has led the country into the economic quagmire it finds itself in.

    According to him, the failure to quickly establish a debt limit would result in the current situation repeating itself over and over again in the future.

    Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, Dr. Atuahene said it is about time Ghana followed in the steps of Kenya and Germany by establishing a debt limit.

    “But let me finally say this. In the long term, we need to put a debt limit in the constitution. As you were saying, Kenya has now done it, 50%, you cannot go more than that because we keep on going and going and going and then we come back.

    “I believe the people who look at the constitution who said the constitution doesn’t need to be amended let me assure them German has it, even Americans who borrow and over borrow they have set a debt cap. Unfortunately for Ghana, this one will borrow and borrow and borrow,” he said.

    He further bemoaned the failure of successive governments to use borrowed money to expand and provide sustainable infrastructure to support the Ghanaian economy.

    He noted that most often borrowed monies are used to pay compensations instead of being invested into productive ventures that may earn the country foreign exchange.

    This he says must be avoided at all cost.

    “But if you borrow and you don’t even put in some strategic investment that will work to pay itself, I’m sorry we’ll have this argument, this discussion the next 20 years, the next 40 years because our infrastructure cannot even support the expansion of the economy, but we keep on saying that we’re building the economy,” he said.

    He added, “If you borrow to consume then you’re going to have this challenge that we have. Because it is a country that we don’t want to borrow to expand the infrastructure or the system that will bring the foreign exchange or bring the currency. But if you borrow to support some payment and what have you, refinancing, at the end of it all we’re going to have a problem.”

  • Pressure mounts on government to scrap SIM re-registration deadline

    With three days to the September 30 SIM re-registration deadline, the Communications Ministry is facing a flood of lawsuits against its determination to block unregistered SIM cards.

    Sector Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful’s insistence that the date will not be extended has attracted widespread criticism.

    Already Vice President of IMANI Africa, Selorm Brantie is leading some citizens to sue government on the matter in a bid to extend the deadline or do away with it altogether.

    On Monday, another group, some of whom are constituents of Ningo Prampram filed a writ at the High Court seeking an injunction against the NCA and Attorney General on the exercise.

    Speaking to JoyNews, the MP for Ningo Prampram Sam George said his constituents feel they will be punished for something beyond their control.

    “These are citizens who have complied with the directive and taken every reasonable step to get registered. Whatever is left is outside their control. Either for the NIA to provide them with the card that they have registered.

    “Some registered as far back as 2019 and they still haven’t gotten their cards. Others have registered and the NIA has asked them to come for it in December. So in this case, they can’t do anything except what they have done,” he said.

    He further added that at least six lawsuits have been filed against the NCA on the matter.

  • Government to face difficult refinancing options in repaying maturing T-Bills – Report

    The government may face complicated refinancing options in repaying Treasury bills that will mature on October 2022.

    According to the Weekly Fixed Income Update by Databank Research, a refinancing offer on October 3, 2022, may not get much traction due to the expected domestic debt restructuring.

    It, therefore, pointed out that the government will likely supplement any refinancing offer with the Bank of Ghana support to get more favourable refinancing options.

    “Last week, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ghana’s Issuer Default Rating from ‘CCC’ to ‘CC’. They cited possible debt restructuring, high debt service, and constrained financing as reasons for the recent downgrade. This is expected to complicate the refinancing options of the Treasury on the maturing paper on October 3, 2022 as pricing for a refinancing offer will likely be unfavourable”.

    The government is expected to offer ¢905 million across the 91-day to 182-day bills to refinance total maturities worth ¢786.6 million.

    Treasury fell short of its target first time in 15 weeks

    The Ghanaian Treasury fell short of its auction target during last week’s (September 23, 2022) T-bill offer for the first time in 15 weeks.

    The shortfall in uptake was mainly attributed to subdued bids, with total bids submitted constituting 89.59% of the auction target.

    The weighted average yields of T-bills currently stand at 30.18% for the 91-day, 31.34% for the 182-day and 30.47% for the 364-day tenors.

    Investors to maintain interest in near-term maturities

    Meanwhile, on the bond market, investors will maintain interest in near-term maturities in the secondary market.

    “We expect investors to focus on T-bills in the primary market. Investors may also be on the lookout for a bond offering to refinance the maturing paper on October 3, 22. We expect investors to maintain interest in near-term maturities in the secondary market”.

  • Researchers, extension farmers – linkage committee meet in Jema

    The Department of Agriculture in the Kintampo South District on Friday held the Research, Extension farmer – Linkage Committee (RELC) planning session, at Jema in the Bono East Region.

    RELC was a platform which brought together researchers, agricultural extension officers, farmers and the various stakeholders to deliberate on and to find solutions to challenges faced by farmers in the agricultural value chain.

    It was held under the Modernising Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) project, to help reverse the declining growth of the agriculture sector, and to ensure food security.

    The District Director of Agriculture, Afia Asokua Ofori, stated that a total of 189 farmers from four zones namely Krutakyi, Kokuma, Akora and Sabule presented their challenges, where the most pressing among them were given immediate attention.

    Mrs Ofori indicated that the farmers identified constraints namely high incidence of livestock and poultry diseases, fall army worm infestation, high cost of veterinary drugs and farm inputs.

    She noted that others were the destruction of crops by cattle, high incidence of post harvest loss of food crops, lack of ready market and price standardisation of produce and bad roads linking farms.

    The Bono East Regional Crops Officer, Eric Kantoma, disclosed that as part of measures to address last year’s challenges identified, three farmer – based groups were formed and linked to tractor service providers.

    He was happy to announce that most of their farmers had adopted the usage of hermetic storage bags for cereals and legumes, as a best way to correct poor post – harvest handling of the produce.

    Mr Kantoma was optimistic that proper medication and good husbandry practices for farm animals, training farmers on good agricultural practices and integrated pest management, and effective usage of agrochemicals, would solve most of the constraints enumerated.

    “More farmer-based groups will be formed to negotiate for better price of produce. We will also hold talks between community leaders and herdsmen on how to protect farms from cattle invasion ” he assured.

    The Regional Crops officer indicated that the various challenges in the agriculture value chain enumerated, would be dealt with from the zonal level to the national headquarters.

    A mango farmer, Mr Adjei Dufour, who chaired the session, thanked the Department of Agriculture and partners for promoting the welfare of farmers saying that “we hope the various constraints identified will be given immediate attention.”

  • It’s a shame that Ghana now has zero shares in AngloGold Ashanti – Sam Jonah

    A renowned business executive and former Chief Executive Officer of Ashanti Goldfields, Sir Sam Jonah, has revealed that Ghana’s government has sold all its shares in AngloGold Ashanti.

    According to the business mogul, Ghana sold 30% of its shares in the company in 1994.

    However, the rest of the 25% was sold after the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

    He described the turnout of events as shameful as he bemoaned the low level of ownership the country has in major companies and businesses that are run locally.

    According to him, no Ghanaian has any shares in any of the mines in the country.

    Speaking on GTV’s BBUM show on September 25, 2022, he said: “Ghana’s government has 10 percent interest in all the mines but beyond the government, there is no Ghanaian who has [even] 2 percent shares in the mines. Ghana’s government has 55%, and they sold their interest from 55% to 25% in 1994.

    “So, the Ghana government sold and took 400million dollars out and so Ghana government became 25% and not a 55% shareholder and later on we merged and became AngloGold Ashanti.

    “And currently, as we speak, it has zero equity interest in AngloGold Ashanti. The Ghana government had 10 percent in the mines, like Obuasi etc, but as the company that merged, the Ghana government has zero percent of AngloGold Ashanti, which is a shame because we sold,” he said.

    Sam Jonah also stated that in South Africa, all the mines are owned by South Africans which meant that profit was not expatriated and that accounted for Johannesburg’s recognition as a gold mining city.

    Meanwhile, as Ghana currently faces harsh economic crisis, trade unions have asked the government to institute some laws that will ensure that foreigners who do business in Ghana retain a percentage of their profit in the country.

    They believe that this will help address the rapid depreciation of the cedi.

  • Muslims must eschew bickering, triviality to develop

     National Chairman, Ghana Muslim Mission, Sheikh Dr Amin Bonsu, said Muslims need to eschew bickering and triviality and instead work together to build the capacity of the Muslim community to better serve the nation.

    He said the unity of a relatively large population of Muslims despite being a minority presented an opportunity to raise the needed financial capital to embark on human development projects.

    “We are about six million of the population. Give four million to the youth and the aged. If the 2 million of us can raise GH1 cedis each Friday in a week we can raise GH₵2 million,” he said.

    He gave the advice at the recent second edition of the National Muslim Conference (NMC) on the theme: “Towards a Coherent and Holistic Economic Empowerment Strategy for National Development-The Ghanaian Muslim Ummah in Context”.

    The conference was to create a Forum for Ghanaian Muslims to deliberate on how to make communities economically prosperous and eliminate extreme poverty and deprivation.

    Sheikh Umar Ibrahim, the Imam of Ahlusunna Wal Jamma, noted that a lack of trust over the years had bedevilled the developmental agenda of Muslims in the country due to a lack of transparency and accountability.

    He said it was better late than never for Muslims to come together for a collective goal.

    “If we had conceived this thought since the time of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, we would have progressed better. However, Allah knows the best time for doing things,” he said.

    The Imam of the Shia sect in Ghana, Sheikh Abubakar Kamaludeen, said the Muslim populace must learn to trust politicians who suffered from scepticism even if they meant well for the people.

    “Any initiative coming from a politician is always welcomed by suspicion,” he said.

    He further called for the development of a well-structured dialogue process to ensure stakeholders have ample opportunity to make input into the formulation of documents that would be binding on all stakeholders.

    Maulvi Muhammad Noor Bin Salih, Ameer and Missionary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Ghana, commended the Muslim leadership for setting aside their differences and working together.

    The NMC is expected to serve as the mouthpiece of all Muslims on matters of mutual concern and also to serve as a forum for Ghanaian Muslims to deliberate on national policies and programmes.

    It would also offer opportunities for Muslims to participate in the legislative process through the submission of memoranda to committees of parliament when bills are been considered as well as represents Muslims to seek redress in the courts of the land on matters affecting the legal and fundamental rights of Muslims in Ghana.

    The Conference is established under a deed signed by the National Leaders of all the Muslim groups in Ghana, namely, Ahmadiyya, Tijania, Ahlu Sunnah and Shia as well as the Ghana Muslim Mission and the Muslim Caucus of Parliament.

