American R&B and Pop star, Usher Raymond IV, has shared three (3) key lessons fast rising artistes can adopt for a flourishing career.
The musician who has been in the industry for almost three decades has still remained relevant, producing hit albums throughout his time.
Usher who was in Ghana for the Global Citizens Festival told Y107.9FM’s Jonny Stone on the ‘Y Campus Express’ show, “number one on my three biggest lessons in music is that you need to decide on what you want to do and be unwavering about it no matter how complicated it gets. As long as you are connected to that dream and there is the passion, you will not give up.”
The vocalist believes every musician must have a voice of their own, especially in the midst of many voices trying to influence their path. He charged musicians to find their own way and tell their own stories with their own energy.
Taking a cue from the popular saying; “To whom much is given, much more is required”, Usher posited that young artistes must be ready and willing to put in the work. “Who you hang around is important, they can stop or aid you in achieving your goal so you must be well aware of your surroundings.”
The government is currently battling a case of intellectual property breach arising from the use of video content in a ‘Visit Ghana’ campaign promo.
But it is not the first time the Akufo-Addo government has found itself in such an unpleasant situation.
On its first day in office, the president had egg on his face when it emerged that portions of his speech had been plagiarized. There has been one other blunder in between the January 2017 incident and the recent one.
Particulars of the three incidents are;
Ghana Tourism Authority vs. Kirani Ayat
Musician Kirani Ayat had reason to call out the government after it emerged that a ‘Visit Ghana’ video posted on the social media handle of the President earlier this week had footage that belonged to him.
Whereas he insists that no government agency had sought his permission to use the material, the Ghana Tourism Authority, GTA, which produced the video said it had received authorization from an agency, Samsal, to use the material dismissing reports of intellectual property breach.
In a September 28, 2022 statement, the agency explained that it entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GTA to promote Digital Wrist Band – a product that granted access to highly sought after events slated for the Christmas season – to tourists and foreigners.
Per the MoU, the agency said GTA was to give it the needed support in terms of finances and logistics in order to produce video content to market Ghana to the world in that regard.
Consequently, Samsal said it put together a video reel (mood board) for the GTA that included parts of Ayat’s ‘GUDA’ video to demonstrate the vision it had for videos it intended to subsequently create for the campaign.
“We put together a video reel (“mood board”) which we showed to the GTA as inspiration and creative direction for the videos we intended to produce during the campaign.
“The mood board was a mash up of scenes from different videos, including the video for Ayat’s “GUDA”, and other videos shot by David Nicol-Sey, a fellow creative who we have worked on several campaigns with (and who directed the campaign video for Discovery Bands).
“For the avoidance of doubt, the video which the President and the GTA have put in circulation is not the mood board we created. It contains snippets from the mood board. However, we never authorized the GTA to publish the mood board or sense from it. The signed MoU was explicit that our delivery obligations related to new content which would be financed by the GTA,” part of the statement read.
Ghana Beyond Aid document ‘steals’ photo of Kenya skyline
In 2019, it emerged that the Ghana Beyond Aid office had used a photo of Nairobi skyline for the cover page of its official document.
The document was put together by a committee headed by the then senior minister and was launched by President Akufo-Addo on May Day.
It depicted high rise buildings over a green landscape. One of the buildings in the image, however, turned out to be the headquarters of Dawit Insurance in Nairobi.
The Ghana Beyond Aid Charter and Strategy Document was 61 paged and had seven chapters spelling out the role of government and citizens to wean the country off dependence of donors.
An apology was subsequently rendered for the gaffe.
2017 inauguration speech and Bush’s plagiarized paragraphs
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo came under fire on Sunday when it emerged that his inaugural address plagiarized quotes from speeches by U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, this is how a Reuters report of January 8 started off.
The two sentences that had become center of the pliagiarism row that had taken over social media were:
“I ask you to be citizens, citizens not spectators, citizens not subjects, responsible citizens building your communities and our nation,” and.
“Though our challenges are fearsome, so are our strengths. Ghanaians have ever been a restless, questing, hopeful people and we must bring to our task today the vision and will of those who came before us.”
The Reuters report observed that, the first sentence almost matched one from George Bush’s inaugural address in 2001, while the second mirrors Bill Clinton’s inaugural speech in 1993 with only the country name changed.
The Director of Communication at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin explained that the issued were “complete oversight and never deliberate,” noting that the speech contained four correctly attributed quotations.
The Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah is urging judges and magistrates not to be influenced by public criticisms in discharging their duty.
“Yours is to dispense justice and to uphold the rule of law irrespective of public clamour,” the Chief Justice said.
The judiciary has come under criticism in recent times, with President Akufo-Addo describing it as unwarranted attacks which must be condemned.
At the 2022 General Meeting of the Association of Magistrates and Judges, Justice Anin-Yeboah also said criticism of the judiciary must be constructive.
“As the saying goes, you will not value what you have unless you lose it. On this line, the consequence of losing what you have, in terms of our justice system, will be unthinkable.”
Deputy Attorney General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah who attended the event attributed the recent attacks on the Judiciary to what he describes as a distorted coverage of court proceedings by some media firms.
He thus urged the media to collaborate with the judiciary to ensure fair reportage.
“This collaboration will undoubtedly ensure that accurate and fair information is made available to the consuming public.”
“Public perceptions of the judiciary are often coloured by misunderstandings of decisions and judgments of the court,” Mr. Tuah-Yeboah said.
Labour Analyst, Austin Gammey says the Akufo-Addo administration will suffer should it accept to increase the salary of public sector workers by 20 percent.
Workers in the public sector want a 20 percent salary increment in replacement of the 15 percent Cost of Living Allowance agreed by the government which will end in December 2022.
According to the workers, the skyrocketing level of inflation in the country is a huge blow to them hence their current demand.
However, speaking on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, Mr. Gammey stated that there is a possibility that the government will resist the demand from the workers.
“The obvious thing for anybody to do is to pay based on productivity but in Ghana, we don’t pay based on productivity. So once we are paying people based on inflation and political consideration this is what they will demand,” the analyst stated.
He said paying workers based on inflation has some dire consequences on the government’s purse due to the huge numbers of public sector workers.
“I don’t think that if you speak directly to the IMF for this to be part of the approval of our budget for the year 2023, they will never accept that if the government itself as an employer cannot afford to accept that. Because you want 20 percent and if inflation is about 32 percent and we have to suffer a 12 percent shortfall in our income then they are bearing with you. This is not based on productivity,” Mr. Gammey explained.
The Labour analyst further said if there is a disagreement on the demand by the workers then both sides will end up at the National Labour Commission for the issue to be addressed.
“Because the government as an employer cannot afford to pay 20 percent increase on the base pay, it will be suicidal and so they will not be able to do it and they can’t do it. It will be extremely sad and surprising if they are able to do it because the consequences are very obvious,” he added.
A former presidential staffer in the former John Mahama administration says the booing of President Akufo-Addo at the just-ended Global Citizen Festival is an organic expression of how Ghanaians feel about the President’s leadership.
Stan Dogbe is bemused by the New Patriotic Party (NPP)’s allegation that the booing was orchestrated by the opposition National Democratic Congress.
According to him, Ghanaians are feeling the pinch of the hardship imposed on them by the “incompetence” of the Akufo-Addo-Bawmua government.
“Stop the foolhardiness, mates. The hardship is real, and it can only increase. Nana Akufo-Addo, Bawumia and their government have absolutely no clue.
“The resounding reaction of ordinary Ghanaians – not the fake and real middle class – who are feeling the brunt of the hopelessness being forced on us by a completely clueless, useless and incompetent administration, is just what it is!”
Stan Dogbe has thus advised the government and the NPP to take a cue from the incident and act swiftly to address the concerns of Ghanaians.
“The booing of the President off the stage, a global stage, is just a tip of the iceberg of the frustration and disappointment of the people of Ghana,” he added.
During the just-ended Global Citizen Festival, the president had been introduced to tout the government’s moves in prioritising women empowerment among other causes in line with the organisers’ mission for social justice.
President Akufo-Addo at the Global Citizen Festival
But even before the president could make his point, the crowd of youthful revellers chanted against his presence.
But the NPP in a press release issued on Monday, September 26, blamed the opposition NDC for the embarrassment.
Deputy Director of Communications, Ernest Owusu Bempah who signed the release said the NDC intentionally sponsored the heckling for political scores.
“Truly, politicians don’t expect to be popular all the time. Getting on with running the country is a job where you have to take difficult decisions a lot of the time. There’s nothing wrong if President Akufo-Addo goes to an event and receives cold reception. That’s a normal occurrence.
“But then, to allow politics to take centre stage at such an event and single out the President unfairly for political point scoring raises serious concerns. To put it more bluntly, it is pure evil and utter disgrace for the NDC to organise its supporters to go and shout down the President the manner it happened,” he said.
According to him, it’s of no use talking about the late former President’s strained relationship with a political party he founded with his sweat because the party and its current leadership pushed him out.
He was reacting to a recent interview by Elvis Afriyie Ankrah where he spoke about the late former President of Ghana and founder of the NDC.
Read His Statement Below
Okay, while I have great sympathy with Afriyie-Ankrah’s totally understandable commentary, I feel the need to call for caution and a smarter, more sophisticated approach to matters relating to chairman Rawlings.
Elvis and his likes should take a trip back and have a look through the Adabraka headquarters window. The view – at least as described by the lily-livered elements in the NDC leadership hasn’t changed, or? We were told Rawlings had outlived his relevance in the NDC, or? So, why would anyone even be bothered he cozied up to Akufo-Addo when indeed his own folks had no difficulty in attempting to ostracise him?
I think Afriyie-Ankrah needs to zone in on the weightier matters relating to the contest and provide a convincing narrative for all, that inspires even the non-believers and makes them want to be led by him in the event he wins the race.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has predicted that the country is bound to be governed by a female in the near future.
Speaking at this year’s edition of the Global Citizen Festival at the Independence Square, he stated that high possibility of such happening should encourage African leaders to ensure that women are empowered and given fair treatment.
Together with other African leaders, Mr Akufo-Addo said he is committed to waging a war against gender inequality in Ghana and across the African continent.
He added that his government is putting in place policies that will ensure that the girl child is encouraged to reach her full potential, something that can help the country to, one day, produce a female president.
“Women and girls account for 51% of the population of Ghana, the majority and that is the same everywhere on the continent. So, empowering them is critical to speeding up Africa’s progress. As President of Ghana, as Co-Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and as AU gender champion, I am committed put in place policies and programmes aimed at improving the development of the girl child in Ghana,” he said.
He continued saying “I’m equally committed to ensuring access a minimum of senior high school education for the girl child in Ghana, a policy that has already begun to work. Together we can achieve gender equality, empower the women and girls and achieve the global needs and goals of the Sustainable Development Goals, and one day, we are going to have a female President of Ghana.”
The conversation about women taking up the mantle and steer the affairs is not new to Ghana.
In the 2020 general elections, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) chose Prof Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang to be their Vice-Presidential candidate, and this raised issues and debates among the political elites and even within the party.
In the same year, the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) had Madam Akua Donkor as its flagbearer.
Other women who contested the presidential position were Brigitte Dzogbenuku of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), and founder of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings.
In all of such instances, the women had very fewer chances of securing victory because many electorates prefer to have men occupy the position.
President Akufo-Addo’s statement would hopefully bring the conversation again on the need for the country and the continent to begin pushing women to higher places.
On the other hand, President Akufo-Addo has vowed to end child marriages on the continent.
If you ever thought the incumbent government was a listening one, then economist Professor Godfred Alufar Bokpin begs to differ.
For him, the Akufo–Addo administration has been indifferent to heeding any advice that stakeholders have suggested.
Prof Bokpin said this when contributing to Ghana IMF talks on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday.
According to him, Ghana’s economic crisis is due to the government’s unwillingness to admit that it has mismanaged the economy and needs help.
“If you check all that we have said from last year to date, you’ll see that there was no theory. In fact, the theory gives grounding and the predictive framework we get. We are in this because the government failed to listen.
“We are in this because of the posture of the government. We are in this because of our own actions and inactions so we cannot outsource all our problems to Russia–Ukraine war,” he told Samson Lardy Anyenini.IMF
Official negotiations between the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an economic programme are expected to take off from Monday, September 26, 2022.
