A talented young boy has expressed his joy after being recognized as one of the standout performers by a Spanish scout at the Justify Your Inclusion event organized by renowned Kumawood actor Yaw Dabo.
In a viral video, Terry Baah Emmanuel, a resident of Aboabo in the Ashanti Region, is reported to have been the first person to be selected by the Spanish scout, Xavi Hildago for his exceptional footballing skills.
Young boy delights after impressing Spanish football scout Photo credit:@ samuel_dabo/Instagram @One Ghana TV/YouTube Source: TikTok
The 15-year-old expressed delight that his hard work and skill had been acknowledged. Quizzed on whether he is excited over the prospect of playing in Europe, the young kid responded in the affirmative.
He said playing in Europe had always been his lifelong dream, adding that he is happy to be on the path to achieving that.
He thanked Yaw Dabo for providing the platform where football talents could be unearthed and nurtured to become football stars.
At the time of writing this report, the video had gathered over 24,000 likes and 300 comments.
Watch the video below:
Ghanaians applaud Emmanuel on being selected
Social media users who reacted to the video heaped praises on the young kid for standing out during the football justify.
KofiCybork reacted:
Charlie we beg hid their faces from their village people oo
Awww I am happy for him.. my student he is a very good player
KojoEA re
Remember the name Terry Baah Emmanuel
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that Xavi Hildago appeared in a funny skit with Dr Likee and Samuel Yaw Dabo.
The football, scout who was in Ghana to aid the players in the Dabo Soccer Academy to find clubs in Europe, showed off his acting skills in the new comedy skit. In the comedy skit, Xavi seemed lost while looking for Yaw Dabo.
Three School girls have been burnt to death with other sustaining severe burn injuries at Huu, a community in the Amansie Central District of the Ashanti Region.
The sad incident happened at Huu, a farming and mining community, when the vehicle they boarded after close from school caught fire and exploded, on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
The children were aged seven, six and five.
Two passengers on board on the 207 Benz vehicle were also burnt beyond recognition, but the driver managed to escape.
Reports by Otec News reporter, Ebenezer Boakye said a mobile money vendor’s container, three motor bikes and electricity high tension pole were also burnt following the explosion.
The whole community has been plunged into darkness following the burnt electricity high tension pole.
The reports were that the 207 Benz vehicle was loaded with petrol and diesel containers on top of the vehicle when the children boarded the car.
Information gathered said school bus carrying the children broke down at Huu so the teacher in charge transferred six of the children to the vehicle to be taken to Edwenase.
“The vehicle instantly exploded when the driver switched on the ignition key. Three of the six children were rescued but one of them sustained severe body burnt,” the reporter said.
The explosion survivor is receiving medical attention at the hospital, Boakye told Captain Koda, the host of Otec FM’s morning show, ‘Nyansapo’.
“The sprinter bus caught fire and blasted in an instance when the driver ignited the car, three of the students managed to get out leaving the rest in the bus who were subsequently burnt beyond recognition
“The actually cause of the fire is yet to be known but we learned the sprinter bus was carrying gallons of petrol and diesel from Obuase to Edwenease, he added.
Police in the area have since launched investigations into the fire incident while bodies of the deceased have been conveyed to mortuary.
Residents who were at the scene told the reporter that they suspected the explosion might have been caused by the containers loaded with fuel in the vehicle.
Information gathered indicate that a 32-year-old woman has stabbed her fiancé to death at Ayigya Zongo in the Ashanti Region.
Joseph Bawa was stabbed with a knife multiple times. He was rushed to the Tech Hospital for treatment but passed on.
The suspect, Jennifer Appiah, went berserk during a misunderstanding that ensued between the two on Sunday, June 11.
According to the mother of the deceased,Hawa Alhassan, the family tried to resolve the feud between the partners but the reconciliation process proved futile.
Jennifer and Joseph resumed fighting on the street, which resulted in her stabbing him to death.
Madam Hawa said the suspect is known for threatening the deceased with a knife or scissors any time they fight.
“I told my son to stop having an affair with Jennifer severally but he refused to do so until his sudden demise. This is not the first time this is happening. As I speak, we don’t know the whereabouts of the lady after the incident,” she said.
The body of the deceased has since been deposited at the Tech Hospital’s morgue for investigations to commence.
Meanwhile the family of the deceased wants the police to bring the suspect to book.
The operation halt II has burnt mining equipment as well as seized five excavators in the Bosomtwe forest reserve in theBekwai Forest Districtof the Ashanti Region.
A total of six pumping machines and other mining equipment being used by illegal miners in the reserve were seized and burnt by the operation halt II team.
The equipment were impounded and burnt in a four-day operation carried out by the military task force.
The Operation Halt II team was deployed to the area four days ago to fight galamsey in forest reserves and also to permanently patrol the the area to halt illegal mining activities in those reserves.
Some of the floating platforms and equipment mounted in various sections of the reserve had been decommissioned and destroyed.