     

  • Aisha Huang reappears in court today

    After the drama that characterised the first hearing of the case involving Aisha Huang and 3 other Chinese Nationals at the Accra Circuit Court 9, the galamsey Kingpin and her counterparts are expected to make another appearance in court today, September 27, 2022.

    This comes following her 2nd appearance in court on September 14, 2022 where the court denied herself and her 3 counterparts bail on several grounds.

    Ms. Huang who is facing six charges relating to illegal mining activities, together with 3 other Chinese nationals, were remanded by the court on Monday, September 5, 2022.

    Until September 16, Aisha was facing two charges of mining along with three other accomplices, in an Accra Circuit Court, after they were arrested earlier this month including mining without license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals.

    The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, had hinted following the re-arrest of Huang that he would reopen a case discontinued in 2018 against her.

    Four new charges were filed at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court on Friday, September 16, 2022. The virtual hearing took place in the court of Justice Lydia Marfo.

    The charges are undertaking a mining operation without a licence, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry.

    The court denied the accused persons bail after lead counsel Nkrabea-Effah Dartey on Wednesday, September 14, asked the court to grant his client and her three other Chinese counterparts bail.

    Aisha Huang’s request according to GhanaWeb’s court reporter was objected to by the prosecution.

    According to the prosecution, new arrests have been made therefore granting the accused persons bail may give them the opportunity to interfere with witnesses and investigations.

    The prosecution while citing public interest in the matter also argued that Aisha Huang has a history of sneaking in and out of the country and is therefore a flight risk.

    The court in agreeing with the prosecution’s argument remanded the accused persons into custody to reappear on Tuesday, September 27, 2022.

    Chinese galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang broke down in tears while in court on Wednesday, September 14, 2022.

    While it is unclear what warranted her tears, earlier reports from GhanaWeb’s correspondent indicated that one of her colleagues; the second accused; Johng Li Hua, herself a Chinese, fell sick during court proceedings and broke down in tears.

    According to her lawyer, Frank Kumako, his client, Johng Li was on some medications per information from her family.

    She was subsequently rushed to the hospital after she collapsed in the courtroom.

     

  • MDC bars 2022 year students from Ukraine

    Students with Medical and Dental Degree Certificates issued by Medical and Dental Schools from Ukraine in 2022 will not be recognised forthwith by the Medical and Dental Council, (MDC) Ghana until normal academic activities resume.

    A statement issued yesterday and signed by the Registrar of MDC, Dr Divine N. Banyubala, said the council’s attention has been drawn to information that some students were undergoing online medical and dental training being organised by schools in Ukraine, China and some other countries.

    A statement copied to the Ghanaian Times said students who were currently studying medicine or dentistry in Ukraine and have not taken advantage of the one-off opportunity to continue their training here in Ghana or seek transfer to other accredited medical or dental schools in other countries for the completion of their programmes should have themselves to blame.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, the council categorically states that online Medical or Dental training done in any part of the world is short of acceptable professional training standards and is not recognised by the Medical and Dental Council, Ghana,” he said.

    Earlier this year, the MDC observed that the quality of some of the doctors trained outside the country left much to be desired.

    “Now, generally we have had problems relative to the quality of training of foreign doctors and dentists in most of these jurisdictions especially trainees from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and China.

    These quality concerns are generating a lot of anxiety and disquiet among the professional fraternity,” the statement said.

    It said the training of doctors in some foreign countries and the activities of quack or unregistered doctors whose actions were putting the lives of many unsuspecting members of the public in grave danger needed to be looked at.

    The statement explained that the major causes of the failure were that some of the candidates had poor knowledge in the various disciplines in medicine, including poor knowledge in basic sciences and basic clinical skills, a claim which was corroborated by various examiner’s reports.

    “Because of low standards of teaching in some of these foreign medical schools, these students come and fail over several attempts. As we speak some have even written more than ten times and still failed, so the last Board took a decision in consonance with best practice to limit the number of times a candidate can write to five attempts,” he said.

    Dr Banyubala noted that, some of the foreign medical schools admitted students with poor West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results and others who studied General Arts, Visual Arts, Agricultural Sciences, Technical and Vocational Skills (Carpentry, Building Construction), among others.

    According to the statement, some of the WASSCE results slips used to secure the admissions were Ds, Es, and Fs grades that are inadmissible for general university programmes in Ghana, “to talk less of medicine.”

    The statement added that these poor training standards were not limited to Ghana, adding that members of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa (AMCOA) share the same frustrations and concerns.

  • National Muslim Conference adopts 2 strategic documents

    The National Muslim Conference (NMC) of Ghana have developed and adopted two strategic documents to guide its efforts towards achieving its aspirations.

    According to the NMC, the documents were with the Ghana Muslim Education Strategy and the Ghana Muslim Economic Empowerment Strategy.

    These were contained in a statement signed by the Acting General Secretary of the conference Inusah Mohammed Baba and copied to the Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday.

    The two documents were developed at the second annual NMC held from September 22 to 25 at the National Mosque in Kanda, Accra.

    The statement said delegates at the end of the conference had adopted a work plan for 2022 and 2023 to be implemented by the management board of NMC and report back at the next conference in September next year.

    It said the conference had identified enhanced economic empowerment of the Muslim woman, education, practical Technical and Vocational and Educational Training (TVET) for the youth, and the inculcation of Islamic moral values in the youth as the key areas that need urgent attention.

    The statement also said the NMC would work towards pooling resources in order to speedup development in Muslim communities in the key areas of education, health and finance.

    “That we recommit ourselves to the aspirations of the NationalMuslim Conference of Ghana as contained in the deeds of the conference, to intra-faith unity in diversity and also to galvanise the Muslim community in Ghana for sustainable communal and national development,” it said.

    The statement mentioned that the NMC was poised to confront and surmount the socio-economic challenges facing the Muslim community in Ghana.

  • ‘I almost went mad’ – Crime Check CEO details how his wife died

    About three months after the passing of his dearest wife, the Executive director of the Crime Check Foundation, Mr. Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng, has given a vivid account of how he lost his wife to breast cancer shortly after she took a COVID-19 vaccine jab.

    Earlier in June 2022, news of the death of Mr. Oppong Kwarteng’s wife, the late Amina Oppong Kwarteng went viral.

    It can be recalled that he took to social media to break the news of his wife’s demise which he described as extremely painful.

    But in what seems like a step-by-step narration of what led to her demise, Mr. Ibrahim said among other things that his mental health deteriorated.

    According to the Crime Check Foundation boss, his whole world came to a standstill after his bubbly wife was suddenly diagnosed with breast cancer, and struggled with it ever since till she died.

    Narrating his bitter story, the Crime Check Foundation CEO said the several sessions of Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, Physiotherapy, and even the almost 100 drips/infusions couldn’t save his wife.

    Asides from the trauma of watching his wife suffer right before his eyes, Ibrahim established that he had to incur the cost of all the above treatments with his entire life savings in a Turkish hospital that charged $500 and $800 per night.

    According to him, he made all the sacrifices in high hopes that his wife would be back into his arms safe and sound and yet the unfortunate happened.

    Speaking on the Crime Check Foundation’s official YouTube channel, Mr. Oppong Kwarteng said;

    “It’s sad and heartbreaking that a woman I’ve spent 20 years with suddenly died and was been thrown away just like that. My wife is someone who stays out of trouble, she’s got no friends. She fell ill but the most painful part is, it all happened suddenly. For the past twenty years we were married she never visited the hospital or complained of any form is sickness.”

    “She went in for a COVID vaccine and after that, she started complaining of pain and discomfort in her breast. She went to the hospital and it was detected that she had breast cancer. She was required to undergo eight sessions of chemotherapy. The pain and suffering that the procedure put her through was not easy. Then she was required to go through radiotherapy afterward but we flew her to Turkey for that.

    “She went through 25 sessions of radiotherapy. Also, the cancer spread into her armpit and affected her lymph nodes so they had to operate on her and take out ten of the nodes that were affected. Prior to that, she had to go through physiotherapy 15 solid times. After that, she gave up and said she won’t continue. Later it was detected that her oxygen level dropped and her lungs were filled with water. I was going mad. I really felt like I was running mad. Then we were admitted into a ward that charges $500 a day,” he added.

    After all these, Mr. Oppong Kwarteng again disclosed that things got much worse and his wife was placed on life support on two occasions.

    “Not long after the nurses rushed to the ward and transferred her to the ICU department where we were being charged $800 a day. She was placed on life support and things ended up getting worse. Suddenly it looked like she got better again but that didn’t last. She was placed on life support for the second time and the doctors requested my consent to insert some tubes all over her body. I went back to the hotel and I received a call from the hospital to quickly rush there. I got there only for me to be told that they tried their best but my wife couldn’t make it,” he said.

    The late Mrs. Amina Oppong Kwarteng was buried earlier on Friday, June 24, 2022, at the Maqbara-e-Musian Cemetary situated in Kasoa.

    She left behind four sons.

  • ‘I forgot about myself’ – Barber grabbed with drugs at police station

    A barber who went to visit his friend on remand at Baatsona Police Station, has ended in Police cells for possessing drugs.

    Abdulai Hamza was grabbed with 13 wrappers of whitish substances and three wrappers of plant materials, all suspected to be narcotic drugs.

    Charged with two counts of unlawful possession or control of narcotic drugs, Hamza pleaded not guilty.

    Hamza told police personnel that, “I forgot about myself when I went to the Police Station.”

    Hamza has been remanded into lawful custody by the court presided over by Mrs Rosemary Baah Tosu and he is expected to reappear on October 10.

    Prosecuting Police Inspector Josephine Lamptey said the complainants were Police personnel from Baatsona Police Station.

    Inspector Lamptey said accused who resided at Baatsona, on September 18, this year, called at the Station to visit his friend known as Gideon Sedzro, a remand prisoner.

    Prosecution said Hamza was there to ask Sedzro what he would like to eat.

    The prosecutor said the Police gave him permission to talk to his friend.

    However, prosecution said, the Police suspected him following his suspicious gestures and movements.

    Prosecution said therefore conducted a search on him and 13 wrappers of whitish substance and three wrappers of plant material suspected to be narcotic drugs were found.

    According to prosecution, the alleged narcotic drugs were found in Hamza’s shirt which he claimed ownership.

    The prosecutor said the exhibits had been forwarded to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analytical examination.