The IMF mission is coming to Accra after a request was made by the government for an economic programme to help support Ghana’s balance of payment.
This is coming on the back of previous engagements and discussions with the IMF to try and understand the current challenges facing Ghana’s economy.
The IMF team was earlier in Ghana to pick up what has been described as an “economic data gathering exercise”.
This is expected to influence the Fund’s proposal to government on moves to turn around the economy.
The IMF has also engaged other interest groups, including civil society groups, business associations and government institutions.
Meanwhile, Prof Bokpin has expressed displeasure over government’s decision to seek external support.
According to him, previous support from the IMF have failed to achieve its intended expectations.
He maintains that any support from the Bretton Wood institution will do very little in current times.
President of the United States, Joe Biden, on Wednesday (September 21) held a reception for a select group of Heads of States and government representative at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
The leaders present were in New York to attend the 77th United Nations General Assembly with the US president hosting the reception on the sidelines of the UNGA.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who is also attending the annual gathering of world leaders happened to be in town but per GhanaWeb checks was not at the reception.
A rundown of the President’s engagements at the UNGA as shared by deputy director of communications at the presidency, Jefferson Sackey, also did not capture any such engagement by Akufo-Addo.
Some of his peers who were present included William Samoei Ruto, the new Kenyan president, Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC; Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia and Ali Bongo Ondhimba of Gabon.
Also present was George Weah of Liberia as well as the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, AUC, Moussa Faki Mahamat.
All attending presidents and their spouses took photos with the Bidens – Joe and Jill – with the American flag and presidential flag against a black background.
“Kenya will continue expanding its strategic partnership with the United States of America to advance peace and prosperity in Africa.
“With Rachel at a reception hosted by the @POTUS during the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York,” Ruto captioned his photo with Joe Biden.
Other world leaders who attended include: Racep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, President Klaus Iohannis of Romania, Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Philip Pierre; Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, Ali Sabry and Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica.
Akufo-Addo among African guests of Trump in 2017
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, together with eight other African Heads of State, on Wednesday, 20th September, 2017, at the side-lines of the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, held talks with the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, on US-African relations.
The 8 Heads of State present at the meeting were President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, President Alasanne Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Alpha Conde of Guinea, who is also Chairperson of the African Union, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, and President Hage Geingob of Namibia.
Kwasi Bonzoh, the District Chief Executive ofEllembelle has said that his dedication to the fight against illegalmining has seen him gone up against illegal miners in court.
Bonzoh K as he is fondly called, said on Adom FM that he is the complainant in most of the illegal mining cases being prosecuted in the Ellembelle district.
He recounted instances where he testified in open court against illegal miners and emphasize his commitment to the fight.
Bonzoh K also noted that but for the drive and dedication of the Akufo-Addo government, the Ellembelle district would have been ravaged by illegal mining activities.
Whiles commending the president for the fight against galamsey, Bonzoh K reaffirmed his willingness to protect the resources.
“Let me commend the president. But for his intervention and commitment to fighting illegal mining, things would have been worse. There is gold in Ellembele but instead of going through due process they normally circumvent the process by seeing the families who are owners of the land. Because it’s illegal, you can’t regulate them.
“Nana Akufo-Addo’s fight is what has brought us some relief. There are about 18 operations and I’m the complainant for most of them. There are instances where I’ve testified in open court against galamseyers” he said.
Bonzoh K also called for a de-politicization of the fight against galamsey. He surmised that giving the fight a political colorization will prevent the government and agencies from identifying the real culprits behind the menace.
“Galamseyers are businessmen who take advantage of the political space. We should do this thing [fighting illegal mining] without the political colorization of the fight”.
“When you arrest one galamseyer, the number of calls that you will receive transcends political lines. The moment you politicize it, the real actors get away with it. We are doing the unborn generations a great disservice if we don’t win this fight. If we just look on for people to just destroy our environment, what will my children come to inherit?”
Bonzoh K has been charged with five counts of alleged obstruction over the controversial missing excavators saga.
The charges he will face are assault, conspiracy to assault, resisting arrest and two others.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is currently on a bail.
President Nana Akufo-Addo will address the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly today, September 21, at 2045 hours.
He will participate in the General Debate of the Assembly in his capacity as the President of Ghana.
This was announced in a twitter post on Wednesday afternoon.
The General Debate of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly started on Tuesday, September 20 on the theme, ‘A watershed moment: Transformative solutions to interlocking challenges.’
He asserts that despite the Vice President’s stated intention to address the nation’s problems, he is actually doing the reverse by causing more of them.
Professor Hanke’s statement is in response to the Ghana Cedi’s decline in value versus major trading currencies, particularly the US dollar.
Professor Hanke who has taken a keen interest in the economic issues of Ghana in a separate tweet said Ghana’s economy was tanking – an expression which means the economy is down and there are fears of a recession.
He has in the past blamed the Akufo-Addo-led administration for putting the economy in a dire situation.
“Ghana is in 8th place in this week’s inflation table. On Sep 8, I measured Ghana’s #inflation at a stunning 81%/yr–over 2x the official inflation rate of 34%/yr. #Ghana’s economy is TANKING. To rein in inflation, GHA must install a currency board,” he tweeted on September 19.
“Today, I measure #Ghana’s inflation at 81%/yr. As a result, Ghanaians don’t know the price of anything anymore. When Ghanaians see their grocery bills soar, they can thank Pres. Akufo-Addo,” Prof Hanke further teased.
Ghana’s economy has been hard hit according to the government by the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and banking sector clean-up.
The rippling effect has been an increase in the cost of living, record high inflation rates and downgrades of the economy by rating agencies such as S&P and Fitch – a situation which has dealt a heavy blow to government’s ability to access the international capital market.
The Cedi has also been on a free fall compelling the Bank of Ghana to resort to hiking its monetary policy rate to deal with the situation.
The worsening economic situation compelled the government in July to initiate contact with International Monetary Fund for an economic support programme.
Ghana is said to be targeting an amount of US$3 billion over three years from the International Monetary Fund once an agreement on a programme is reached. The new amount requested as a loan was double the government’s initial target of $1.5 billion.
Government hopes to complete negotiations by end of the year in order to receive the funds in the first quarter of next year.
The Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah has eulogised President Akufo-Addo, describing him as “a promise keeper.”
According to the Minister, his boss has always delivered on promises made to Ghanaians.
He noted that although Ghanaians still treat the promises of politicians with suspicion, President Akufo-Addo had shown that he was a man of his word by delivering on his key policies.
Mr Asiamah made this known on Monday during a ceremony to herald Ghanaian airline, Passion Air’s maiden flight to the recently renovated Sunyani Airport in the Bono Region.
He said the President had kept his word to the people of Bono after he assured them that commercial flights would soon operate from the airport.
Mr Asiamah further urged Ghanaians to always say a prayer for the President so that he will be able to surmount all challenges.
“You will recall that on 3rd August this year, I accompanied President Akufo-Addo to commission this airport following certification by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority for the airport to resume flight operations,” Mr Asiamah said.
“At the commissioning. I did inform you that, Passion Air, one of the domestic carriers was finalising modalities for the commencement of flight operations to this airport. It is my pleasure to announce that today’s inaugural flight by Passion Air is a clear demonstration of the government’s commitment to improving air connectivity across the country and beyond to boost trade and tourism”.
Maiden flight
The Minister was speaking at an event to welcome Passion Air’s maiden commercial domestic flight to the Bono region.
Onboard the flight which lasted 45 minutes from the Kotoka International Airport to the Sunyani Airport were Members of Parliament; members of the Ghana Airports Company Limited Board; management and staff of Passion Air; pressmen and other passengers.
Publisher at the Africa Briefing, Jonathan Offei-Ansah, has advisedGhana and other African countries to give up on seeking restitution from their former colonial masters.
He asserted that thecontinent doesn’t need leader who come to power for their personal gains, but those who will nurture the nation’s natural and people riches to create opportunity for all of its citizens.
“The issue of reparation began long ago; even in America, they are talking about reparation to African Americans. But one has to be realistic. This is arguable, but I believe that it is a mirage to talk about reparations. I believe it is never going to happen.
“What we need today as Africans is good leadership, good governance, leadership that will serve the people, that will have the welfare of the whole nation at heart. Not leadership that comes in to serve themselves,” he said in a TV3 interview on Monday,” he said in a TV3 interview on Monday, Septemeber 19.
He added that even if Africa gets reparations, it will be when it is united, and its demands come from a position of strength and not in its current state.
The publisher also said that African leaders must be wary of the presence of the Chinese on the continent. According to him, the Chinese are only in Africa to rob the continent of its natural resources.
Meanwhile, at the beginning of a four-day summit with diaspora participants in August 2022, President Akufo-Addoargued that Africa deserved compensation for the slave trade.
He said the effect of the slave trade was being felt today as a result of the drain it had on the population and development of the continent. He insisted that calls for reparation for the slave trade were long overdue.
“Reparations for Africa and the African Diaspora are long overdue. Predictably, the question of reparation becomes a debate only when it comes to Africa and Africans. We believe the calls for reparations for Africa are just,” President Akufo-Addo said.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II has reopened the reparation debate in many African countries. Some have said the Britain monarchy must return all the historic artefacts they took from African countries and also repay the African Continent for the resources, both human and material, it used to develop the United Kingdom during the eras of slavery and colonialism.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that former President John Dramani Mahama is still pained for losing twice to him in the general elections.
He said the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2020 general elections is still reeling from the 2016 and 2020 defeats.
Speaking on his 2-day tour of the Volta Region, President Akufo-Addo said Mr. Mahama still cannot believe he beat him twice.
Akufo-Addo holds that it is the failure to accept his electoral losses that has triggered Mahama to be making certain hard-hitting comments about him and his government.
“Mr. Mahama still has not been able to assimilate his defeat twice to the man who he had said could never come to power in Ghana and I think every night when he goes to bed, he is confused about the man who has not just come back but given him a good whipping on two separate occasions.
“We won the landslide in 2016 and again decisive margin in 2020. He has never got the figures that I have got in elections in Ghana, he knows” Akufo-Addosaid in an interview on Ho-based Stone City FM days ago.
He holds that criticism of his government was a way by Mahama and his supporters to rubbish the progress his government continued to make despite challenges at hand.
“He knows that significant progress and achievements have been made and that it is necessary for him and his supporters to denigrate that exercise, to go out of their way and to poo-poo everything that we have done,” he added.
Mahama beat Akufo-Addo in the 2012 elections and also won a petition Akufo-Addo filed after the vote. In 2016, he lost his re-election bid with Akufo-Addo winning his first term as a result.
In 2020, Mahama lost again to Akufo-Addo at the polls and in court, where his petition was unanimously dismissed by the court.
President Akufo-Addo has paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away today, September 8, 2022.
The longest-serving monarch in UK passed on peacefully at Balmoral, according to the Burkingham Palace.
In a Twitter post, President Akufo-Addo described the late monarch as one with elegance, style and sheer joy.
“We shall miss her inspiring presence, her calm, her steadiness, and, above all, her great love and belief in the higher purpose of the Commonwealth of Nations, and in its capacity to be a force for good in our world.”
“She was a cherished and revered monarch of the British people, the longest-serving in their history, who will be sorely missed. We are saddened by her departure,” he added.
On behalf of the Government and people of Ghana, the President extended his deepest condolences to the new British monarch, King Charles III, the Royal family, the Prime Minister, and the Government and people of Great Britain.
Queen Elizabeth II is UK’s longest-serving monarch
To mourn with England, President Akufo-Addo has directed that all official flags in the nation fly at half-mast for seven days, as from tomorrow, Friday, 9th September.
“May God bless her soul and give her peaceful rest in His Bosom until the Last Day of the Resurrection when we shall all meet again,” he stated.
Queen Elizabeth IIborn Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, in Mayfair, London, on 21 April 1926 came to the throne in 1952 and witnessed enormous social change.
Queen Elizabeth II’s tenure as head of state spanned post-war austerity, the transition from empire to Commonwealth, the end of the Cold War and the UK’s entry into – and withdrawal from – the European Union.
Her reign spanned 15 prime ministers starting with Winston Churchill, born in 1874, and including Liz Truss, born 101 years later in 1975, and appointed by the Queen earlier this week.