  • ‘Honest’ Ken Agyapong will win NPP presidential primaries – A Plus projects

    Kwame Asare Obeng, alias A Plus, has projected that Assin Central Member of Parliament, Kennedy Agyapong, will win the flagbearership race in the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP.

    In a September 26, 2022 Facebook post, A Plus cited the ‘honesty’ of the lawmaker as the main factor that has endeared him to the party’s rank and file.

    He was responding to the NPP’s claim that an attack on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at a concert in Accra over the weekend was orchestrated by members of the opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC.

    He slammed the communication as lacking sense because there are NPP members on record who are unhappy with the way the country is being run.

    “Hon Kennedy Agyapong criticized the governments decision to go to IMF. Is he NDC? You see how popular he has become in the party? He is going to win your presidential primaries.

    “The people are tired of your outmoded and foolish communication style. They are looking for people who at least APPEAR honest. Not praise singers who defend every nonsense; that is why Hon Ken is winning. If you don’t see him winning then you don’t have any business being in politics,” his post read in part.

    He reemphasized his long held position that most of the NPP’s communicator were psychologically unfit for the role.

    “Your downfall is not NDC. It is your poor communication and “mad” communicators. 90% of your communicators are always one always a sentence away from the psychiatric hospital.”

    President Akufo-Addo was booed by a section of the crowd during a star-studded musical concert, the Global Citizen Festival, which took place at the Black Star Square on September 24, 2022.

    Chants of ‘away, away’ were heard when he appeared on stage to deliver a message. The president proceeded to deliver the over six-minute message.

  • Let’s pray for Akufo-Addo, Ghana needs divine intervention – Anyidoho

    A former aide to late President John Evans Atta Mills, Koku Anyidoho, has called for prayers for President Akufo-Addo.

    He believes the president and the nation as a whole needs divine intervention and it was thus important for Ghanaians to go on their knees and genuinely pray for the President and the nation.

    In a tweet posted on Sunday, September 25, Anyidoho stressed that it was refreshing that the president himself was a prayerful person.

    “I am more than convinced that we must go on our knees and genuinely pray for the President and Mother Ghana because we definitely need the divine intervention of God for Him to bless our Homeland Ghana.

    “Thank God the President himself is on his knees praying,” he captioned the tweet which was accompanied by two photos. One of the president in kneeling position being prayed for by the clergy and another of himself in the same position.

    Anyidoho, the Chief Executive Officer of the Atta-Mills Institute, AMI, is known to be a supporter of the president and the current government despite insisting that he remains a full member of the opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC.

    The last time both men met publicly was at the reopening of the refurbished Asomdwee Park – the burial place of late President Atta Mills.

    The AMI had gotten government support for the renovation of the facility and the recommissioning was done on the 10th anniversary of Atta-Mills’ passing.

    I am more than convinced that we must go on our knees and genuinely pray for the President and Mother Ghana because we definitely need the divine intervention of God for Him to bless our Homeland Ghana ???????? Thank God the President himself is on his knees praying ???????????? pic.twitter.com/sAv1kg2VqN

    — Samuel Koku Anyidoho???????? (@KokuAnyidoho) September 25, 2022

  • Dormaahene on scoresheet as he joins his people to play football

    It is not a side of him that people see every day but the Paramount Chief of the Dormaa Traditional Area, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II, has been captured on video relating with his people in a not-so-regular way.

    The Dormaahene, who is quite popular for being an outspoken traditional leader, was captured in an amateur video displaying his football skills.

    The video, shared on Twitter by a sports journalist, Ampaabeng Vincent, showed the chief displaying some great skills on a grassless field.

    According to the tweet, the chief joined the young men in his paramountcy to play the game during an unannounced visit to the area.

    “This is exactly why some of us will literally put our lives on the line for Dormaahene, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Dr. Agyemang Badu II…!!

    “On his regular visits around town today… he met some of his people playing football and decided to join in…!!” the journalist wrote.

    But even better, he added, the Dormaahene got on the scoresheet, throwing the small crowd into hysteria.

    “And ohhh… He scored,” he added.

     

  • We need consensus building on debt restructuring process – Dr. Atuahene

    Dr. Richmond Akwasi Atuahene, a consultant in banking and corporate governance, has encouraged the government to reach a consensus before engaging in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund(IMF).

    The government of Ghana would have to participate in various debt restructuring procedures as part of the IMF’s programme for the sustainability of country’s debt.

    However, according to financial analysts, Ghana is currently in a very precarious situation.

    As such, a restructure of the nation’s internal debt may cause a number of banks to go bankrupt immediately.

    This could further exacerbate the country’s economic recovery programme.

    According to Dr. Atuahene, consensus building is needed now more than ever to ensure that the brightest minds in Ghana’s fiscal space are allowed to make their input into whatever strategy the government intends to embark on.

    While this may not stop the debt restructuring process from having a resounding effect on the economy, he believes it may dull the blow that the economy would be dealt with.

    “There’s the need for us to build up like Mr. Seth Terkper said, there needs to be a consensus building to look at this objectively devoid of politics. If we can get the crème de la crème people to meet and look at the impact, do the scenario analysis, because this haircut we have the hold out, we have the fair cut and fair value, all these things need to be looked at critically.

    “And I believe that we need a team, people who are passionate about it and who know what they’re talking about so that they can have something which will not impact, because definitely it will impact on the economy whether we like it or not it’s going to impact the economy especially the domestic debt, it’s going to impact on it,” he said.

     

  • ‘Deportation from US’ publication: Presidential staffer threatens legal action

    Charles Nii Teiko Tagoe has threatened legal action against Editor of The Herald Newspaper, Larry Dogbey, over a story he inists is defamatory.

    In the said story, Larry Dogbey alleged that Teiko Tagoe had been arrested in the United States and deported to Ghana despite using a diplomatic passport.

    The Herald story read in part: “Mr Tagoe, had posted a picture of himself on Facebook on September 14, 2022, with his leg on a chair moments before boarding the plane at Kotoka International Airport’s Terminal 3.

    “His 5:33 am post and picture was with the caption “If you know, you know. Good morning #Minister4Happiness, Nana Yaw Kesse. Gone in 60 seconds…”

    “But shortly upon arriving in the US, he was picked up and shoved into another aircraft and sent back to Ghana like a common criminal, despite his diplomatic passport. It is not clear, if he was handcuffed or chained to his seat.”

    It added that their sources said Tagoe was directed to deal with the US embassy for clearance before he attempts reentry into the US.

    In his first response to The Herald, the head of new media at the presidency stated that he did not use a diplomatic passport and hadn’t been deported as the report stated.

    “My attention has been drawn to a Herald Publication alleging my deportation from the United States despite using a diplomatic passport.

    “I wish to state that I do not use a diplomatic passport and there is absolutely no truth in the story. I have referred the Herald Newspaper and its Editor Larry Dogbey to my Solicitors for the necessary legal action,” he posted on Facebbok.

    The journalist in responding to the threat, added supposed travel details suggesting that the presidential staffer spent less than a day in the United States before returning to Ghana via a direct flight.

    “Charles Nii Teiko Tagoe ..I didn’t know it was this easy to get you talking. You left Ghana on Tuesday 13th September 2022 onboard KLM through Schipol Amsterdam to New York.

    “You returned the next day Wednesday 14th September 2022 by a direct flight from New York to Accra onboard Delta Airlines. You wanted to come back onboard same KLM through Schipol on Wednesday, 21 September 2022.

    “Who buys a ticket for nearly UD$10,000 to see New York City through the windows of an airport? Waiting for your lawyers. Regards to your wife….” Larry Dogbey replied via Facebook.

    The presidential staffer offered another clarification on his Facebook wall: “So I arrived at John F Kennedy International Airport on Delta Airlines flight DL 047 from Amsterdam and I was arrested and deported at Dallas, Texas International Airport, onboard a United Airlines according to Larry Dogbey and The Herald Newspaper? We shall meet very soon wai.”

  • Government begins second phase of discussions with IMF

    The Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana have commenced discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the second time for an IMF-supported programme.

    The government is also expected to begin negotiations with the IMF this week which will last for about two weeks.

    “Government negotiations with respect to the IMF-supported programme is commencing this week and we are optimistic about making progress in our discussions,” a statement issued by the Ministry noted.

    In order to achieve a programme from the IMF, the government says it has put together a “comprehensive post COVID-19 economic programme which will form the basis for the IMF negotiations.”

    This programme, the Ministry said is to establish a macro-fiscal path that ensures debt sustainability and macroeconomic stability underpinned by key structural reforms and social protection.

    Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has disclosed that it is currently undertaking a debt sustainability analysis to confirm the country’s debt sustainability.

    The Ministry in a statement on Monday, September 26 said this is necessary as it is a prerequisite for an IMF Programme.

    The IMF has also announced that its economic programme with Ghana will focus heavily on debt sustainability.

    This was captured in a Question and Answer statement issued by the IMF as it begins deliberations with the Government of Ghana on an Economic Programme aimed at stabilising Ghana’s economy.

    The IMF also added that the programme will support the credibility of government policies, restore confidence in the central bank’s ability to manage inflation and accumulate foreign exchange reserves to help the local currency withstand headwinds.

    On the Fiscal sector, the IMF noted that an important policy objective would be to increase revenues, critical for debt sustainability while safeguarding spending on health, education, and social protection.

    Details of the engagement

    Dr. Stephane Boudet is expected to lead the IMF mission team members made up of senior economists, research analysts, and communication officers.

    Joy Business is learning that issues about the country’s current fiscal position as well as steps taken to improve the revenue situation will come up.

    The IMF team will engage the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, some business associations, civil society groups and parliament.

    The IMF in its Question and Answer statement maintained that the engagement follows several visits in recent months to engage with the authorities.

  • Ghana beat Nigeria to Global Citizen Festival because of Akufo-Addo – Okraku Mantey

    Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mark Okraku Mantey, has explained that the Global Citizen Festival that took place on September 24, 2022, had originally been scheduled to take place in Nigeria.

    Ghana was picked by the organizers partly because President Akufo-Addo had showed interest in having it take place in Ghana.

    He stressed in an interview on Hitz FM, September 26, that the concert was part of efforts aimed at marketing Ghana’s tourism, “and so, president Akufo-Addo showed interest, originally Global Citizen, they wanted to go to Nigeria, for some good reasons, we were the ones who won,” he said.

    The event has hogged the news headlines because of an incident where the president was booed by a section of the crowd as he arrived on stage to deliver his welcome address.