She held weekly audiences with her prime minister throughout her reign.
With her death, her eldest son Charles, the former Prince of Wales, will lead the country in mourning as the new King and head of state for 14 Commonwealth realms.
On behalf of the Government and people of Ghana, I extend deepest condolences to the new British monarch, King Charles III, the @RoyalFamily, the Prime Minister, and the Government and people of Great Britain on the death, today, of HM Queen Elizabeth II 1/7 pic.twitter.com/Y7fFKxwCR4
The Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin has disclosed that Ghana’s presidential jet, the Dassault Falcon 900EX-Easy is currently undergoing long overdue repair works in France.
This disclosure was in response to a Facebook post made by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa regarding the use of the presidential jet. Mr Arhin said the only persons who flew the jet to France were the crew made up of pilots from the Ghana Air Force.
In a post on his verified personal Facebook page, Mr Arhin suggested that as a result of the repairs, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo could not have used the Presidential jet for an official visit to the Netherlands.
“Contrary to the insinuations being cast by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, no one “used the Presidential Jet to Franceâ€, and no one is using the Presidential Jet in France. The only persons who flew the jet to France are the crew made up of pilots from the Ghana Air Force,” he posted.
Mr Arhin further disclosed that the Presidential Jet departed Ghana on August 30, 2022, for major repair works and will be out of service for four months. He added that it will be available for use in December.
“Indeed, the Presidential Jet departed Ghana on 30th August to France for major repair works to be carried out on it – repair works which are very much long overdue. The Air Force has indicated that the Presidential Jet will be out of service for a total of four (4) months, and will return to Ghana and be available for use in December. It will be recalled that in May this year, the Minister for Defence, Hon. Dominic Nitiwul, alerted Ghanaians to the fact that the Presidential Jet would be flown to France for major repair works to be undertaken on it”.
He further urged Mr Ablakwa to “minimize his penchant for engaging in propaganda regarding the Presidential Jet, to avoid further embarrassments to his person”.
What MP Ablakwa said
The MP who has tracked presidential travels since last year, claimed in a Facebook post claimed that President Nana Addo Dankwa flew commercial on September 3 for an official visit to the Netherlands and later to France.
“President Akufo-Addo left Accra on the night of September 3, 2022, aboard KLM after delaying the commercial flight,” Mr Ablakwa posted yesterday on Facebook.
The MP also expressed concern about why and how the Presidential Jet had been flown to France days before the President left Accra, he asked who had used it for the non-stop journey to Paris.
His post referenced an explanation by the Presidency about the ability of the jet to make long-haul flights.
“It is instructive to note that contrary to what Director of Communications at the Presidency. Mr. Eugene Arhin, would want us believe as per his earlier claims that the Presidential Jet is no longer fit to fly direct beyond 6 hours-a dubious claim which now stands discredited, the Presidential Jet on this latest trip was flown direct or non-stop for Ghours and 24minutes to Paris, France.” the post added.
Read Mr Arhin’s entire post below;
My attention has been drawn to a Facebook post made by Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa regarding the use of the presidential jet, and my responses are as follows:
1. Contrary to the insinuations being cast by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, no one “used the Presidential Jet to Franceâ€, and no one is using the Presidential Jet in France. The only persons who flew the jet to France are the crew made up of pilots from the Ghana Air Force.
2. Indeed, the Presidential Jet departed Ghana on 30th August to France for major repair works to be carried out on it – repair works which are very much long overdue. The Air Force has indicated that the Presidential Jet will be out of service for a total of four (4) months, and will return to Ghana and be available for use in December. It will be recalled that in May this year, the Minister for Defence, Hon. Dominic Nitiwul, alerted Ghanaians to the fact that the Presidential Jet would be flown to France for major repair works to be undertaken on it.
3. In view of this, how Hon. Ablakwa expects President Akufo-Addo to return to Ghana on Saturday, 10th September, from his current trip to the Netherlands and France on board the Presidential Jet, which is undergoing major repair works and is scheduled to return to Ghana in December, beats my imagination.
4. I would urge Hon. Ablakwa to minimize his penchant for engaging in propaganda regarding the Presidential Jet, to avoid further embarrassments to his person.
“The unfortunate situation with our judiciary is exacerbated by a President who is packing the courts and appointing openly partisan judges to both the superior and lower courts. To make matters worse, the president and his legal team believe in weaponizing state prosecutions against political opponents. Not only has this government targeted former appointees who are being prosecuted on frivolous charges, but they are also prosecuting other persons and targeting business people perceived to belong to opposing parties,†he said.
President Akufo-Addo since 2018 has appointed fifteen (15) Supreme Court judges including four new recent ones, making him one of the Heads of State with the highest appointments in Ghana, only next to John Agyekum Kufuor.
Among the new appointments made by President Akufo-Addo is Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu, who was captured in a 2016 poster as a contestant for the Ho central constituency seat on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party; the ruling party.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said the economic challenges facing the country will not deter the government from accelerating investment in road infrastructure.
He noted that good roads played a critical role in accelerating socio-economic development, and that was why the government had kept faith with the Year of Roads’ mantra.
In an interview with Radio Upper West in Wa Monday at the start of a two-day working visit to the Upper West Region, the President said massive developments in the road sector showed that the Year of Roads’ mantra was not just a slogan.
“It’s been a reality and a very successful programme,†he stated.
Best in roads
The President said his administration had constructed more road projects than any other government in the history of the Fourth Republic.
“The road infrastructure that has been established since I became President, let me use this famous word, is unprecedented. We have never seen so much in the roads sector. Let’s put it as far as the Fourth Republic is concerned. The Roads Minister likes to say since independence’,†he said.
“I just want to be a little more modest and compare apples and apples and not apples and oranges. And I’m saying that the road infrastructure that has taken place under Akufo-Addo’s NPP government is without equal in this Fourth Republic,†he added.
Upper West roads
President Akufo-Addo said the Upper West Region alone had had 18 road projects completed since 2017, while 110 more road projects were ongoing.
He said for the first time in the nation’s history, the Wa-Hamile road had been tarred.
He announced the re-packaging and award of the contract for the construction of the Wa-Tumu road, and added that the Han-Tumu section of the road had been re-scoped and awarded to five different contractors and would be completed in 24 months.
“The government has expanded the road network dramatically. Obviously, when you’re starting from zero and get to four, it doesn’t look as if you’ve got very far, but from zero to four in itself is a big movement, and when you get to five or six or seven, then you realise that you’re beginning to succeed,†he said.
Difficult time
While admitting that the financial difficulties confronting the nation presented a difficult time for the government, he nevertheless pointed out that it would not go to sleep.
“It’s been a difficult time, but as I said, we are very conscious of the difficulties in the management of the economy, and it affects areas such as arrears of payments to contractors, but we are making a big effort to try and resolve these problems,†he said.
Payment to contractors
President Akufo-Addo gave an assurance that “contractors are not going to be left high and dryâ€.
He said if contractors did not get paid, the development of road infrastructure would stall.
“Things are going to work out; they are definitely going to work out,†he stated.
Health issues
The President re-affirmed his resolve for the execution of the Agenda 111 projects, since he felt health issues should not be compromised.
He said the region had five of the projects, and that he would visit them to see progress of work on them to ensure that everybody had access to healthcare delivery in the country.
He explained that the COVID-19 pandemic had exposed the deficiencies in the health infrastructure, hence his determination to remedy the situation, adding that it was unfair for some districts not to have hospitals, while others had them.
“As a matter of social equity, it was necessary to find a way of equalising the situation for everybody to have access to healthcare delivery,†he said.
President Akufo-Addo promised to transform the region with the provision of social amenities and infrastructural facilities and thereby leave a lasting legacy.
Peace at Wa
At the Palace of the Wa Naa, where he paid a courtesy call on the Overlord of the Wala Traditional Area, Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV, the President expressed his gratitude for the prevailing peace in Wa.
He promised that he would consider the various requests made and address them in due course.
He announced that he had donated 3,000 streetlights for distribution throughout the region in an effort to promote peace and security, as well as the protection of lives and properties.
Wa Naa delighted
Welcoming the President, Naa Seidu Pelpuo commended him for meeting the various requests by providing a means of transportation for the Wa Senior High School (SHS) and also naming the Wa Youth Resource Centre after the late Alhaji Butare K. Adama.
He, however, put in requests such as a fence wall and a means of transportation for the Jamiat Islamic Girls’ SHS, a multi-purpose assembly hall for the Wa SHS and a hostel for the Dr Hilla Limann Technical University.
According to her, the directive by the President issued on July 28, 2022, will afford her the time to focus on her work as the Member of Parliament for the people of Dome Kwabenya.
In a letter to the Presidency dated August 5, Sarah Adwoa Safo wrote “Cognizant of my duties to the 75,000 constituents who elected me, this development is opportune and will afford me more time to concentrate on my Parliamentary responsibilities and Constituency engagements as well as consolidate the gains we have made as a government at the Constituency level in our quest to break the eight.”
President Akufo-Addo in accordance with Article 81 of the 1992Constitution relieved Sarah Adwoa Safo of her duties as Gender Minister.
Her dismissal came at time when Ghanaians called on the government to replace Adwoa Safo over her absence from post for over a year due to personal reasons.
According to the former Gender Minister, it was an honour to serve at “this all-important Ministry albeit for a short time.”
She also thanked the President for his “understanding, compassion and unending devotion” throughout the period she faced difficulties.
“Your kind support has been very much welcome and for that I remain eternally grateful,” she added.
Sarah Adwoa Safo mentioned that during her tenure of office, the Ministry put in place enough mechanisms to ensure a harmonious society where the survival and development of Women, Children, Persons with Disabilities as well as other vulnerable persons in society to transform the Social Protection Framework into a robust and more responsive one.”
Meanwhile, Sarah Adwoa Safo has revealed that all officials assets provided her have been handed over to the Administrator of the Ministry.
President Akufo-Addo has on Monday, 15th August 2022, presented 1,500 motorbikes to the Ghana Police Service.
The presentation, according to the President is affirmation of his commitment to provide the Ghana Police Service with the necessary logistics it requires, to help the Service continue to effect its mandate of maintaining law and order, and protecting lives and property.
Speaking at the event at the Police Headquarters, Presidemt Akufo-Addo stated that the vision of the of the police service which seeks to regain the confidence, trust and respect of the public, and deepen police legitimacy, has the full backing of Government.
“An institution, such as the Police Service, needs to renew constantly itself in order to respond adequately to the security needs of the country, and I believe Ghanaians are witnesses to the pragmatic steps being taken by the Service in this regard,†he said.
The President continued, “Government is very much aware of the efforts being put in place by personnel of the Service, under the dynamic leadership of the Inspector-General of Police and members of the Police Management Board, to intensify targeted operations in communities which, hitherto, were notorious for violent crimes.â€
He noted that the ongoing programme to boost the manpower needs of the Service is necessary for the effective implementation of the bold, strategic interventions launched by the Service to improve its service delivery to Ghanaians.
“Government, last year, gave approval for the police to recruit 5,000 officers. Some 3,000 of those recruited have passed out, with the remaining still under training. These officers are the first batch of men and women to benefit from the modified police training curricular, which is focused on equipping the police officers with skills in driving, swimming and motorbike riding in addition to other tactical and soft skills,†he said.
It is for this reason that the President was delighted to hand over the 1,500 motorbikes to the Police Service, and further urged the Service to continue doing the good work it is doing to keep all of us safe.
“I am confident that these bikes will be put to very good use, as they will reach the communities who need them the most. I assure the Police Administration that this is just the beginning. More and more motorbikes will come in soon, to help ensure that every single community in the country benefits from the enhanced community policing model. Government will increase the number of motorbikes presented by Government to five thousand (5,000) by the end of next year,†he said.
The President urged the Police to show presence, improve their response time, and patrol the streets and the inner cities, after taking over the motorbikes.
“I urge you to help ensure that no community is left out in the distribution of these bikes, even as you prioritise the areas that are most critical. I entreat officers who will use these bikes to take good care of them but, more importantly, to pay particular attention to their safety and the safety of other road users while on the road,†he stressed.
Meanwhile, The Police Service, under the leadership of the Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, has embarked on a transformation agenda, aimed at positioning the Service to become one of the best institutions in the country, and a model institution for the rest of the world.
President Akufo-Addo says his administration is working at providing market women with trucks to transport food items from the rural areas to urban cities.
This initiative, according to the President, forms part of efforts to beat down food prices in the country.
President Akufo-Addo also believes that the measures to help curb the rising food prices in the country will also address the increasing rate of inflation, which currently stands at 31.7 percent.
â€Arrangements are being made with market women, market queens in popular parlance to provide trucks to evacuate foodstuffs from rural markets to urban centres to help reduce cost of food prices in the city.â€
He made this known at the 22nd General Meeting of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana at Kwahu Abetifi in the Eastern Region over the weekend.
The President also encouraged companies engaged in the manufacture of inorganic fertilisers to scale up production to reduce the impact of the high-cost and unavailability of fertilizers.
His comment came on the back of claims by President Akufo-Addo that John Dramani Mahama superintended over the worst economy in Ghana.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in an interview on Wontumi TV said, “This is the man (Mahama) who presided over the worst statistics in the economic history of our country, who also picked an economy and oil company and then sunk it into a 3.4 percent rate of growth.â€
Former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper has disagreed with President Akufo-Addo’s assertion that former President John Mahama superintended over the worst statistics in the country’s economic history.
Speaking on Ashanti regional-based Wontumi TV on Saturday, August 1, President Akufo-Addo said: “This is the man (Mahama) who presided over the worst statistics in the economic history of our country, who also picked an economy and oil company and then sunk it into a 3.4 percent rate of growth.â€
In a one-on-one interview on Neat FM’s Me Man Nti programme, the former Finance Minister in the erstwhile Mahama administration said someone who presided over the worst economy would not have set up ESLA (Energy Sector Levy Act).
“ESLA has brought in nearly GH¢20 billion…if we have this much revenue why do we still have bailouts not being paid? Why are we issuing bond without interest for five years? This is revenue which was described as a nuisance tax… the fact that they (NPP) said they will cancel it…so when my President (Akufo-Addo) describes his predecessor as worst… ”
He went further to give evidence to back his claim that Mahama did well in managing the economy.
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, 9th August 2022, visited Global Almas Processing Ltd, a yam and cassava processing factory located in Bimbilla, in the Northern Region.
Taking the President on a tour of the factory, the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry and Member of Parliament for New Juaben South, Michael Okyere Baafi, indicated to the President that the company has taken advantage of the available local raw materials in the Nanumba and surrounding areas to process yam and cassava flour for both domestic and foreign markets.
According to the Deputy Minister, Global Almas has a land bank of more than 2,000 acres at Bimbilla, and additional land would be acquired as the operations expand with anticipated increase in demand of products.
He noted also that the factory produces 1,000 cartons of Yam Fufu Flour per day, under the brand name Almas Yam Fufu Flour, requiring the purchasing of 10,000 yam per day.
With respect to the cassava processing line, some 200 bags cassava flour is produced per day, with the company engaging some 20 farming groups, who have committed themselves to producing for the factory.
Hon. Baafi indicated to the President that the total cost of the factory is pagged at GH¢9.2 million, with 60% equity contribution from the Promoter translating to about GH¢5.2 million. The Ghana Exim Bank has also provided a credit facility amounting to GH¢1 million (10.8% of the total project cost) which was disbursed in February 2021.
Global Almas has, thus far, created more than 74 direct jobs including Management, Supervisors, Food Scientist, Laboratory Technician and Maintenance Technicians as well as women who are involved in the peeling, cleaning, bagging, stitching machine attendants and sorting of the yam/cassava.
In addition, over 400 additional Indirect jobs have been created for out-growers, transporters, harvesting team, packaging & handling, sales outlets, etc.
Already, the company has signed an agreement with Sinostone Ethanol Manufacturing Company located in Juapong to supply 1,000 tons of cassava chips every month. Another agreement has been concluded with Bofas Company Limited located in Wa for the supply of 40-foot container of yam fufu flour every month for export to the US market.
President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, has denied reports indicating that he has pledged support for Peter Obi ahead of Nigeria’s 2023 elections.
Per the said report making rounds, President Akufo-Addo allegedly entreated Nigerians to give Peter Obi a chance and seek treatment for his health.
But in a Twitter post on August 9, President Akufo-Addo described the article as “completely false and mischievous”.
He wrote “My attention has been drawn to a disturbing post making the rounds on social media, where it is alleged I have written to the 2023 presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to give Peter Obi a chance and seek treatment for his health. This is completely false and mischievous, with no iota of truth whatsoever in it.”
My attention has been drawn to a disturbing post making the rounds on social media, where it is alleged I have written to the 2023 presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to “give Peter Obi a chance and seek treatment for his healthâ€. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/qdDkyNNbtz
According to the President, he has not put pen to paper to express such demands and neither will he do so in the near future.
He argued that Ghana and Nigeria boast of decades of cordial, strong and brotherly relations, thus “I am not going to be the one to interfere in the internal affairs and politics of Nigeria.”
Peter Obi is vying for the presidency on a Labour Party ticket. Nigerians will elect a new president in February 2023 to take over from Muhammadu Buhari.
Anti-corruption campaigner, Vitus Azeem, has asked President Akufo-Addo to relieve the Council of State member of her position.
His comment comes on the heels after an amount of GH¢1.074 million was retrieved by the Office of the Special Prosecutor from the Labianca Company Limited, a frozen foods company, belonging to the member of the Council of State.
According to the investigative report, Madam Asomah-Hinnehused her position as a member of the Council of State and a member of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to influence a favourable decision from the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), leading to a reduction in the tax liabilities of Labianca Limited.
This, according to the report, reduced the benchmark values of the goods imported by Labianca Limited, translating to reduced tax obligations of the company to the state.
Following the reports of corruption-related offences involving her and her company, Mr Azeemstated that if the President is really committed to the anti-corruption fight, steps should be taken to ensure that madam Asomah-Hinneh leaves her position.
“This Council of State member should have resigned by now. If the leadership, the President and his executive are determined to fight corruption, that should be the case,†Azeem told Accra-based Citi News.
He holds further that the President must conduct further investigations into the corruption report issued by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
Titled: “Report of Investigation into Alleged Commission of Corruption and Corruption-Related Offences involving Labianca Group of Companies and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority,†it implicated the Council of State member as using her position to get favourable tax exemption decisions.
“The Special Prosecutor, like the former one, is probably struggling to do his best, but I am not sure if he will be given the necessary cooperation and the necessary support [he will succeed],†Azeem added.
Madam Jane Mensah, the head of the Electoral Commission, is fully aware that the NPP, Ghana’s most dishonest and inept political party, will be replaced by a new government that will not only remove her from her position but also potentially subjects her to legal proceedings that could land her in jail. As a result, she may exert all of her efforts to prevent that from happening.
How is she going to stop that is the question? Election rigging, such as what she did in 2020, is the only way to do this. The most crucial question that many Ghanaians haven’t thought to ask, and that the NPP government hasn’t also given an answer is, “If the government didn’t actually win the 2020 elections, how likely is it that they will break the eighth cycle in 2024?
One of the reasons I have lived a good life with my family and never been accused of a crime or faced the law is because I am a man who has no interest in using violence. However, I must caution anyone who intends to use the law to take away any Ghanaian’s means of subsistence at this time. They may be treading dangerous territory because just because Ghanaians are silent doesn’t mean they are stupid.
Political avarice and tribalism prevent tribal bigots from seeing clearly and accepting that the majority of people are no longer interested in the NPP, as a result of our bad performance, so if we are beaten, we must peacefully transfer power. That is not at all how the con NPP government sees things; instead, they have already begun nefarious plans to win the 2024 elections.
Given how this specific government’s incompetence has destroyed every piece of infrastructure in Ghana and led to the greatest rates of unemployment and crime nationwide, that is actually highly dangerous. After President Nana Akufo Addo refused to remove his relative from office, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, even tell Ghanaians that the president is concealing something.
I am fully aware that some NPP politicians are unhappy with how Akufo Addo has decimated the party, while others don’t care what the president will do to keep the NPP in power.
They have information they don’t want the average Ghanaian to know, particularly about the extensive corruption these families of political crooks have fostered. Why, in face of widespread opposition from Ghanaians, is Akufo Addo employing all nefarious means to ensure that the NPP administration receives support from Jane Mensah, the corrupt head of the electoral commission, in order for it to win the 2024 elections?
The easy solution is that if Jane Mensah manipulates elections once more, she will be able to keep her job and avoid being held accountable for her earlier election offenses. More crucially, her aid would prevent Nana Akufo Addo, the president, and other corrupt NPP leaders from being adequately probed and prosecuted since the future leader following Akufo Addo will fire all the Supreme Court judges the president has lined up.
It is up to all of Ghana’s opposition parties to prevent this from happening and intensify the anguish that has already struck Ghanaians so hard without a cure. I believe that tribalism has taken over the brain of many Ghanaians and those in the Diaspora, and therefore; as long as the president is from their tribe, they don’t care if the regular Ghanaians stand in line to buy chicken heads as food.
Isn’t that foolish considering that it might take Ghana five to ten years before this disastrous economic situation gets out of hand? When Akufo Addo named his relative Ken Ofori-Atta as the finance minister, all of Ghana’s intellectuals, educators, and academicians did was stand by and observe. What do Ghanaians anticipate as a result?
I’ve already shown that Akufo Addo chose Ken Ofori-Atta in order to facilitate his involvement in corruption, which is one of the reasons the NPP government was unable to succeed and the nation was left with unmanageable debt. All of the NPP’s efforts to rig the upcoming elections are being made solely to conceal crimes they have done in order to escape going to jail.
Since she refused to enter the witness box to explain the fictitious results of the elections, she gave Ghanaians, Madam Jane Mensah has been terrified to death. As a result, she will do everything it takes to avoid being charged or having to go to court.
As a result, if the needle says it can sew, it should close the hole in its head. To put it another way, if Ghanaians consider themselves to be intelligent people, with professors and scholars, none of them should sit down and observe the NPP government, which has been rejected for its incompetence, as they implement their nefarious fraudulent schemes to maintain power. This is because you people can’t see far enough to realize that Ghanaians may soon have to chew corncobs to survive.
Source: Ghanaweb
DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana
Work has begun on the construction of 15 kilometres asphalt overlay on some road networks within the Akim Oda town to enhance both the movement of vehicles and economic activities in the town. Friday 5th August 2022
The project is expected to improve the major roads in the town to meet its status as the capital of the Akim Oda Municipality.
The move by the Akufo-Addo administration which is widely seen as a fulfillment of one of its campaign promises to the region will bring relief to motorists and residents in Akim Oda where bad roads in the c have become a topical issue on the airwaves.
The Akim Oda Ring Road Project is also included to give the roads a facelift and ensure the free flow of vehicles and also ease traffic congestion.
Demonstration
A group calling itself Akim Oda Concerned Citizens Association few months blocked and prevent vehicles from using the roads in the area if the government fails to repair the poor road networks across the town
The protest was to register their displeasure over the government’s continuous neglect of the roads which connect residents to other parts of the country.
The Federal Reserve said it would increase its key rate by 0.75 percentage points, targeting a range of 2.25% to 2.5%.
The bank has been raising borrowing costs since March to try to cool the economy and ease price inflation.
But fears are rising the moves will tip the US into recession.
Recent reports have shown falling consumer confidence, a slowing housing market, jobless claims rising and the first contraction in business activity since 2020.
Many expect official figures this week will show the US economy shrank for the second quarter in a row.
In many countries, that milestone is considered a recession though it is measured differently in the US.
At a press conference, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged that parts of the economy were slowing, but said the bank was likely to keep raising interest rates in the months ahead despite the risks, pointing to inflation that is running at a 40-year high.
“Nothing works in the economy without price stability,” he said. “We need to see inflation coming down…That’s not something we can avoid doing.”
Image source, ReutersImage caption, Jerome Powell, the head of the US central bank, is under pressure to rein in inflation
How does raising interest rates fight inflation?
Higher interest rates help to fight inflation by raising the cost of borrowing, encouraging people and businesses to borrow less and spend less. In theory that is meant to lead to lower demand and slow price rises – but it also means less economic activity.