     The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has suggested that the opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC, were behind the incident, something the NDC has roundly rejected stating that it was a sign of Akufo-Addo’s growing loss of popularity.

    Exactly what happened?

    Thousands of patrons were at the Black Star Square to witness the concert that had a number of local and international artistes performing.

    As host of the event, the president was called upon to give his remarks, which happened to be a prepared speech that lasted over six minutes.

    The booing happened when he started his speech saying: “The whole world is in Ghana today.”

    What started initially as people showing their disapproval of his presence on the stage, turned into loud clapping and chanting of the words: “away, away…,” the president, however, stayed the course and delivered his full speech.

    As if that was not enough, people on social media latched on to the development to mock the president.

    Global Citizen is the world’s largest movement of action takers and impact makers dedicated to ending extreme poverty NOW.

    The voices of millions of Global Citizens around the world are driving lasting change towards sustainability, equality, and humanity by taking action every day.

    The Global Citizen Festival started as a music festival where fans take actions to end extreme poverty in order to earn free tickets to attend.

  • Our opponents don’t read, ‘they just say you are lying’ – Bawumia

    Vice president, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia has lamented the failure of opponents of government to read about or seek clarification on projects being carried out.

    He holds that it is not good enough that despite their failure to seek information on issues, they only resort to accusing those in government of lying.

    Bawumia was speaking at a durbar of chiefs on Monday, September 26 at the commissioning of the Cape Coast roads, as part of Sinohydro projects.

    “Today, marks yet another day of the commissioning of yet another Sinohydro project fiili fiili (sic). Unfortunately for some of our opponents, when we say something and they don’t understand, instead of asking for an explanation and also reading about it, they don’t like to read, they don’t ask for explanation, they just say you are lying.”

    He continued: “But today as we commission the project, they are silent, they are no longer saying it is not possible.”

    He disclosed that a total of 441 km of road and two interchanges are to be constructed, to “help intra urban, regional and national traffic flow and to strengthen regional economic integration.”

    Bawumia cut the sod for the project on 21st November 2019, work started in December 2019 over 30 months duration and had been completed on schedule.

    The Minister of Roads spoke about government’s plan to continually increase the road network and ease movement of goods and persons.

    The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, for his part, stressed that such projects continue to deepen the warm ties between the two countries.

  • Why I was knighted by Prince Charles not Queen Elizabeth – Sir Sam Jonah explains

    Sir Sam Jonah, KBE, has revealed the circumstances under which the British knighthood was conferred on him by Prince Charles (now King Charles III) instead of his late mother Queen Elizabeth II.

    In an interview on the BBUM show, a personality profile programme on Ghana Television (September 25), the former Ashanti Goldfields CEO said it was a privilege to have been invited and honoured by the British Royal Family.

    Jonah was knighted by Prince Charles in 2003, a ceremony that is ordinarily undertaken by the Queen herself. He explained how an equality important engagement took the Queen away hence the duty was placed on her son.

    “I had the privilege to be knighted by Prince Charles in 2003, it was quite an experience, I was fortunate I took my entire family with me, which was very unusual. Because usually they would ask you to come with your spouse.

    “I was fortunate because what happened was, that same day, the reason why I was not knighted by the Queen was that, the Queen was hosting President Putin to a state lunch and therefore it fell on Prince Charles.

    “Therefore, Prince Charles said, bring your entire family and so I took my entire family,” he added.

    In his view, the new King is a “hugely understated and underappreciated person,” adding that he has a commanding presence, unenforced authority and he is a delight to be with.

    He said he felt hugely privileged and fortunate for one hour meeting his family had with the new monarch at the Buckingham Palace.

    In June 2003, Jonah became the first Ghanaian to be knighted in the 21st century when he was presented with an honorary knighthood (KBE) by the then Prince of Wales, in recognition of his achievements as an African businessman, a leading business executive from the Commonwealth, and an international public figure.

     

  • Armed soldiers shoot four men, two JHS students in Bibiani

    Armed soldiers have stormed the township of Bibiani and fired gunshots resulting in injuries to four men and two teenagers.

    According to a report by Onuaonline.com, the soldiers stormed the town, chasing after some illegal miners who had gone to mine in some old pits belonging to Mensin Gold Bibiani Limited.

    The two teenagers said to have been hit by stray bullets fired by the soldiers are 17-year-old Eric Antwi and another 16-year-old boy who received shots in his ribs.

    The two boys are said to be Junior High School students preparing for their Basic Education Certificate Examination.

    The four adults who were also shot include 31-year-old Fusseini Issah, Kwadwo Agyapong alias Baako who sustained four shots and one Bewu.

    The two teenagers are said to be receiving treatment at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

    The recent incident comes on the back of the rancour between residents of Bibiani and Mensin Gold Bibiani Ltd.

    Meanwhile a police investigation has been launched following the shooting incident.

  • Yendi MP engages community youth on skills develpoment

    The Member of Parliament (MP) for Yendi Constituency in the Northern Region Dr Farouk Aliu Mahama has said he is committed to investing in skills training of the youth in the constituency to lead self supporting lives.

    He said mechanisms had been put in place to develop and empower the youth in the area.

    “We cannot develop without the skills development of the youth” he stated.

    He made the statement in Zugu a farming community in Yendi on Sunday as part of his community engagement in the Yendi constituency.

    The purpose of the engagement was to have interface in working to address the concerns and challenges of the people in the constituency.

    Dr Mahama said, he cannot transform Yendi constituency without the support of the communities hence the need for all hands to come on deck.

    He said as part of his New Yendi City (NYC) Agenda, he would continue in the development and empowerment programme of the youth.

    The MP added that, his outfit was collaborating with the McDan Group of Companies to construct an Ultra Modern Vocational Training Centre for the youth in the Yendi constituency.

    He said the construction of the Vocational Training Centre would go a long way to deepen the knowledge and skills of the youth in the area.

    Dr Mahama added that helping to develop the needed skills of the youth would positively have an impact on the economy of this country.

    He expressed his readiness to expand technical and vocational education as part of efforts to provide employable skills to the youth in the area.

    “I would soon be implementing more programmes in rural communities to equip the young people in areas of agriculture skills” he added.

    Dr Mahama added that helping the youth to acquire employable skills was to prevent them from migrating to southern Ghana for non existing jobs.

    The MP called on the youth to have patience as he was working with development partners to give them the needed support.

    The Area Chairman of Gbanda Baaduli, Mr Aliu Jato applauded the MP for the massive infrastructure development he has given them over the past years.

    He therefore appealed to the MP to continue to provide the communities with the developmental projects.

     

  • Prof. Anamuah-Mensah laments shortage of science, math teachers in schools

    A former Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Prof. Jophus Anamuah-Mensah has expressed worry about the inadequate number of science and mathematics teachers to champion the teaching and learning of the subjects in the schools.

    “It is lamentable that after more than 50 years, many senior high schools do not have qualified science and mathematics teachers,” he said.

    He, therefore, underscored the need to take a closer look at various programmes comprising; content, pedagogy, assessment and the need to use data in the training of teachers going forward.

    Prof. Anamuah-Mensah, made the call at a lecture organised by the College of Education Studies of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) as part of activities being held to mark the UCC@60 anniversary celebrations.

    It was on the theme: “College of Education Studies: past, present and future.”

    Prof Anamuah-Mensah underscored the need for the college to take the initiative in strengthening Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education by introducing engineering and robotics in its partner basic education schools.

    He indicated that with the introduction of STEM education in senior high schools and the construction of state-of-the-art STEM special schools, the college should be ready to offer STEM as an integrated programme with its accompanying engineering studies, aeronautics, biomedicine, coding and robotics as practically oriented subjects in the training of STEM teachers.

    Prof.Anamuah-Mensah indicated that the College should not place emphasis on Internally Generated Funds (IGF) alone but also on producing quality human resource for the country.

    He further called for the adoption of endogenous knowledge systems such as herbal medicine, traditional healing, blacksmithing, vulcanising, fishing practices, farming practices, food production, traditional stories and poems, extraction processes, traditional games and toys.

    “These are the cultural heritage of our people and they are easily available resources that can support the teaching of a number of school subjects including science, mathematics, language, and history,” he said.

    He further said: “robust research into these may yield valuable products for the country. A strong research base in this area is required to unearth this knowledge for our development.”

    The provost of the College of Education, Prof Ernest Kofi Davis, in an address, stated that the College had supported the government’s agenda over the year, saying, “For example, the College through the Institute of Education is graduating the first batch of students on the new B.Ed. curriculum run at the Colleges of Education in Ghana.”

    He explained that, the College developed a tailored Post Diploma programme based on the new B.Ed. curriculum run at the Colleges of Education to upgrade Diploma holders upon the request of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT).

    He indicated that the College was collaborating with schools within the Cape Coast metropolis and Regional and Metropolitan Education offices through the Adoption of Schools project.

    “Through this project, departments within the College work closely with local schools to identify school level problems and work collaboratively with them to solve the problems,” he said.

    He further said that: “This collaboration has brought the College and the Cape Coast Metropolitan Education officer closer in our bid to find ways to improve learning outcomes of students in the Metropolis.”

  • GIJ DRIP holds inter-faculty seminar

    The Directorate of Research Innovation and Development (DRIP) of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) on Friday held its third inter-faculty research seminar in Accra.

    Themed “Fighting real fire, a case of two Ghanaian crisis management organisations,” the event brought together students, some media representatives and lecturers of the tertiary institution.

    It sought to discuss the outcome of a study conducted in the area of crisis management in Ghana citing two leading state institutions which are the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).

    In her presentation, Senior Lecturer and Dean of the Faculty of Public Relations, Advertising and Integrated Marketing (FOPAM), Dr Mavis Essandoh said the study found that in spite of logistical and other constraints facing the GNFS and NADMO, the organisations had provided some information for the public, adding that most of the communication was reactive.

    The mandate of the GNFS, she said was to provide efficient valued rescue service and improve public safety from fires amongst others, educating the public about how to prevent and manage fires.

    Dr Essandoh stressed that the GNFS must also focus on providing technical support in emergencies that were beyond individual capabilities.

    Based on the responses of the research participants, which included 20 persons, she explained that the GNFS’s role was highly recognised, as well as their responsibility, saying this was in sync with the GNFS Act 537 which clearly stipulated their functions and objectives.

    However, Dr Essandoh said the study found that in spite of the assurances from the fires fighting firm, the GNFS was overwhelmed with lack of logistics and clear directions of their operations.