Mr Powell said some slowdown was “necessary”.
“We’re not trying to have a recession – and we don’t think we have to,” he added.
But as US growth stalls and price rises squeeze households around the world, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned this week that the global economy may be teetering on the brink of recession.
Already, some firms in the tech and housing industries – which saw rapid gains in recent years thanks to low borrowing costs – have announced job cuts or plans to slow hiring, citing the market shift.
With inflation soaring, central banks “don’t really have a choice” but to increase interest rates, said economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, director of research at the International Monetary Fund.
Earlier this month, the European Central Bank announced an unexpectedly large rate rise – its first in 11 years. The Bank of England has been raising rates since December, and dozens of other countries have taken similar steps.
“Most central banks are tightening monetary policy,” said Mr Gourinchas. “The big question looking ahead is how quickly can this monetary tightening bring back inflation to reasonable levels.”
How high is US inflation?
Inflation in the US rose to 9.1% last month, driven by higher prices for gasoline, food and shelter. That is well above the Fed’s 2% target – and the fastest rate since 1981.
Efforts to tame price increases at that time led the Fed to raise interest rates to more than 15% and sent the economy into a decline that lasted more than a year.
Wednesday’s rate rise, the fourth since March, will push the rate the Fed charges banks to borrow to more than 2.25%, a level last seen in 2019, just above where rates were in the months before the pandemic hit in 2020.
But businesses and households have grown accustomed to low interest rates, which have rarely risen above 2% since the 2008 financial crisis. And the Fed is also hiking unusually fast, with Wednesday’s rise marking the second 0.75 percentage point increase in a row.
“This is rapidly proving to be one of the most aggressive hiking cycles we’ve seen in recent decades,” said Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors.
“Combatting four-decade high inflation will take a sustained show of strength.”
Business ‘dropped off a cliff’
Image caption, Jessica Duran
Arizona mum-of-three Jessica Duran is one of thousands of workers in the property industry who has lost her job in recent weeks.
She says her business working on loans for prospective home buyers in one of America’s hottest housing markets “dropped off a cliff” in March, as the US central bank started to raise rates.
When her company told her it was cutting her job, she wasn’t initially worried about finding a new one. But the 29-year-old says dozens of applications and aggressive networking in the weeks since have led nowhere.
Now she fears she may be out of work until the market picks up again – which may not happen for months.
“I feel like I spent two years rejecting job offers and now I’m out there begging on the streets,” she says. “I’m concerned about how long the job market, the housing market is going to stay down. If it continues in this direction, that’s thousands of jobs.”
Analysts expect the Fed to raise rates to between 3% and 4% by the end of the year. Financial markets jumped after the Mr Powell’s press conference on hopes the pace of increases may slow in coming months.
Analysts say they still think the US can avoid severe economic pain, pointing to a jobs market that is still adding hundreds of thousands of jobs each month. Consumer spending – which accounts for almost 70% of the economy – has also held up, though growth has slowed.
“To get it just right so as to cool the economy but not tip the economy into recession – that’s a challenging proposition, even in the most normal times and we are in a very complicated environment right now,” said Madhavi Bokil of Moody’s Investors Service.
Most of the 82,000 staff it employs worldwide will get the pay boost but top executives will be excluded.
Shell said the award reflected its financial success and was “not a response” to the rising cost of living.
Energy firms’ bumper profits have prompted calls for tougher taxes to help families with rising bills.
It’s due to forecasters predicting typical household energy bills will hit more than £3,600 a year this winter. In October 2021, an average bill was £1,400 a year.
Its rival BP has also reported its biggest quarterly profit for 14 years, with underlying profits of £6.9bn.
The firms’ huge increase in profits has been fuelled by higher prices for oil and gas, which have risen sharply due to the war in Ukraine.
In recent months, Russia has reduced supplies to Europe following the invasion and fears are growing it may switch off the taps altogether.
The potential of gas supply problems has led to the wholesale price soaring, which has led to energy firms passing those costs onto customers – pushing up household energy bills by unprecedented amounts.
The high oil price has also led to the price of petrol and diesel reaching record highs at the pumps in recent months, with inflation – the rate at which prices rise – at a 40-year high.
‘Not a response to inflation’
Shell said in a statement its staff would get 8% of their salaries as a bonus “in recognition of the contribution our people have made to Shell’s strong operational performance against a recent challenging backdrop”.
“The award enables those employees to share in our current operational and financial success – it is not a response to inflation or cost-of-living challenges,” the company added.
About 5,000 of Shell’s employees in Britain are in line to benefit from the bonus, however, 1,200 employees of Shell Energy Retail, its loss-making household supply business, will not receive the bonuses
Shell has also said it would return billions of dollars to its shareholders after posting its quarterly financial results last month.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for oil and gas companies to face special taxes, saying it was “immoral” for firms to be profiting from the Ukraine war.
“This grotesque greed is punishing the poorest and most vulnerable people, while destroying our only common home,” Mr Guterres said.
The UK government has introduced a package of measures to help people with energy bills, such as a £400 discount, and also announced in May that oil and gas firms would pay an extra 25% on profits.
The tax applies from 26 May to profit made in the UK, which for most oil and gas companies is a small part of their operations.
And Shell and BP will not need to pay the levy on the majority of their recent profits made between April and June, due to when the legislation came into force.
The Treasury expects the windfall tax to raise about £5bn in its first year, but critics of such taxes argue they can hit pension funds invested in energy firms.
President Akufo-Addo has entreated the Lands Commission and traditional authorities to put a stop to the encroachment of airport lands across the country.
Speaking at the commission of the first phase of the Sunyani Airport project on August 3, 2022, the President stated that the phenomenon poses a threat to future expansion works at the various airports.
He said “there is a wild spread of encroachment on airport lands. This phenomenon threatens the future expansion of airports in the country. It has to be stopped.”
To curb the menace, President Akufo-Addo said “the operators and regulators of our airport as well as the Lands Commission and Nananom need to sit up to ensure that the lands belonging to the airports are managed properly and protected and not only for future expansion but also safeguarding lives and properties.â€
President Akufo-Addo commissions first phase of Sunyani Airport project
Encroachment of state lands continues to rid the country of development. The pieces of land are occupied by individuals and institutions, making it difficult for state projects to take place.
But government is working to ensure it retrieves all lands belonging to the state.
According to President Akufo-Addo processes to begin phase two of the Sunyani Airport project will soon be finalised.
Rehabilitation works of the Sunyani Airport began in February 2019, following a shutdown in March 2016 due to defects on the runway.
It came at a cost of of GH¢52.2 million, which was jointly funded by the government and the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL).
DAA Construction Limited constructed the wall, while Resources Access Limited was in charge of the runway.
Currently, the runway has been extended from 1,280 meters to 1,400 meters.
Speaking at the commission, Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, assured of government’s commitment to invest in the aviation industry, in order to make Ghana an aviation hub in West Africa.
President Akufo-Addo interacts with traditional authorities during the commissioning of the first phase of Sunyani Airport project
On his part, President of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs who is also the Omanhene of the Dormaa Traditional Area, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II, commended the government for the facelift.
Osagyefo Agyemang Badu II encouraged resident of the Bono Region to patronize the services of the newly refurbished airport.
Meanwhile, government has disclosed that there are feasibility studies ongoing to develop airports in the Central Region.
In certain cases the errors were significant enough — the differential was at least 25 points for around 300,000 consumers — that some would-be borrowers may have been wrongfully denied credit, the company said in a statement.
Shares (EFX) fell about 2% Tuesday on the report and were down nearly 5% and shortly after the open Wednesday.
The problem occurred because of a “coding issue” when making a change to one of Equifax’s servers, according to the company, which said the issue “was in place over a period of a few weeks [and] resulted in the potential miscalculation” of credit scores.
While Equifax did not specify dates or figures, a June 1 alert from housing agency Freddie Mac to its clients said Equifax told the agency that about 12% of all credit scores released from March 17 to April 6 may be have been incorrect.
Equifax wrote that “there was no shift in the vast majority of scores” and that “credit reports were not affected.” But the company declined to comment to CNN Business about how people can learn whether they were among those whose credit scores were incorrectly reported — and what recourse they may have if they were issued loans at a higher rate or denied a loan outright because of the snafu.
Equifax issued its statement later Tuesday, hours after the Wall Street Journal published a report about the errors. Trade publication National Mortgage Professional had reported in May that Equifax was warning lenders about the possibility of incorrect scores, and the company released a statement to the magazine at the time acknowledging the technology-based error.
Tuesday’s disclosure about the score errors comes just after Equifax said its board voted to give CEO Mark Begor a $25 million retention bonus package.
Last Friday’s regulatory filing announcing the bonus said the board believes Boger is “uniquely qualified to continue to lead the Company during the final stages of our $1.5 billion technology transformation.”
Equifax tracks the credit history of millions of borrowers — almost all Americans — and sells that information to banks and other lenders. As one of only three major credit reporting companies, Equifax plays an outsized role in the credit-score business: Its information helps lenders set interests for borrowers or deny borrowers seeking mortgages, car loans or credit cards.
This isn’t the first data issue for Equifax. In 2017, the company revealed that the personal information of nearly 150 million people was compromised. The company eventually reached a deal to pay up to $700 million to state and federal regulators to settle probes related to the incident, the largest settlement ever paid for a data breach.
Her exit was one of a number of management changes at Tinder announced by parent company Match Group.
Tinder’s plans to adopt new technology, including virtual currencies and metaverse-based dating, are also being reviewed in the strategic shake-up.
The announcements came as Match reported second-quarter results that missed Wall Street expectations.
“Today we’re announcing the departure of Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg, and I have made some changes to the management team and structure that I am confident will help deliver Tinder’s full potential,” Match Group chief executive Bernard Kim said in a letter to shareholders.
Mr Kim will take up the role vacated by Ms Nyborg while the company looks for a permanent chief executive for Tinder.
“I have loved every moment of the last two years, working with an I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E team on the magic of human connection,” Ms Nyborg said in a LinkedIn post.
The announcement also included the reorganisation of Tinder’s top management team as well as a review of plans for rolling out new technology.
“After seeing mixed results from testing Tinder Coins, we’ve decided to take a step back and re-examine that initiative… we also intend to do more thinking about virtual goods,” Mr Kim added.
It came as Match – which also owns the dating apps OkCupid, Hinge and Plenty of Fish – said it expects sales in the three months to the end of September to be between $790m to $800m.
That was well below Wall Street expectations and would mean the company would see no sales growth for the period.
Mr Kim pointed to the impact of the pandemic on people’s willingness to start using dating apps and currency fluctuations for the disappointing figures.
“While people have generally moved past lockdowns and entered a more normal way of life, their willingness to try online dating products for the first time hasn’t yet returned to pre-pandemic levels,” he said.
Match Group shares fell by more than 20% in after-hours trade in New York on Tuesday.
Ms Nyborg became Tinder’s first female chief executive in September last year.
Mr Kim was appointed as Match’s chief executive in May after his predecessor Shar Dubey stepped down after just over two years in the role.
T-Mobile has agreed to pay $350 million to settle multiple class-action suits stemming from a data breach disclosed last year affecting tens of millions of people.
In the proposed settlement announced Friday, T-Mobile also agreed to spend an extra $150 million on cybersecurity through the end of 2023. Court documents outlining the proposed agreement were filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
More than 76 million US residents affected by the breach will be part of the proposed class, according to a court filing accompanying the settlement agreement. During its initial disclosures surrounding the breach, T-Mobile had said it believed a hacker had stolen information on about 53 million current, former or prospective customers. The company began investigating the breach in August 2021 after Vice reported claims made on an underground online forum offering T-Mobile customer data for sale.
If approved, T-Mobile’s $350 million will go into a fund covering payments to class members, as well as legal and administrative fees.
“Customers are first in everything we do and protecting their information is a top priority,” T-Mobile said in a statement on its website Friday. “Like every company, we are not immune to these criminal attacks. Our efforts to guard against them continue and over the past year we have doubled down on our extensive cybersecurity program.”
The company added it has created a “cybersecurity transformation office” reporting to CEO Mike Sievert and hired cybersecurity firm Mandiant as well as consulting firms Accenture and KPMG “to design strategies and execute plans” to improve its cybersecurity posture.
T-Mobile expects the settlement to be approved in December at the earliest, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, though it cautioned that appeals or other proceedings could result in delays.
Private astronaut missions to the International Space Station will have to be chaperoned by a former NASA astronaut, per new proposed requirements from the US space agency.
NASA posted a public notice online on Tuesday that laid out a handful of updated requirements for future private astronaut missions, which the agency said are based on lessons learned upon completion of the first private astronaut mission to the ISS that took place last April. The first all-private mission to the orbiting laboratory was a multi-million dollar journey organized by Texas-based startup Axiom Space and launched via a SpaceX rocket, with a crew comprised of a former NASA astronaut and current Axiom Space employee, Michael López-AlegrÃa, and three ultra-wealthy paying crewmembers.
During the mission, dubbed AX-1, the four-member crew spent nearly two weeks off of Earth’s surface, at least in part conducting experiments and other scientific work. Other space tourism companies like Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic only offer customers short trips that allow for a few minutes of microgravity.
Among the most notable new policies for these pricey, private missions to the ISS is that “upcoming private astronaut missions include a former flown NASA (U.S.) government astronaut as the mission commander,” according to the NASA update.
The requirement is still being finalized, NASA added, but the agency noted that having a former, legitimate astronaut “provides experienced guidance for the private astronauts during pre-flight preparation through mission execution.” The former NASA astronaut also “provides a link” between residents on the ISS and the private astronauts, which the agency said “reduces risk” to ISS operations and safety.
Late last year, SpaceX launched the Inspiration4 mission, which was bankrolled by billionaire Jared Isaacman and had a four-person crew composed entirely of people without any prior spaceflight experience. This private mission, however, simply took a three-day spin around Earth in a SpaceX dragon capsule and did not dock at the ISS.
Axiom has already stated that its second private astronaut mission to the ISS, dubbed AX-2 and expected to launch next year, will have former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson as a mission commander.
During remarks at the annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference last week, López-AlegrÃa spoke about how he became mission commander for the AX-1 flight, saying he initially didn’t expect to return to space after retiring from NASA.
When Axiom was looking for customers, however, “It became pretty clear, first of all, that customers really didn’t want to fly with nobody who’d done it before,” he said. It also became apparent, he said, “NASA was a lot more comfortable having someone who’d been there before.”
“We were having a meeting and we looked around the room and I was the only guy who’d been to space, so I raised my hand. I volunteered,” López-AlegrÃa quipped at the conference.
NASA is also adding additional requirements that appear to be a result of new information learned from the AX-1 mission. Future private missions to the space station will include more time for “microgravity adaptation,” as the floating environment of the ISS can often induce space sickness, which is akin to motion sickness.
The federal space agency will also be introducing clarifications to the ISS code of conduct for commercial visitors, requirements for more detailed plans regarding crew interactions with the media, as well as a requirement for additional time to evaluate research proposals before they are brought on board.
Larry Connor, an AX-1 crewmember, told CNN in April that he and his crewmates were pressed for research time on the ISS.
“If it were not for the NASA’s Crew-3 astronauts, and their phenomenal help, we would never – underscore the word never – have been able to accomplish all of our objectives,” Connor said at the time. “We underestimated the time on some of the projects. We had one project early on that we thought was two-and-a-half hours take five hours.”
A NASA rep did not immediately respond to CNN Business’ request for further comment on the new requirements. They come, however, as the private spaceflight industry has officially lifted off after decades of people largely having to rely on government agencies and the extraordinarily selective astronaut hiring process if they wanted to go to space. Now, those who seek to leave Earth’s surface simply must have the means to pay for it.
While Axiom did not publicly disclose how much its first cohort of private astronauts shelled out for the AX-1 mission, the Washington Post reported that each crew member dished out $55 million for the flight.
Uber (UBER) on Tuesday said its revenue hit $8.1 billion during the three months ending in June, more than doubling from the year prior as more customers turn to the ride-hailing service.
The number of consumers and drivers using its platform are “at all-time highs,” the company said in its quarterly earnings report. Uber recorded 122 million people using its platform each month, up 21% from the prior year.
Perhaps more stunning for a company with a history of substantial losses is that Uber said it had become cash flow positive, meaning it took in more money from its operations than it spent, excluding capital expenditures, which typically includes property and other physical assets. The company said it generated $382 million in free cash flow during the quarter.
But Uber continued to be unprofitable in large part due to its investments. Uber recorded a net loss of $2.6 billion, much of which ($1.7 billion) was related to its investments in other, international ridehail businesses like Didi and Grab. (Didi, in particular, has been hit by a tremendous amount of regulatory pressure in China.)
Uber’s business offers a unique window into consumer trends more than two years into the pandemic which initially decimated demand for travel (hurting Uber’s Rides business) and accelerated adoption of online food delivery (helping its Eats business). During the previous quarter ending in March, the company reported that its Rides bookings had exceeded pre-pandemic levels and delivery bookings were up 12% year-over-year.
Uber has continued to push its delivery offerings. Late last month, Uber announced a new grocery ordering service. While ordering groceries through Uber Eats has been available on the platform for two years, the update includes new options to incentivize use, such as advanced scheduling of deliveries, live order tracking and product replacements recommendations.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement accompanying the results Tuesday that the company “delivered balanced growth” and did so “on a platform that’s larger than ever, with the number of consumers and earners using Uber now both at all-time highs.”
“No one wishes for a tough economic environment or elevated inflation that’s affecting so many of us, including Uber drivers,” Khosrowshahi added on a conference all with analysts Tuesday. But he said the economic environment has allowed Uber to show its strengths.
Shares of Uber jumped more than 15% in early trading Tuesday following the results.
Uber’s results come as much of the tech industry is turning to hiring freezes and layoffs in an effort to weather a financial downturn marked by soaring inflation, rising interest rates, fears of a looming recession as well as the fallout from war in Ukraine.
Khosrowshahi told staff in May that the company would cut costs and rethink its approach to hiring amid a “seismic shift” in the market. On the call Tuesday, Khosrowshahi stressed that the company can be, and has been, diligent about its expenses and still continue to grow. He also noted that Uber benefits not only from its size but also from its range of business offerings.
“When we look at the competitive environment, this is the strongest we felt competitively globally since Nelson and I probably started here,” Khosrowshahi said, referring to himself and the company’s CFO, Nelson Chai. Khosrowshahi has been at the helm of Uber since 2017.
In a striking departure from the growth-at-all-costs model Uber popularized years ago, Khosrowshahi also noted: “You can’t spend your way to glory in any business.”
Khosrowshahi said Uber has been able to “apply discipline” as it makes improvements to the platform to serve drivers better. That includes better onboarding to make it easier for workers to sign up and an easier way to toggle between driving and delivering. “Right now, the machine is working,” he said.
Last week, Uber announced it would expand its Upfront Fares feature to more cities in the United States to give drivers more information about earnings and the customer’s destination before accepting a ride. Khosrowshahi said on the call that this feature is one of the top requests from drivers, while noting that “there’s a lot of algorithmic work that has to go into pricing that trip properly.”
Job openings dropped to 10.7 million in June, down from a revised 11.3 million in May, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS. That’s the lowest level since September 2021 but still above pre-pandemic levels of 7 million.
The retail and wholesale trade sectors saw the biggest pullback in unfilled jobs.
Total hires and separations were little changed from the May: About 6.4 million people were hired, down slightly from 6.5 million in May. And the number of workers who quit their job was 4.24 million, largely unchanged from the previous month.
Layoffs totaled 1.3 million, down from 1.4 million in May.
At 600,000, the drop-off in the number of job openings was the largest monthly decline on record outside of the pandemic lockdown months of March and April 2020, according to BLS data, which goes back to December 2000.
Unfilled jobs ticking down in this manner could be a sign of weakness in the labor market in the coming months and hiring could slow down, said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.
“When openings fall, that shapes everything else,” she told CNN Business.
When there are fewer job openings to choose from, people become more reluctant to quit their jobs because they become less likely to find something new, she said, adding that it’s also a sign that hiring activity will slow as employers grow more uncertain.
“When recessions happen, many people think that layoffs are the big reason that unemployment rises and employment levels fall, but that’s actually not what happens. Layoffs typically only pick up very, very slightly,” she said. “The action during a recession is in job openings and hires, and job openings decline quite substantially in a recession.”
With little change in the numbers of separations or quits, that shows employers are taking down job postings as opposed to turning to layoffs, said Layla O’Kane, senior economist at Lightcast.
“Employers are saying ‘we’re not going to lay people off, but we’re going to give up on finding some of the talent we want,’” O’Kane said in the statement.
That’s welcome news to the Federal Reserve, said Nick Bunker, director of economic research at Indeed Hiring Lab. The central bank is looking for a slowdown in demand, implementing a series of hefty interest rates hikes to bring down the highest inflation in 40 years.
That means the ratio of job openings to unemployed workers has become a favored labor market indicator for the Fed, Bunker said. A higher ratio of openings to unemployed people indicates a labor market that is quite tight.
“If their goal is to get the ratio closer to 1, then they have a ways to go,” he said.
Just months after cutting 9% of its workforce, Robinhood on Tuesday announced plans to lay off another 23%.
The latest cuts, which will affect 780 employees, continues a massive freefall for the once high-flying online brokerage. In a separate development Tuesday, the state of New York hit the Menlo Park, California, firm with a $30 million fine.
In a blog post on the company’s website, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said the “deterioration of the macro environment” — notably decades-high inflation coupled with a cryptocurrency crash — has reduced the company’s customer trading activity and assets under custody.
In its second-quarter earnings report, also released Tuesday, the company showed a 44% drop in revenue from a year ago. Robinhood’s monthly active users in June decreased by more than 7 million, or 34%, and that assets under custody have dropped by more than $37 billion, or 31%, from the second quarter of last year.
The company’s staffing and operations approach, he added, was tailored for a continuation of the high-growth crypto boom of the pandemic era.
“Last year, we staffed many of our operations functions under the assumption that the heightened retail engagement we had been seeing with the stock and crypto markets in the COVID era would persist into 2022,” Tenev wrote in a message to employees. “In this new environment, we are operating with more staffing than appropriate.”
He added: ” As CEO, I approved and took responsibility for our ambitious staffing trajectory — this is on me.”
The layoffs will affect employees across all functions of the company, with operations, marketing and program management positions being the hardest hit, he said. The company planned to notify all employees via email and Slack on Tuesday with their status as well as resources if they were affected.
Separately on Tuesday, the New York State Department of Financial Services fined Robinhood’s cryptocurrency arm $30 million for allegedly violating reporting requirements related to anti-money laundering and cybersecurity regulations.
“As its business grew, Robinhood Crypto failed to invest the proper resources and attention to develop and maintain a culture of compliance — a failure that resulted in significant violations of the department’s anti-money laundering and cybersecurity regulations,” Adrienne A. Harris, the department’s superintendent said in a statement.
Investors are anxious, tired and gloomy as they digest the worst start to the year since 1970 and try to chart a path forward. But you wouldn’t know it from watching major stock indexes.
What’s happening: The S&P 500 rallied more than 9% in July, its best month since November 2020. The hope, among investors, was that the Federal Reserve could start to mellow out, reducing the risk that the central bank’s aggressive interest rate hikes could tip America’s economy into a recession this year or next.
But real excitement about the pop is difficult to come by. Many traders are reading the gains as a “bear market rally,” or a short-lived rise within a broader downturn.
“We think the market might have been too complacent too soon in fading recession risks,” strategists at Goldman Sachs told clients this week. “We think markets will be vulnerable to hawkish surprises.”
If stocks do start posting consistent losses again, it could be painful. That’s because many investors have kept their money in the market despite recent volatility.
“We haven’t seen broad-based outflows,” Karim Chedid, head of investment strategy for BlackRock’s iShares business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told me. “There’s still money in equities.”
The big reason investors haven’t dumped stocks is because they entered 2022 with high levels of cash, according to Chedid. As inflation surges, diluting that cash’s value, they’re not eager to hold more. And so far, attractive alternatives have been limited.
“It means that the pain trade is on the way down,” Chedid said. In other words, those who still have skin in the game could get hammered.