    “We also found that NADMO and GNFS had only a few planned educational programmes for the public before crisis or disasters. They used face to face and reactive means to communicate during crisis and newspaper reports suggests that they did not provide reports on the causes of fire incidents and disasters after they occurred,” she stated.

    Dr Essandoh therefore stressed the need for more public education in fires, saying the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) also must be brought on board to compliment the efforts of the GNFS and NADMO in terms of public education in disasters.

    Explaining further, she said the study recommended that the GNFS and NADMO should be empowered enough to investigate and disapprove of building permits for structures constructed on waterways to prevent flooding in the country.

    This, she said should be done in collaboration with other regulatory institutions like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Lands Commission.

    Deputy Rector of GIJ, Professor Eric Opoku Mensah in his remarks commended the DRIP for the seminar which he described as highly educative.

  • Men urged to do periodic PSA tests to ascertain health status

    Men who are 40 years and above, have been advised to have periodic Prostate Serum Antigen (PSA) tests to ascertain the health status of their prostate.

    The PSA test is a blood test used primarily to screen for prostate cancer.

    The test measures the amount of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood.

    Regular screening for prostate cancer, according to Vice President of the Cancer Support Network Ghana (CSNGH) Mr Eric Odei Brobbey reveals abnormalities at early stages and increases survival of the disease.

    Speaking in an interview with the Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday, he bemoaned that prostate cancer was the leading cause of death among men in Ghana, adding that regular screening could go a long way in salvaging the situation.

    He also cautioned against ignoring the risk factors and signs of prostate cancer, adding that “When you pay proper attention to your body you can easily notice changes and seek prompt medical attention, especially persons with strong history of cancer in their families, instead of ignoring certain symptoms which could turn out to be prostate cancer.”

    He also mentioned that aside a strong cancer history in families, certain lifestyles, environmental factors and hormonal imbalances were contributory factors to the disease.

    He stressed that since the early stages of the diseases usually presented no symptoms at all so it was advisable for men to “be mindful of their prostate health.”

    Symptoms of an enlarged prostate, Mr Brobbey said included frequent urination especially at night, dribbling of urine and painful ejaculation, adding that these signs could also indicate cancer.

    According to him, many sufferers of the disease in Ghana visit the hospital after the cancer had reached an advanced stage, stressing that this was why periodic screening was very necessary.

    Explaining he said advanced prostate cancer could lead to paralysis, anemia, kidney failure, swollen scrotum as a result of accumulated fluid, stroke and severe back ache among others.

    “Mostly before you see or experience the manifestation of these signs it means the cancer has already spread to other parts of the body that is why we keep stressing on routine screening” he added.

    Prostate cancer, he said, when detected early was curable and therefore urged suffers of the disease who were on treatment to do away with fear.

    “This disease is curable especially when detected early so please focus on your treatment and stop entertaining any kind of fear. There are many survivors of prostate cancer so see yourselves as individuals who would soon add to the number of persons who won the fight against the disease,” he added.

    Mr Brobbey also cautioned against defaulting approved methods of treatment for unapproved ones like herbal treatment.

    In furtherance, he called on the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to incorporate the treatment of the disease unto the scheme because of the high cost of treatment as many resort to unapproved prostate cancer treatment centres due to the inability to afford treatment for the disease at the hospitals.

    When it comes to prostate cancer support, Mr Brobbey who is also a health practitioner at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Accra, said CSNGH had provided supported to many sufferers of the disease and called on individuals and organisations to include support for cancer patients in their philanthropic activities.

     

  • NDC answers 12 critical questions about election 2020

    The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has done a review of the 2020 general elections, raising some critical questions about the party’s activities before, during and after the elections.

    In a statement by the member of the National Elections Directorate of the NDC, DR. Tanko R. Computer raised questions including why did the NDC didn’t go to the Supreme Court with its pink sheets.

    Other questions about whether or not the party transmitted its results, and whether or not the elections were rigged for Nana Addo were also raised, with what appears to be carefully written answers following.

    For instance, in response to why the party didn’t proceed to the Supreme Court with its pink sheets, the statement indicated that despite the party’s efforts to get the pinksheets used for the 2020 elections to the Supreme Court, ‘an iron wall’ had been built around Electoral Commission Boss, Jean Mensah and her EC such that it was difficult to.

  • Go for HIV test – NACP urges public as infections increase across the country

    The National Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDs Control Programme (NACP) has implored the general public to take seriously testing to know their HIV status in the wake of increased infections across the country.

    The Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at the Programme, Kenneth AyehDanso, describing the country’s HIV prevalence as a “generalised epidemic” said testing was the only way out to put those reactive to the virus on early treatment and for person’s negative to take precautionary measures against infection.

    He was speaking at a media training workshop organised by the Ghana HIV and AIDs Network (GHANET) to rethink current HIV programming and interventions in the face of dwindling donor support amidst rise in HIV infections.

    It was on the theme; “Rethinking HIV interventions for Vulnerable Populations in the country”.

    Mr Danso said per a 2021 HIV/AIDS estimate of about 345,599 persons living with HIV (PLHIVs) in Ghana, 22.7 percent (78,450) were among men who had sex with men (MSM; 18.1 per cent) and female sex workers (FSW; 4.6 per cent).

    “We know that most men have poor health seeking behaviours unlike women who visit at the least symptom they experience, and the danger is that these men are often bisexual so they are likely to have different partners they have sex with and they too may have sex with another, then the disease is transmitting.”

    He said testing to know one’s HIV status would set the country on the path to achieving the UNAIDs 95-95-95 target of having 95 percent of PLHIVs knowing their status, 95 percent on anti-retroviral treatment and 95 percent attaining viral suppression by 2025.

    “Currently, we have achieved 71-99-79 of this target, which means there is a huge gap at people knowing their HIV status and people sticking religiously to their medications to achieve viral suppression.”

    A Public Health Consultant, DrNiiNorteyHanson-Nortey, urged government to keep HIV prevention and treatment as a front-burner issue on its political agenda.

    He called on the government to, as a matter of urgency, invest in the legal and social infrastructures that militate the HIV/AIDS fight.

    “Investing in an effective and efficient response system for sexual, domestic and gender-based violence, intimate sexual partner violence, among others, we ensure a stigma and violence free environment.”

    Dr Hanson-Nortey stressed the need to reduce stigma surrounding HIV testing as well as make HIV testing centres and kits readily available, especially to key populations and vulnerable groups such as young people, FSWs and MSMs.

    The President of GHANET, Mr Ernest Ortsin, urged the public to be wary of unorthodox medications purporting to cure HIV/AIDs, saying, “There is no evidence to suggest that any herbal medicine can cure HIV”.

    “Even the anti-retroviral medication do not cure HIV/AIDs, they only suppress the viral load so there is no cure as at now for the disease. People should be bold to report when they get to know their HIV status for the right treatment to lead normal lives,” he advised.

    Recent data from the NACP indicated that a total of 23,495 tested positive for HIV in Ghana for the first half of this year.

    The figure is two percent of the 948,094 people who undertook HIV testing from January to June 2022.

    Currently, Ghana has a 1.7 percent HIV prevalence, which means that of every 100 people tested in the country, two are positive for the disease.

    At the end of 2021, 16,938 new HIV infections were recorded in the country, with 9,859 persons dying from the disease.

  • Let’s not be hypocrites, flagbearer hopefuls are already campaigning – Obiri Boahen tells NPP

    Former Deputy General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen says his party’s directive that flagbearer hopefuls within the party cannot campaign is ‘misleading’.

    According to him, aspirants are already campaigning despite the party’s many cautions to sanction any aspirant found guilty of an open campaign ahead of the primary.

    “Let’s not be hypocrites, aspirants are already on the move on the ground,” he said.

    Nana Obiri Boahen who was discussing an early primary for NPP flagbearer hopeful on NEAT FM’s morning show, ‘Ghana Montie’ said his party must volte-face its decision for an early contest.

    The NPP, last year, issued a code of conduct barring its members from endorsing or campaigning for potential parliamentary or presidential candidates ahead of the opening of nominations.

    As part of the code of conduct, the party said prospective candidates who condone any such barred activities will be held responsible.

     

  • 43-year-old man electrocuted at Boadi

    On Monday, September 26, 2022, Emmanuel Senyo, a cabbage farmer has met his untimely death after being electrocuted.

    The 43-year-old man who resides in Ashanti Region’s Oforikrom Municipality, at Boadi  is said to have coming into contact with a live wire while traveling to the farm.

    In an interview with OTEC News, the assembly member for Appiadu, Emana, and Kokoben Electoral Area, Hon. Kenneth Owusu Bediako, the victim passed away instantly after touching the exposed.

    “He was on his way to the farm when he saw the naked wire in the middle of the road, the wire had fallen from a high tension in the area, he tried to pull the cable away from the road not knowing it was still holding power.”

    “We suspect the wire to have fallen during the torrential rainfall in the area,” he added.

    “He was burnt to death, one of his hands was mutilated in the process with parts of his body almost turning to ashes,” said the assembly man.

    The deceased left two wives and five children behind.

    His body has been conveyed to the Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital by police in the area.

     

     

  • Madina MP files bill to cause radical changes in General Legal Council

    The Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency, Francis Xavier-Sosu is seeking radical changes to the General Legal Council through a Private Members Bill.

    The MP who is seeking a reconstitution of the GLC has filed a Bill in parliament with the support of the Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor.

    “In my view, it is obvious that change is imminent and it is the only way we can resolve the matters. “In fact, it is part of the reasons why myself and my colleague, Hon Dafeamekpor, [are] championing a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament, requesting for a complete overhaul of the General Legal Council; its membership, its composition, its function and everything has to be overhauled. “The same thing has to be applied to the approach we see legal education,” the MP said in an interview on TV3.

    The move by the MP and his colleague comes on the back of the rescheduling of an entrance examination by the Ghana School of Law as a result of question leakage.

    A four-page examination question scheduled to be administered on Friday, September 23, 2022, was cancelled as the questions were shared on social media hours before it was to be taken. The General Legal Council has over the years been criticised for deliberately limiting access to legal education in Ghana.

     

  • We won’t recognize doctors trained in Ukraine – Medical and Dental Council

    The Medical and Dental Council of Ghana has said that it will no longer recognise degree certificates issued by Medical and Dental Schools from Ukraine, as some schools have resorted to studying online.

    According to a citinewsroom report, the council said that the training of these students online is not in accordance with the required process and will not be accepted as it threatens the quality and credence of the profession.