Know this phrase: Strategists have been waiting for a moment known as “capitulation,” when losses become too brutal to shoulder any longer and even the most reluctant traders head for the exits. It often signifies that the trough of a sell-off could be close.
Data on fund flows subverts the idea that capitulation has already arrived. There’s still plenty of exposure, which means the whims of the market could induce more misery.
Full-throated bulls may be hard to come by right now, but not everyone is a total cynic.
“Although the activity outlook remains challenging, we believe that the risk-reward for equities is looking more attractive as we move through [the second half of the year],” JPMorgan Chase’s Marko Kolanovic told clients this week, noting that valuations compared to future earnings look tempting.
Yet Bank of America’s Savita Subramanian notes that many companies still aren’t cutting their earnings estimates even as economic growth slows. That poses a major vulnerability should conditions deteriorate rapidly.
Pelosi’s Taiwan visit rattles markets
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s expected visit to Taiwan shook markets in Asia on Tuesday as investors showed concern that the trip could escalate tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.
The latest: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 2.4%, my CNN Business colleague Laura He reports. Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite ended down 2.3%. Taiwan’s Taiex closed 1.6% lower.
The Taiwan dollar weakened 0.1% against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the Japanese yen, a traditional safe-haven currency, surged 0.6% against the greenback.
Investors also bought US government bonds, which are considered a safe bet.
Step back: Pelosi is expected to visit Taiwan as part of her tour of Asia, according to a senior Taiwanese government official and a US official.
The decision comes despite warnings from Biden administration officials, who are worried about China’s response to such a high-profile visit. The House speaker, who comes second in the line of succession for the presidency after the vice president, hasn’t visited Taiwan in 25 years.
“No party wants a real war, but the risk of mishap or even aggressive war game escalation is real, which could always lead to a tactical mistake,” Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, told clients on Tuesday.
The long journey to normal supply chains
In a recent edition of Before the Bell, I wrote about how global supply chains are showing signs of improvement, a development that could ultimately push down decades-high inflation.
But I noted that the timeline for a return to normal conditions is still anyone’s guess — a thesis supported by Maersk’s latest guidance for investors.
The container shipping giant raised its annual profit forecast on Tuesday. It now expects earnings of $37 billion, up from $30 billion previously.
The rationale: “Congestion in global supply chains leading to higher freight rates has continued longer than initially anticipated.”
Maersk said it now expects a “gradual normalization” in freight travel by sea to take place in the last quarter of this year. In May, the company expected that process to take place “early” in the second half of 2022.
My takeaway: The cost to ship a 40-foot container keeps coming down, which is good news. But it’s hard to put too much stock in timelines, which have been delayed again and again. And the shipping industry remains at the mercy of a host of variables, from Covid-19 and war in Europe to an uncertain economic environment.
“In view of the war in Ukraine, the continuing disruptions to global supply chains and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the forecast is subject to considerable uncertainty,” Maersk rival Hapag-Lloyd said when it raised its annual profit forecast last week.
Tiger Woods turned down an offer worth approximately $700-$800 million to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series, according to the tour’s CEO Greg Norman.
During an interview on Fox News that aired on Monday, former world No. 1 Norman was asked by Tucker Carlson if it was true that Woods was offered $700-$800 million to join the LIV Golf series.
“That number was out there before I became CEO,” Norman replied. “So, that number’s been out there, yes. Look, Tiger’s a needle mover, right?
“So, of course, you’re going to look at the best of the best. They had originally approached Tiger before I became CEO, so, yes, that number is somewhere in that neighborhood.”
Previously, Norman had told the Washington Post in June that Woods was offered huge money to participate but turned it down. Norman said the Woods proposal was “mind-blowingly enormous; we’re talking about high nine digits.”
The controversial tour has attracted some big names from the golfing world to leave the established PGA Tour and the DP World Tour to participate for vast sums of money.
Major winners Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Graeme McDowell, Charl Schwartzel and Martin Kaymer have all joined the breakaway venture, which has offered players huge money to join.
The LIV Golf series is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) — a sovereign wealth fund chaired by Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia — and has pledged to award $250 million in total prize money.
However, it has led to criticism from many players, including Rory McIlroy and Woods, that players have abandoned golf’s traditional set up and accepted money from a country with a dismal human rights record.
Before July’s Open at St. Andrews, Scotland, Woods said he disagreed with the players who had left.
“I think that what they’ve done is they’ve turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position,” the 15-time major winner said.
“Some of these players may not ever get a chance to play in major championships. That is a possibility. We don’t know that for sure yet. It’s up to all the major championship bodies to make that determination. But that is a possibility, that some players will never, ever get a chance to play in a major championship, never get a chance to experience this right here, walk down the fairways at Augusta National.
“But what these players are doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practice? What is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt? You’re just getting paid a lot of money up front and playing a few events and playing 54 holes. They’re playing blaring music and have all these atmospheres that are different.”
Woods added: “I just don’t see how that move is positive in the long term for a lot of these players, especially if the LIV organization doesn’t get world-ranking points and the major championships change their criteria for entering the events.
“It would be sad to see some of these young kids never get a chance to experience it and experience what we’ve got a chance to experience and walk these hallowed grounds and play in these championships.”
Woods even went as far to criticize Norman himself for his role in the splinter tour. “Greg has done some things that I don’t think is in the best interest of our game, and we’re coming back to probably the most historic and traditional place in our sport.”
On Sunday, Henrik Stenson won the third event of LIV Golf’s debut season at Bedminster, New Jersey.
Nearly two weeks after he was stripped of his Ryder Cup captaincy for joining the series, the 46-year-old Swede shot 11-under par at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster to win $4 million.
He accepted the trophy alongside former US President Donald Trump, who was present throughout the three-day competition and who owns the course.
The coalition includes CNN, the Texas Tribune, and many of the state and the country’s biggest news outlets.
The news organizations have been fighting for weeks to obtain information on behalf of the public amid serial falsehoods and stonewalling from Texas officials in the aftermath of the mass shooting.
The lawsuit, filed in state court in Austin, arises under the Texas Public Information Act, which enables news outlets and members of the public to pursue litigation to obtain records. The news outlets cited many previous requests for information and an “ensuing failure to disclose public records concerning this abhorrent tragedy.”
“The Texas Department of Public Safety has offered inconsistent accounts of how law enforcement responded to the Uvalde tragedy, and its lack of transparency has stirred suspicion and frustration in a community that is still struggling with grief and shock,” said Laura Lee Prather, a First Amendment lawyer at Haynes Boone who represents the plaintiffs. “DPS has refused numerous requests by these news organizations even though it’s clear under Texas law that the public is entitled to have access to these important public records. We ask that the court grant our petition so that the people of Texas can understand the truth about what happened.”
The suit notes that the public safety department has “selectively disclosed” information, but has dismissed more thorough records requests. Thus the news outlets want the court to order the department “to produce all responsive records.”
The other participating news organizations are ABC, CBS, NBC, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal owner Dow Jones, The Washington Post, and ProPublica; local TV and media companies Gannett, Graham Media, Scripps and TEGNA
Nicole Carroll, the editor in chief of Gannett’s USA Today, said on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” last month that the coalition is necessary because “we need to get to the truth. And we’re fighting for these records so we can get the truth.”
Officials have “been stonewalling us” and changing their stories, she pointed out. “We’ve been misled, documents have been withheld.”
Students will immerse themselves in Ghanaian culture, gain deep insights into their ancestral heritage, and discuss current global social justice movements.
The fully funded 10-day experience will lead 40 young scholars ages 18 and 25 from the United States to Ghana. The students will be immersed in Ghanaian culture, gain deep insights into their ancestral heritage, learn about the historical connections between decolonization and the Civil Rights Movement and discuss current global social justice movements.
The program is the first of its kind to be powered by the NAACP. Selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants, the fellows, current college students and recent college graduates come from communities across the country from New York, Georgia, and California to Michigan, Utah, and Texas. For many, this journey is their first visit to the Continent. The experience will prepare them to be global-minded social change agents on issues such as health equity, legal advocacy, education, and economic empowerment.
The program is in collaboration with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
The Amos C. Brown Fellowship is taking place three years after the NAACP led another delegation of more than 300 people to Ghana for the Jamestown to Jamestown journey during the Year of Return in 2019. This immersive journey, organized by The Adinkra Group allowed participants of all ages to retrace the path of Africans who were sold into slavery in the United States from the year 1619 and the centuries that followed.
“We are pleased to work with the NAACP again on another historic trip to Ghana after successfully conceiving and executing Jamestown to Jamestown with the single largest delegation to Ghana in 2019. Our commitment to connecting people of African descent, especially young people such as the Amos C. Brown Fellows, has only strengthened and resolved more since the pandemic,†says Diallo Sumbry, Founder of The Adinkra Group and a Ghana Tourism Ambassador.
Building on relationships formed during that journey, the NAACP continues to strengthen its ties with Ghana, and the African diaspora at large.
“In the years since the Year of Return and the social uprisings in 2020, it has become ever more apparent that the global Black community must use our collective strength, power, and resilience to fight against oppression at every level, and at every corner of the world,” said Derrick Johnson, NAACP President, and CEO. “NAACP remains committed to leading that charge and will do so by providing more opportunities for business investments, diaspora partnerships, and cultural experiences such as the Amos C. Brown Fellowship.”
Over the past three years, the NAACP has become increasingly invested in the African community, highlighting its music and culture through the NAACP Image Awards, and advocating for immigrant rights through its landmark supreme court win in NAACP v. Trump, which solidified the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
In 2020, the NAACP was one of the first major U.S. civil rights organizations to lend its support to the #EndSars movement, which spoke out against police brutality in Nigeria.
About NAACP
Founded in 1909 in response to the ongoing violence against Black people around the country, the NAACP is the largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation. We have over 2,200 units and branches across the nation, along with well over 2M activists. Our mission is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.
NOTE: The Legal Defence Fund also referred to as the NAACP-LDF was founded in 1940 as a part of the NAACP, but separated in 1957 to become a completely separate entity. It is recognized as the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization and shares our commitment to equal rights.
Hundreds of people have attended a service of thanksgiving for former BBC Look North presenter Harry Gration.
The long-standing broadcaster died at the age of 71 on 24 June.
Addressing the congregation at York Minster, Mr Gration’s widow Helen thanked people for attending the service and described her husband as everyone’s friend.
In addition to family, friends and colleagues, the public had also been invited to attend the service.
Leading the tributes to her husband, Helen Gration said: “We know that to everyone Harry was a friend, and we know we shared him with many.
“But to us, he was husband, dad, and daddy, and we loved him totally.”
She said they had not really planned his funeral.
“He hoped he might fill a pew or two at our local church,” she said.
“He worried always that it might conflict with a match on the telly. So, I can sense him assessing today with some embarrassment – but also some bashful pride.
“Modesty was always his go-to place,” Mrs Gration added.
Image source, PA MediaImage caption, Harry Gration’s widow Helen with sons Harrison (right) and Harvey (left)
Harry’s son Harvey said his dad had been “incomparable” and an “extraordinary man”.
“He was always convinced no-one would know him. Yet even in the furthest reaches on a family holiday in Porto, the quietest island in the Florida Keys, or the northernmost hill in Scotland, there was always a couple from Barnsley or Whitby who approached him like they’d known him their whole life,” he said.
He added that seeing so many people turn out to pay tribute to his father was a testament to the man he was.
Image source, PA MediaImage caption, People gathered at York Minster to pay tribute to the long-standing presenter
Image source, PA MediaImage caption, Christine Talbot (left) and Christa Ackroyd (right) also attended the service of thanksgiving
Fellow BBC Look North presenters Amy Garcia and Keeley Donovan were also among those to speak during the service.
Ms Garcia said: “I know what his family have organised for him is just really beautiful and I know he would be so proud of it.”
Ms Donavan described him as a “dear friend” who had a “knack of making everyone feel special”, recalling how he had officiated at her wedding in 2018.
Former fellow BBC Look North presenter Christa Ackroyd and ITV Calendar presenter Christine Talbot were also at the service.
Ms Talbot had earlier tweeted: “How appropriate that we say our final thank you and goodbye on Yorkshire Day.”