    “Training to be a doctor must be in accordance with established strategies. Will potential patients be happy to be treated by a doctor who was trained online? We have to take our public interest responsibility seriously. The point is what is the kind of training that is acceptable in the world? If it is not standard, then, I am afraid, this regulator will not give any stamp of approval,” citinewsroom quoted the Council’s Registrar, Dr. Divine Ndonbi Banyubala.

    He therefore urged students to take advantage of the government’s intervention to continue their training in Ghana rather than taking online lessons.

    According to citinewsroom.com, the newly trained doctors are granted licenses to practice in Ghana after the examination.

    In 2019 for instance, a total of 157 out of 225 foreign-trained Ghanaian doctors who sat for the Medical and Dental Council (MDC)’s examination failed.

    Only 68, representing a 30.2 per cent pass rate, were able to prove their mettle in the examination.

    The 225 comprises 208 general duty medical doctors, eight general duty dentists, eight specialists and a ‘matured’ candidate, who studied in more than 10 universities in China, Ukraine, Russia, Philippine and Belarus for six years.

    The bi-annual examination, introduced in 2000, is to ensure that doctors trained in other countries had the requisite knowledge and skill to offer medical and dental care to patients in the country.

  • Frontiers Contract contains information we cannot disclose – Ghana Airports Company Ltd

    The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) claims that certain information in its contract with Frontiers Health Services is confidential.

    According to Managing Director Pamela Djamson-Tettey, the aforementioned information is exempted under Section 10 of the Right to Information Act, 2019, Act 989.

    Section 10 of Act 989 provides as follows;

    “Information is exempt from disclosure prior to official publication where

    (a) the information contains trade secrets or financial, commercial, scientific or technical information that belongs to the State or public institution and the information has monetary or a potential monetary value;

    (b) the disclosure of the information can reasonably be expected to affect the integrity or stability of the financial system or, damage the financial interests of the State or public institution or the ability of the State to manage the national economy;

    (c) the disclosure of the information can reasonably be expected to cause a disruption of business or trade in the country;

    (d) the disclosure of the information can unduly benefit or be injurious to a person because it provides prior information about future economic or financial measures to be introduced by the Government or public institution;

    (e) the information contains criterion, procedure, position or instruction that relates to negotiations being carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the State or public institution, the disclosure of which shall be injurious to national security and economic development; or

    (f) the information contains questions or methodology to be used in an examination, recruitment, or selection process and the release is likely to jeopardise the integrity of that examination, recruitment, or selection process”

    Additionally, Mrs. Djamson-Tettey added that the company does not have access to information about the “ chronology of the processes that led to the selection of an award to Frontiers Health Services…”

    This is her response to an RTI request sent to the company by the Head of Research at Joynews Raymond Acquah.

    In addition to the above information, Mr Acquah also wanted information on the following;

    “The reason(s) for the selection and award of the contract specified above to Frontiers Health Services.

    The total amount of money generated from the Covid-19 testing at the airport from the inception of this agreement with frontiers to date.

    The total amount of money that has been made by frontiers health services from the covid-19 testing at the airport from the inception of the contract with frontiers to date.

    The total amount of money that has been made by the government of Ghana from the covid-19 testing at the airport from the inception of the contract with frontiers till date.”

    The company replied that passengers arriving in the country paid directly to Frontiers.

    “GACL is unable to confirm the amount of money derived from the covid-19 testing because passengers paid directly to Frontiers Healthcare, providers of the service.”

    Frontiers were tasked to undertake covid-19 test at the Kotoka International Airport.

    The deal came under intense scrutiny following allegations of corruption levelled by some civil society organisations and opposition MPs.

    Transport Minister Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, however, explained to Parliament that the Ghana Airports Company complied fully with the procurement laws.

     

     

  • Parliament approves fees for “access” to information

    Parliament has passed the law spelling out the various fees to be paid by persons seeking Information under the Right to Information (RTI)law.

    This is the Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous provisions Act 2022 (ACT 1080). Persons seeking Information are to pay 0.27 pesewas for every photocopy of A4 size of information.

    ection 75 of the Right to Information Act, 2019, (ACT 989) requires applicants to pay the fee approved by Parliament.

    “An applicant seeking access to information under this Act shall pay the fee or charge approved by Parliament in accordance with the Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act,2009 (Act 793).”

    The Right to Information Commission in accordance with this law submitted a proposal to Parliament spelling out how much should be charged.

    Even before this could be passed, applicants seeking information were in some instances asked to pay amounts considered to be problematic.

    The Fourth Estate’s Evans Aziamor Mensah was asked by the Minerals Commission to pay $1,000 to access Information.

    This amount was later set aside by the Right to Information Commission as being unreasonable. The matter is currently pending at the Court of Appeal.

    Speaking on The Law on the Joynews Channel, Executive Secretary of the RTI Commission, Yaw Sarpong Boateng, said the new fees approved by Parliament will provide clarity on the matter.

    “It sits with our argument that the fees ought to be reasonable in respect of the reproduction not for the cost of generating the Information.”

     

     

  • We can’t confirm how much Frontiers made from Covid-19 testing at airport – GACL

    The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) says it is unaware of the amount of money made by Frontiers Healthcare Service from Covid-19 testing at the airports.

    The company was tasked by government to undertake an assessment of travellers as part of measures to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus.

    This GACL was responding to a request made by JoyNews’ Research Desk through the Right to Information (RTI) Law.

    The JoyNews team among other things asked for the total amount made from the operation.

    But GACL Managing Director Pamela Djamson-Tettey says her outfit is not abreast of that information.

    “GACL is unable to confirm the amount of money derived from the covid-19 testing because passengers paid directly to Frontiers Healthcare, providers of the service,” she said on September 19.

    We can't confirm how much Frontiers made from Covid-19 testing at airport - GACL

    The application also contained a request for a copy of the agreement between government and the healthcare service provider.

    In that regard, the MD said she cannot disclose that in accordance with Section 10 of the Right to Information Act, 2019, Act 989.

    The desk also sought the modalities that led to Frontiers’ selection action for the activity.

    But the GACL says it “is not in possession of the chronology of the processes that led to the selection and award to Frontiers Health Services to provide the COVID-19 testing at the Airport.”

    The deal came under intense scrutiny following allegations of corruption levelled by some civil society organisations and opposition MPs.

    Transport Minister Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, however, explained to Parliament that the Ghana Airports Company complied fully with the procurement laws.

     

  • Dr. Dre reacts to Rihanna headlining super bowl halftime show: ‘I can’t wait to see what she’s going to do’

    Today is officially Rihanna’s day, with fans of the R&B singee celebrating her confirmed return to the live music stage for the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show in Feb. 2023.

    Among those looking forward to witnessing Rihanna’s Halftime takeover is Dr. Dre, who gave an award-winning performance at the Super Bowl this year alongside Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent.

    “Oh, my God. Let me tell you something, man. I actually just got the news that Rihanna’s going to do [the Halftime Show] and I’m a super fan of Rihanna,” he said during an interview with Ebro Darden on Apple Music 1. “I can’t wait to see what she’s going to do.”

    Rihanna sneakily confirmed to the world that she would be headlining the LVII Halftime Show with a picture of an NFL-branded football on her Instagram. Roc Nation followed shortly after, officially confirming their participation as the strategic entertainment advisors of Rihanna’s live performance.

    Dre continued, “I just like her and what she does and her get down and how she approaches her artistry and the whole nine. It’s fantastic.” He also commented that Rihanna “has the opportunity to really blow us away,” before adding, “I know we set the bar extremely high.”

    He also made sure to give Rihanna a few pointers ahead of the performance planning: “Put the right people around you and have fun. That’s basically what it is — making sure you have the right creative people around you.”

    Reflecting on his 2022 Super Bowl performance, Dre admitted that he was “extremely nervous,” but when it came down to it, it was “the preparation and making sure you have the right people around you” that made the show.

    “All of these people came through for me and everybody was extremely enthusiastic about the show. We had a good time, although it’s a lot of things and a lot of people you have to depend on,” he explained. “So it is an extreme amount of pressure, but it’s fun at the same time. When it’s done, it’s like goosebumps, bro. I got goosebumps, especially from the reaction that we got from the show, and especially being able to do the show with all of my friends.”

     

  • Who fills Asiedu Nketia’s shoes as General Secretary?

    After 17 years of serving as the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Kwadwo Asiedu Nketia has decided to hang up his boots at least from this position.

    The role of Asiedu Nketia, who is popularly known as General Mosquito, as the General Secretary of the NDC, from 2005, cannot be overemphasized. Under his watch, the NDC has won 2 presidential elections and has also been the majority in Ghana’s parliament on two occasions.

    Replacing General Mosquito will no doubt be a tall order for the NDC, given his vast political experience having served as a Member of Parliament for 12 years and a deputy minister for four years in addition to his service as the General Secretary of the NDC.

    Some brave members of the NDC have been tipped to replace the outgoing General Secretary, whose tenure is expected to end in about three months.

    GhanaWeb takes a look at four of these party members who are likely to fill the ‘big’ shoes of General Mosquito.

    Abdul Ishaq Farrakhan

    Abdul Ishaq Farrakhan is one of the names that have been mentioned as a replacement for Johnson Asiedu Nketia. This will not be the first time Abdul Ishaq Farrakhan has been tipped to be the General Secretary of the NDC.

    In 2014, he was the only person who dared to challenge General Mosquito for the party’s General Secretary position even though he lost.

    Ishaq Farrakhan, who is 52 years old, previously served the party as its district chairman in the Obuasi Municipality in the Ashanti Region.

    In the run-up to the 2014 NDC executive election, Farrakhan can be remembered for saying that he was going to spray General Mosquito with a mosquito insecticide.

    In 2018, Abdullah Ishaq Farrakhan was one of 11 people who contested in the party’s Deputy General Secretary elections which he lost to Dr. Peter Boamah Otokonor.

    Even though he has not stated his intention, many party folks have indicated Farrakhan is one of the people who can replace General Mosquito.

    Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey

    Another name that has come up as a replacement for General Mosquito is Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey, the former Member of Parliament for the Ketu South Constituency in the Volta Region in Ghana’s 6th and 7th Parliaments.

    Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey, in addition to his role as MP, was the deputy minister of finance, from 2009 to 2013. He was also appointed by former President John Dramani Mahama, to serve as the Minister of State at the Presidency in charge of Financial and Allied Institutions. He also served as the Minister of Food and Agriculture and the Minister for Transport.

    Before his roles as MP and minister, Kwetey served as the party’s chairman at the University of Ghana, Legon. He was also an advisor to the late former President Jerry John Rawlings and was also voted as the party’s chief communicator, otherwise known as the Propaganda Secretary. He is now the National Communication Officer.

    The former Ketu South MP is yet to confirm whether he will be contesting in the upcoming national election which is slated for December 2022.

    Dr. Peter Boamah Otokunor

    The current Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Dr. Peter Boamah Otokunor, has stated his intention of contesting in the NDC’s General Secretary race.

    The Deputy General Secretary of the NDC is also the Deputy Director of Research of the NDC and the Registrar for the Ghana Institute of Social Democracy (GISD).

    Dr. Otokunor previously contested in the NDC primaries for the Ablekuma Central Constituency parliamentary seat in 2015 which he lost. He has served in various positions in NDC governments including the Deputy Coordinator for the National Youth Authority (NYA).

    He had recently worked as the Senior Researcher at the Communications Directorate (Office of the President) prior to being the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority of Ghana.

    Elvis Afriyie Ankrah

    Another person who has clearly stated his intention to contest in the party’s General Secretary race is the party’s Director of Elections, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah.

    Afriyie Ankrah served as the Deputy National Campaign Manager for the 2008 and National Campaign Coordinator for the 2012 Presidential Campaigns of the National Democratic Congress and both Presidents, John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama.

     

  • Kumasi central market flooded, items destroyed

    Severe flooding at the Kumasi Central Market in the Ashanti Region has destroyed wares estimated to be over 10 billion old cedis.

    About 300 shops filled with wax prints, provisions, kitchen wares, children’s clothing, assorted drinks, and food items among others as water submerged their area early Monday morning.

    Some of the affected traders who spoke to OTEC News’ Kwame Agyenim Boateng disclosed that about 1,500 chickens were swept away by the flood

    “It was very scary, this is the third time we are experiencing such a deluge in the last month.”

    “We have lost almost all our capital to the perennial flooding and nothing is been done about the situation,” one of the victims, Maa Victoria cried.

    Meanwhile, the traders accused the contractor working on the second phase of the Kejetia Redevelopment project of blocking drains in the area.

    The situation according to them forced river Subin out of its banks and flooded the market.

    They have therefore appealed to the authorities in the Kumasi Metropolis to as a matter of urgency speak with the contractor and do the needful to halt the flood.

  • A lot of them lack home training – NPP Communicator scolds persons who booed Akufo-Addo

    Patrons of the Global Citizens Festival who heckled President Akufo-Addo have been reprimanded by the ruling New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) deputy director of communications, Jennifer Queen.

    She asserted that those individuals were hired by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to stir up trouble.

    “The event was to sell the country to the entire globe. So if you end up cutting parts of some videos or instigate people to hoot at the president who is our leader it speaks very bad of you. Some people want to claim that they are the doyen of wisdom and are acting smart.

    “This is becoming a norm nowadays. If a minister, vice president or government official goes to a programme you find people who go out to hoot at them. But what that tells is that a lot of these people lack home training. A lot of these people lack proper upbringing,” she said on the Monday, September 26, 2022, edition of Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia programme.

    The New Patriotic Party’s deputy director of communications added that the NDC had incited the crowd with the support of a few stubborn people in an effort to earn easy political points.

    “Despite all the benefits the state is gaining from the event, the NDC and their evil mindsets wanted it to fail. The intel gathered by our National Communication Directorate shows that they sat down to orchestrate this to outshine the beauty of the programme. I am talking about the NDC because they were the first group of people who started sharing the video,” she stated.

    Jennifer Queen, however, condemned the actions of the crowd while emphasising the success of the event, which she notes adds to the president’s commitment to pushing Ghana’s entertainment, arts and culture.

    “I will tell you that it is condemnable, it was unwarranted, it was bad behaviour from some elements who were being paid to go and do that, but in the end, the programme went on successfully,” she said.

    The booing of President Akufo-Addo has attracted several social media reactions, with some critics saying it was a reflection of frustrated Ghanaians expressing their disaffection with the president and his government.

     

     

  • ‘Dozens of foreigners are still hiding in my community’ – Akokoamong Assemblyman laments

    The Assembly member for Akokoamong Electoral Area in the Ejisu Municipality, Hon Daniel Owusu, has disclosed that dozens of foreigners are still hiding in the community at the blindside of authorities in the area.

    Some of these outlanders according to the assembly member are engaging in rogue operations including operating a school for men between the ages of 18 to 30.

    It is yet to be known by authorities as to what they are teaching the men who have been camped at secret places in the community.

    The foreigners suspected to hail from Cameroon, Niger, Burkina, and other neighboring countries have been camping secretly without the notice of authorities in the area.

    In an interview on the Kumasi-based OTEC 102.9 FM’s morning show, Nyansapo, on Monday, September 26, 2022, Hon Daniel Owusu said although police in the region have arrested some of these foreigners, dozens of them are still hiding in the community.

    “Sources in the community say there are many of these immigrants hiding in our area, and I must say the situation has sparked fear among us.”

    ARREST OF FOREIGNERS

    Police in the Ashanti Region on Thursday, September 22, 2022, arrested 48 foreigners suspected to be illegal immigrants living in a five-bedroom house at Akokoamong.

    The arrest follows a combined action by Security officials and community members who claimed to have observed the suspicious moves by these people in the past few months.

    The suspects have since been held at the Ejisu Divisional Police Command assisting investigations.

     

  • Nana Clark hit her with a club bottle – New details of how suspects killed Mankessim murder victim

    There are emerging details of how two men gruesomely murdered a 25-year-old lady at Mankessim in the Central Region of Ghana.

    The body of Georgina Asor Botchwey was exhumed from the house of the Tufuhene of Akwakrom, Nana Onyaa Clark, who is now facing murder charges together with a fiancé of the deceased’s sister, Michael Darko.

    Darko, who resides in Kumasi, is said to have requested to meet up with Georgina when she travelled from Yeji to attend an admission interview at the Ankarful Nursing Training School.

    After Georgina concluded her interview, she was picked up by Darko in the company of Nana Clark in a taxicab on September 9, 2022.

    They subsequently drove to where the chief had parked his Mercedes Benz with registration number GT 8686 C.

    The two then sent their victim to Nana Clark’s apartment at Akwakrom, where they took away her phone and locked her up in a room.

    They later went to Sikafoambantem, another suburb of Mankessim, where the chief had another building and dug a hole in the uncompleted building.

    They then came back and picked up their victim from Akwakrom Sikafoambantem. Nana Clark is then said to have hit the young lady with a club while Darko held her neck until she died.

    They then buried her in the hole they had dug after shaving her.

    This new report reveals how the suspects who have confessed to killing the victim for ritual purposes carried out their plan.

    The suspects who have been remanded into custody are to reappear on Tuesday, October 4, 2022.

    They have been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, to wit murder and murder contrary to section 46 of the Criminal and Offences Acts 1980, Act 29.

     

  • 59-year-old ‘Trotro’ driver stabbed to death by suspected armed robbers at Afrancho

    A 59-year-old trotro driver has been stabbed to death by some suspected armed robbers at Afrancho in the Afigya Kwabre South District of the Ashanti Region.

    Alex Kwadwo Boateng was found dead at a place near Blue Ice Hotel on Saturday, September 24, 2022.

    Some residents in the area who spoke to OTEC News’ Kwame Agyenim said the deceased was on his way to take his Urvan bus when the incident occurred.

    A fuel station attendant who lives in the area spoke to OTEC News; “he’s our customer, he parks his car here at our fuel station, Mr. Alex as we call him is the first to come here every morning for his car.”

    “We heard that the suspected robbers attacked him and stabbed him in the stomach while he was on his way to take the car early Saturday morning.”

    The body of the deceased has since been deposited at the Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital by police in the area.

  • Fire guts cargo terminal at Ashtown

    Fire has gutted portions of a cargo terminal at Ashtown in the Kumasi Metropolis of the Ashanti destroying about 15 coffins.

    The ravaging fire which occurred on Saturday, September 24, 2022, also burnt other valuables amounting to thousands of cedis.

    OTEC News’ Kwame Agyenim Boateng, said firemen responded promptly to the emergency call and ensured that the fire did not spread to adjoining buildings.

    A worker at the terminal Mr. Abdullahi narrated the incident to OTEC News: “Our Cargo Cars load goods from Kumasi to Bolga and other parts of the three northern regions, so we were packing our goods as usual until we suddenly heard a blast in one of our containers.”

    “A thick smoke followed the blast almost immediately; we rushed to the scene and saw a fire burning so we called fire officials to help.”

    Items lost include refrigerators, plastic containers, several boxes of matches, tricycles, canned foods, and coffins among others amounting to hundreds of Ghana cedis,” he said.

    As of the time of this report, fire service officials were still dousing the inferno.

  • Car burns at Dzorwulu, causes massive traffic on N1

    A car is caught up in flames near the Menzgold office in Dzorwulu.

    The event which happened an hour ago has left drivers and passengers as there is severe traffic on the section of the N1 Highway going to the Accra Mall area.

    Per reports, the burning car, Pontiac Vibe with the license plate NR 37 11 was being driven by a female.

    The owner of the vehicle, according to sources she was on her way to East Legon, however, when she got to Dzorwulu she observed smoke rising from the bonnet of her car, as such she pulled over to investigate.

    Shortly after this, the car caught fire and blew up in flames. She however managed to, with the help of some bystanders and a police officer who was around, to get her luggage out of the vehicle before the fire escalated.

    Though details of what started the fire remain scanty, the owner of the vehicle is said to have narrowly escaped.

    Meanwhile, some personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service who rushed to the scene have brought the situation under control.

  • Speaker Bagbin has not resigned from GBA – Law Society of Ghana

    In contrast to prior reports, the Law Society of Ghana (LSG) has said that the Speaker of Parliament has not resigned from the Ghana Bar Association (GBA).

    According to the news release from the LSG, Speaker Alban Bagbin only expressed concerns regarding the current situation of the GBA while expressing hope that there will be significant reforms that will enhance the association’s reputation.

    “It must be placed on record that nowhere in the Speaker’s welcoming remarks during our visit did he ever state that he has resigned from the Ghana Bar Association (GBA).

    “In his remarks, he expressed in strong words his revulsion about the state of the GBA and wishes to see a change for a better Bar Association committed to the aims, objectives and ethics as captured and practised globally,” a statement signed by LSG’s acting President, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor.