Image caption, Large crowds gathered outside the minster ahead of the service
Image source, PA MediaImage caption, BBC Look North presenters Amy Garcia (left) and Keeley Donovan (right) spoke during the service
The Labour MP for Batley and Spen, Kim Leadbeater, also spoke, recalling the broadcaster’s “kindness and compassion” following the murder of her sister, Jo Cox MP.
The service was led by the former Archbishop of York John Sentamu.
He told the congregation: “It is very fitting to hold this on Yorkshire Day as he loved Yorkshire.”
Lord Sentamu said he had received an email from Harry Gration weeks before his death, hoping to organise a pilgrimage to Israel to “walk in the footsteps of Jesus”.
“When I learnt about his death, I said: ‘Cheeky Gration. He has now, in a greater light, walked in death in the footsteps of Jesus’.”
Prior to the service at York Minster, the funeral cortege travelled through the streets of the city and a large crowd gathered to watch it arrive at the cathedral.
Image source, PA MediaImage caption, Former England cricket player Geoffrey Boycott was also among those at the service
Image source, PA MediaImage caption, Former cricket umpire Dickie Bird (left) and former Archbishop of York John Sentamu arriving at York Minster
Mr Gration joined the BBC in 1978 and Look North in 1982. He presented his last show in 2020.
He also reported for Match of the Day and Grandstand and commentated on the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games.
During his career, he won two Royal Television Society (RTS) awards for sports documentaries and he won the RTS Best Presenter award twice.
In 2013, his work in broadcasting was recognised when he was appointed MBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours list.
He left the scene before the emergency services arrived, but was arrested the next day at about 13:00 at Huntingdon railway station, having bought a single ticket to Norwich, police said.
Police said he had £700 worth of cocaine on him.
Image source, Cambridgeshire PoliceImage caption, Det Insp Dale Mepstead said it was “clear McFarlane didn’t intend to kill Mr Clitheroe, but his actions did just that”
McFarlane pleaded guilty and was jailed at Peterborough Crown Court in April.
He was sentenced to two years for manslaughter, and a further 21 months for possessing class A drugs with intent to supply, resulting in a total prison term of three years and nine months.
The victim’s family expressed disbelief at the length of the sentence and the Attorney General’s office was asked to look at whether it was too lenient.
The jail term for the killing was increased to 44 months after a hearing at the Court of Appeal in London.
Mr Clitheroe’s family previously said “the impact and tragic, senseless manner of his death resonates with us every day”.
The Attorney General Suella Braverman QC MP said: “I welcome the decision of the court to impose a sentence which more accurately reflects the gravity of the offending that has taken place.”
The grain issue also loomed large in talks on Friday between US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov – the first time the men have spoken since the war began.
Mr Blinken said he had a “frank and direct” conversation with his counterpart, telling him that Russia must honour its commitment to allow grain exports from Ukraine and that the world would not accept Russian annexation of Ukrainian territory.
Earlier, President Zelensky joined ambassadors from the G7 industrialised nations on the Black Sea coast, standing in front of the Turkish-registered ship Polarnet.
Chornomorsk, south of Odesa, has seen the first shipping activity in weeks, with tugboats manoeuvring and a single vessel changing position.
It is one of three Black Sea ports waiting for the green light. Officials say 17 ships are now waiting with 600,000 tonnes of cargo.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths made clear exports could only resume safely when the route through the Black Sea was finalised. By the admission of global shipping insurers and the UN, “crucial” details still had to be ironed out and nothing was expected to happen before the weekend.
An added risk to the operation is that the biggest port of Odesa has been mined by Ukraine’s military.
If and when the first ship does finally leave, convoys of grain will not immediately follow.
Under the agreement signed by Russia and Ukraine, the sea corridor, convoy and inspection of the cargo are all being organised by a joint co-ordination centre (JCC) in Turkey and final preparations were reportedly still not in place.
The suspension of grain exports, now into a sixth month, has led to food shortages across Africa.
The destination of the first ship was not yet clear, but the UN aid chief said Somalia was a priority. Eight areas of the country are at risk of famine.
Seven ambassadors from the G7 joined the Ukrainian president to reflect the political will to get exports going again. “While someone, blocking the Black Sea, takes the lives of other countries, we are giving them opportunity to survive,” Mr Zelensky said.
Russian naval forces control most of the Black Sea, leaving some 20 million tonnes of grain stored in Ukraine, waiting for export.
Before Russia’s invasion, the two countries accounted for a third of the world’s exports of wheat and barley. There is optimism that the deal, set for an initial 120 days, may work. Russia is also keen to resume its own exports of grain and fertiliser.
The regional head in Odesa, Serhiy Bratchuk, posted a map showing how the grain corridor to and from Odesa might operate, with an area for inspection near the port and a route following the Ukrainian coast to the mouth of the River Danube.
Ukrainian officials said Chornomorsk and Odesa were ready for ships to leave, while a third port, Pivdennyi, would be prepared by the end of the week.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said all the details of the first shipment had to be calculated and everything “checked once more, twice, three times”.
The UN aid chief said it could only take place safely when the parties working at the co-ordination centre in Istanbul had agreed to the precise location of the corridor as well as the movements.
But he believed any problems would be settled very quickly, with the aim of returning to pre-war export levels of some five million metric tonnes a month.
A car wash owner plotted to smuggle people into the UK inside lorries – and planned to drug children to keep them quiet.
Luan Braha, of Boss car wash in Silverdale, Newcastle-under-Lyme, has been jailed for eight years for his bid to traffic Albanians from Belgium.
He was found guilty at Stoke Crown Court on Thursday for conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration to the UK.
Police said Braha used group chats to devise his plans.
The 38-year-old, originally from North Macedonia, planned to charge migrants more than £5,000 each.
Police said he also discussed with other counterparts drugging people, including children, to keep them quiet during the journey from Ghent.
The car wash owner used his business “to make acquaintances and generate support for his plan,” police said.
Braha was arrested in July 2021 and claimed he had no intention of ever carrying out his plans and that it was “a flight of fancy”.
Julie Woods, from West Midlands’ Regional Organised Crime Units, said: “It was clear Braha was the lead conspirator and was quite openly making arrangements to smuggle people into the UK for payment with no regard for their safety.”
A wildfire in California has exploded in size to become the largest blaze in the state so far this year.
The McKinney Fire, which started in the northern Siskiyou county on Friday, has already burnt 21,000 hectares (52,500 acres), the state’s fire service said.
At least 2,000 residents as well as trekkers on the Pacific Crest hiking trail have left the area. An unknown number of homes have been destroyed.
It was still 0% contained on Monday morning, the fire service reported.
McKinney Fire is burning in the Klamath National Forest, near the border with Oregon. Some 650 firefighters are battling the flames in punishing heat, the Los Angeles Times reports.
A red flag warning indicating the threat of dangerous fire conditions is in place, as California suffers from persistent drought conditions.
A state of emergency was declared in Siskiyou county on Saturday, after homes were destroyed and infrastructure was threatened, state governor Gavin Newsom said.
The fire was “intensified and spread by dry fuels, extreme drought conditions, high temperatures, winds and lightning storms”, he added.
Several communities are being threatened, including Yreka and Fort Jones, the US Forest Service said.
‘I just saw it explode’
Artist, Harlene Althea Schwander had only moved into her new home near the fire’s starting point a month ago, and had not yet unpacked everything. It’s now all gone, she told Reuters news agency.
“Three generations of beautiful things, all of my paintings… they’re all gone, and I’m very sad,” she said.
“When I saw it coming over from the community centre, and I just saw it explode in the dark. I knew the house was gone because I knew right where it was. And the fire department came and told me, ‘just leave now,’” she said.
There was one piece of good news however – Ms Schwander’s daughter-in-law had grabbed her jewellery before they fled.
Image source, Reuters
Image caption, Yreka residents Dawn and Robert Butterfield were evacuated to a shelter in the nearby town of Weed
Jonathan Dixon, who lives in Yreka, a small town with a population of 7,590, told the Los Angeles Times that he fears his house – and collection of art nouveau antiques, artwork and sculptures – will be gone when he returns.
“I’m terrified that my house is going to burn down, and I’ve kind of accepted it,” Mr Dixon, 37, told the paper.
Another Yreka local, Jan Williamson, 66, told the paper she and her husband had to flee with their 40-year-old daughter, Leanne, who is a quadriplegic and has cerebral palsy.
They had to leave behind vital equipment that helps with Leanne’s care and comfort. Leanne is also autistic, and bites herself when her routine is disrupted, or she becomes frustrated.
“Whenever it’s especially bad like this, we just have to take one or two minutes at a time, and just manage to get through each day,” Ms Williamson said.
Authorities warn that possible thunderstorms could result in more fires developing in the coming days.
“The fuel beds are so dry and they can just erupt from that lightning,” US Forest Service spokesperson Adrienne Freeman told reporters, adding that the “gusty erratic winds” that come with thunder cells can “blow fire in every direction.
The fire is the second major blaze to hit the state in recent days. The Oak Fire, near Yosemite National Park, is still roaring after eight days but has been 67% contained, the fire department Cal Fire said.
California still has months of its fire season ahead.
Climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires.
The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.
A group calling itself Alliance For Footsoldiers Advocacy (AFFA), a grass root wing of the ruling NPP, is calling on President Akufo-Addo to urgently reshuffle his appointees to energize the economy.
According to the group, some notable appointees of the government are dormant in their discharge of duty which is slowing the economic growth.
Addressing the media in Accra, an Executive Member of AFFA, Kamal Deen said there is a rising level of despondency in the NPP which has to be tackled immediately.
He added that some dormant appointees of the ruling government are retarding economic progress hence the urgent need to retire them from their duties and roles.
Kamal Deen further mentioned that AFFA is ever ready to present the names of such dormant appointees to President Akufo Addo as and when the need be.
He stated that ministers and government officials who are desiring to lead the party in 2024 should also be retired immediately to pave way for fresh energy in the governance.
Kamal Deen commended President Akufo-Addo for taking bold steps to sack Sarah Adwoa Safo as Gender Minister.
He further urged party executives to also turn to the welfare of NPP grassroots members as they work tirelessly for the party.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has referred four Supreme Court Justice nominated by President Akufo-Addo to the Appointments Committee for consideration.
The move is in accordance with Article 144 (3) of the 1992 Constitution.
The nominees from the Court of Appeal are Justice Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu, Justice George Kingsley Koomson, and Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu.
From the High Court is Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu.
Their appointments are subject to vetting and subsequent approval or rejection by Parliament.
The President made these nominations to fill up expected vacancies at the apex court.
Interested persons and organisations have been asked to submit their memoranda in respect of the nominations to the clerk of the Appointments Committee for consideration.
A building and roads consultant, Ing. Abdulai Mahama, is calling on the Akufo-Addo‘s government to officially announce the resumption of toll collection in the country.
He contends that government owes a number of road contractors and bringing toll collection back will help in the revenue generation for the country.
His call comes after the Finance Minister disclosed that users of the Accra-Tema Motorway will pay tolls post the completion of the expansion project.
Speaking to Citi News, Ing Mahama stressed on the need for toll collection to be digitalized in order to monitor at real time the monies realized.
“The tolls should be brought back because government is over-burdened. There are so many arrears that are owed all the contractors who are even doing normal routine maintenance to ensure improvement on our roads. Government is owing contractors. I even think that, the 38 toll booths in the country are not even enough. The earlier you bring the tolls back, the better. The digitization has to be apt so that we can make about four times of what we are already making.
Ing. Abdulai Mahama further questioned the government’s plans to reintroduce tolls on newly constructed Public Private Partnership (PPP) roads after completion, beginning with the Accra-Tema Motorway.
“If you start to toll the Motorway and any other new road, how many new roads are we going to construct? How many are going to be heavy to attract PPP because the investor is coming to make money within a stipulated time.â€
Government suspended the collection of road and bridge tolls during the 2022 budget statement.
But following Ofori-Atta’s disclosure of the tolling of some new roads during the mid-year budget review presented on Monday, July 25, 2022, some Ghanaians lambasted the government over the issue.
In a statement, the Roads Ministry insisted that government does not intend to re-introduce the road tolls which were suspended a few months ago.
The Minority in Parliament has been putting pressure on government to reinstate the collection of road tolls .
According to the caucus, bringing back road tolls will help government in its revenue drive following current economic challenges.