    It was recently reported that Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, had resigned from the Ghana Bar Association (GBA).

    Per the earlier details, Mr. Bagbin had said that a lot of people were worried about the state of GBA and their actions.

    ” I am no longer a member of GBA,” he is said to have noted while explaining tha he did not seem to benefit from the association.

    Speaker Bagbin said the GBA has now become an association of elites, stressing that he used to pay his dues “religiously” but got to know that any lawyer that attended the public tribunal was not recognized and thus his interest in GBA diminished.

  • Residents of Boayini to boycott 2024 elections if their road is not fixed

    Chief, community elders, and youth of Boayini, a farming community in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the North East Region are demanding immediate action from the government to fix their deplorable road network in the area.

    The community which has over 3,000 inhabitants says they cannot access the West Mamprusi Municipal capital, Walewale, without passing through Langbinsi in the East Mamprusi Municipality due to the inaccessibility nature of the road linking Walewale.

    The residents who organized communal labor to fix some dangerous potholes on the road are lamenting the negligence of the government to get the road fixed over the past years.

    The residents reiterated that pregnant women and people with other health complications are bearing the brunt of the unmemorable state of the road whenever they want to access quality healthcare in any of the hospitals in the region.

    In an interview during the communal labor organized by the residents, the spokesman for the Chief of the community, Mba Kadri Kofi declared that they will boycott the upcoming 2024 national elections if the road is not constructed.

    “I will like to be on my knees to appeal to the government to come to our rescue. We have been neglected. They promised to provide us with electricity but they have failed. Look at the poles erected there. The abandoned footbridge is about washing away. We will like to declare our intention to boycott the 2024 elections unless our road is fixed. So we will not vote again unless our demands are materialized,” he lamented.

    The recent rains have eroded the road making it difficult for road users to use unless they apply wisdom. The residents say the situation has been an opportunity for armed robbers to be attacking them.

    The Assemblyman for the Mimima electoral area, Hon Aziz Adingana says the MCE and MP promised to fix it but have failed them.

    “I met with the MCE and the MP as of 2021 December, if you check into our executive committee meeting it was a recommendation that Boayini road should be worked on but when we met this year, I consulted and they said there are no funds so we decided to organize a communal labor,” he said.

    The women were helping their husbands to fill the potholes by carrying head pans after fueling a tractor to dig the gravel for them.

  • Akufo-Addo booed: Our intel shows it was planned and orchestrated by the NDC – NPP

    The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has stated that the booing of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo by some patrons of the Global Citizens event was instigated by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

    According to the Deputy Communications Director of the party, Jennifer Queen, the NDC orchestrated the incident to take away the shine and benefits of the global event held at the Independence Square on Saturday, September 24, 2022, brought to Ghana.

    “Despite all the benefits the state is gaining from the event, the NDC and their evil mindsets wanted it to fail. The intel gathered by our National Communication Directorate shows that they sat down to orchestrate this to outshine the beauty of the programme. I am talking about the NDC because they were the first group of people who started sharing the video,” she said on Okay FM.

    Thousands of patrons were at the Black Star Square to witness the Global Citizen Festival, which had a number of local and international artistes performing.

    When it was the turn of President Akufo-Addo to make his presentation, a section of the crowd began clapping and chanting ‘away, away…”

    The incident attracted several social media reactions, with some critics saying it was a reflection of frustrated Ghanaians expressing their disaffection with the president and his government.

    But according to Jennifer Queen, the NDC rather saw the need to score cheap political points by organising some individuals with poor home-taught manners to disrespect the president.

    “The event was to sell the country to the entire globe. So if you end up cutting parts of some videos or instigate people to hoot at the president who is our leader, it speaks very bad of you. Some people want to claim that they are the doyen of wisdom and are acting smart.

    “This is becoming a norm nowadays. If a minister, vice president or a government official goes to a programme, you find people who go out to hoot at them. But what that tells is that a lot of these people lack home training. A lot of these people lack proper upbringing,” she said.

    Away! Away! – Akufo-Addo booed on stage at Global Citizen festival in Accra

    Away! Away! – Akufo-Addo booed on stage at Global Citizen festival in Accra

    0 seconds of 1 minute, 25 secondsVolume 90%

    While describing the chants as despicable, the party communicator nonetheless emphasised the success of the event, which she notes adds to the president’s commitment to pushing Ghana’s entertainment, arts and culture.

    “I will tell you that it is condemnable, it was unwarranted, it was bad behaviour from some elements who were being paid to go and do that, but in the end, the programme went on successfully,” she said.

     

     

  • Here’s a breakdown of how NSMQ questions are set and accepted

    The quiz mistress of the National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ), Prof. Elsie Kaufmann, has given a breakdown of the processes that go into the setting of questions for the popular national program.

    According to her, the process begins with an extensive work done by a team of four consultants, each one for a subject area.

    “We have four subject consultants: physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics. Their work is to set questions. Now, the questions they set are taken through a moderation meeting where we all sit down and read everything,” she said.

    Prof. Kaufmann, who is the Dean of the Engineering Department at the University of Ghana, and one of about only 4 female professors in engineering in Ghana, explained that, in that meeting, her role as quiz mistress is to scrutinize the questions that have been presented.

    “As the quiz mistress, my job is to sit there and listen to the questions so that I can determine if it would work out well with the students. Also, I am the one to award marks so if they have for instance, set very good questions but when we give them marks, it doesn’t add up, my job is to reject them,” she said.

    Speaking on The Delay Show with host, Deloris Frimpong Manso, she added that the last part of the process is done when she returns home with the questions.

    At home, her job is to further scrutinize the questions, solve each and everyone and ensure that they are admissible in the quiz, bearing in mind that she is the one who would award the marks to the students.

    “And for the consultants, they are human beings just like us and are prone to mistakes and so while there, we can identify errors and correct them. After all these, I carry the questions along with me home so I can scrutinize them more thoroughly. At home, I go through all the calculations and solve them so that I can identify the mistakes and if need be, get back to the consultants to have them corrected,” she explained.

    The NSMQ has become a household program that many people look forward to yearly, also because of the bragging rights that come with it for the senior high schools that emerge victorious in them.

  • BoG postpones routine MPC meeting over IMF team visit

    The Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will not be holding its routine quarterly meeting today, Monday, September 26, 2022, as scheduled.

    A statement from the Central Bank last Thursday said the rescheduled meeting will now coincide with Government’s next round of engagements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    The Fund is scheduled to begin these rounds from September 26 to October 7, on Government’s policies and reforms that could be supported by its lending arrangement.

    The team, which will be led by its Mission Chief for Ghana, Stephane Roudet, is also expected to further engage with other stakeholders in the course of the visit.

    Following the development, the Monetary Policy Committee says it will announce the next monetary policies on October 7, the day the engagements with the IMF will be concluded.

    The last IMF mission to Ghana was between July 6 and July 13, 2022. The team used the opportunity to assess Ghana’s economic situation and discussed the broad lines of the government’s Enhanced Domestic Program that could be supported by an IMF lending arrangement.

    The IMF team met with Vice President Bawumia, Finance Minister Ofori-Atta, and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana.

    The team also met with the Parliament’s Finance Committee, civil society organizations, and development partners, including UNICEF and the World Bank, to engage on social spending.

    Ghana is currently looking to secure a $3 billion loan from the IMF.

     

     

  • Commercial drivers demonstrate over bad roads at Osudoku

    Scores of commercial drivers and the people of Osudoku in the Shai Osudoku district this morning, Monday, 26 September 2022, are demonstrating their displeasure over the deplorable road network state from Akuse Junction to Akuse township, Asutsuary to Osuwem and Volivo.

    According to them, the deplorable road networks are negatively affecting the local economy and driving business downwards.

    They are, therefore, appealing to the government to fix the bad roads in the Osudoku enclaves.

    The leaders of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union – Asutsuary to Somanya, Osuwem, and Volivo said they have petitioned Shai-Osudoku District Assembly even to reshape the gulley road networks, but nothing has been done.

    They said they have no option but to embark on a peaceful protest to draw attention to their demand.

     

  • All issues with GPAs will be addressed in 2 weeks – UEW assures level 400 students

    The management of the University of Education Winneba (UEW) has assured stakeholders that the academic records of students will be updated within the next two weeks.

    The decision was announced after a management meeting.

    The school has also assured that there will be some updates to the GPAs starting today, Monday, September 26.

    The level 400 students of the school accused the data protection unit of the University of neglecting to update their records in the last three years even after serving notice.

    They, therefore, organised a demonstration last week to express their anger arguing that they are due for graduation in a couple of weeks but do not know their GPAs.

    Management of the University, in a statement, however, said the issue would be resolved soon.

    Below is the statement:

    Following a crunch meeting by management with respect to issues related to the results of Level 400 Students, the following measures have been put in place to ensure timely resolution of the issues.

    All stakeholders have been given a 2-week deadline of October 7 2022 to resolve all outstanding level 400 student results-related issues.

    However, Students would begin to see updates to their online transcript in portals starting from Monday, September 26 2022. Result-related issues that have been submitted by various departments have been collated and are being uploaded for students to view online in the coming week.

    Step-by-step guidelines on how to view the updated transcript online will be communicated to students by Monday, September 26 2022.

    Transcripts of results showing up-to-date results submitted by the various departments will be sent by September 23 to various examination officers for them to update students immediately. All outstanding supplementary or resit examinations for Level 400s; as a result of trailing from level 100 – 300 should take the form of take-home examinations.

    Heads of Departments and Examination Officers are to ensure that all outstanding result-related corrections that have been reported to departments yet to be submitted are to reach the SRO Office by 12 noon Sunday September 25 2022. A Help Centre would be set up at the Student Centre at North Campus from Wednesday September 28 2022 from 10 am – 3 pm every day until October 14, 2022 to receive complaints from level 400 students with respect to any result-related issue that they may have for a speedy resolution in consultation with the various departments.

    Students are entreated to lodge all complaints at the Help Centre. Departments are to make sure that any student who does not pick up their transcript is invited to do so with utmost urgency.

    All students are being reminded that they should resort to dialogue to have any issues resolved. They are also entreated to take advantage of the laid down procedures and directives given for the speedy resolution of their problems.

    Management would also want to let all students know that the graduation of students is very dear to its heart and all students who are legitimately supposed to graduate would do so provided they follow the laid down guidelines presented in these urgent times.