The Bosomtwe Range Forest has been attractive to illegal miners in recent times.
It has in the last three years survived five illegal mining attacks as Forestry Commission staff on several occasions thwarted efforts of galamseyoperators who are bent on mining in the reserve.
The galamsey operators caused destruction to portions of the forest reserve.
Economic trees and water bodies and others have been destroyed by the illegal miners in the reserve.
Despite the swift intervention of the Operation Halt II, which acted on tip-off, the illegal miners, with the help of the five excavators, destroyed part of the forest reserve in less than three weeks after gaining access to the reserve.
The Deputy Command Operations Officer of the Central Command of the Ghana Armed Forces, Flt. Col Louis Boakye, expressed worry at how the reserve has become target for galamsey operators.
He said that the team would be ruthless in weeding out recalcitrant illegal miners in the area.
“We want to remind everyone about the government’s uncompromising and unshakable stance against galamsey operators. Those who are stubborn and will not pay heed to any warnings should be prepared because we will keep coming at them,” he stated.
He said the current operation would remain in force until all waterways, forest reserves are without illegal miners.
Captain Smart and his crew of the Onua Maakye show are said to have been involved in an attack at Obuasi, Ashanti region on Thursday, June 8.
A man believed to be a member of the Obuasi Municipal task force stormed the venue and attempted to disturb the work of the Onua team.
The thug physically prevented the technical team from mounting live gadgets claiming he was ordered from above to stop the event, TV3’s Ashanti Region correspondent William Evans Nkum reported.
The newly constructed roads in Kumawu, in the Ashanti Region, may soon deteriorate, according to Emmanuel Cherry, chief executive officer of the Ghana Chamber of Construction and Industry.
Government few weeks to the Kumawu by-election started constructing asphalt roads in that constituency, a move that some residents believed was intended to get them to vote for the ruling party’s Parliamentary candidate.
But the Minister of Roads, Kwasi Amoako-Atta insisted the construction of the roads formed part of the government’s plan.
Speaking tothe media, Emmanuel Cherry said the haste in which contractors were mobilized could possibly affect the quality of work done.
“If you talk of a contractor, as we say there are bad nuts everywhere but the good nuts among us are more than the bad nuts. So I can’t hold brief for everybody. But to me with where we stand, we see a lot of good contractors working. But the issue before as for instance…as we saw with the by-election in Kumawu, overnight, contractors are on site working, what are the dynamics… it is not planned. So definitely after that construction within a few months, you go back to that work you see that it has started cracks and what have you because it is not properly planned.
“So if you come to me as a contractor, you say I should do this for you, I advise you professionally, you say you’re not going to follow accordingly and you still insist, I will give you what you put on paper for me. The contractors, their simple job is to interpret what is on the paper which is supervised by a consultant. So if you don’t give us proper drawings we’ll give you whatsoever we have in there. So don’t blame us for it.”
The Asokore Mampong District Court in the Ashanti Region witnessed heightened tensions on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, as police personnel took the necessary step of locking the courtroom to prevent the entry of late Maadwoa’s family members.
The deceased is suspected to have been shot and killed by her police boyfriend, Inspector Twumasi.
According to GhanaWeb’s Ashanti Regional Correspondence, the police prevented all family members, including Maadwoa’s biological parents, from entering the courtroom immediately after suspect, Inspector Twumasi, arrived.
The decision to lock the courtroom and keep the family members outside according to him was made without any reason given.
It was revealed that the agitated family members had attempted to physically assault the suspect forcing the police officers to take the said action by locking the courtroom.
Their intense emotions compelled security operatives to lock the court as a precautionary measure.
It was also suspected that some family members of the deceased might be armed, prompting the officers to conduct a thorough search at the court premises.
26-year-old Victoria Dapaahalso known as Maadwoa was allegedly killed by her boyfriend, Inspector Ahmed Twumasi on 20th April 2023 at Adum, a few meters away from her house.
During the first court hearing, the suspect confessed to committing the act but insisted that it was not his intention to kill “his lover.”
Meanwhile, the Asokore Mampong District Court, presided over by His Worship Samuel Buabeng Quansah has remanded Inspector Twumasi into prison custody.
The suspect who is currently being transferred from police to prison custody will be in remand and is expected to reappear before the court on 20th June 2023.
His Worship gave the judgement after ACP Kofi Blagodzi, Head of Legal and Prosecution at the Ashanti regional police command had read that the Attorney General’s advice which approved the prosecution of the suspect for murder.
According to the prosecutor, the attorney general’s advice has given the green light for the prosecution of the police officer as a suspected murderer, and others.
He subsequently pleaded with the court that despite the greenlight, prosecution may need a few days to ready its full dockets so that the case can be transferred to the high court.
His Worship Samuel Buabeng Quansah, however, ordered for the suspect to be remanded into prison custody.
The police have arrested 48 out of about 300 illegal miners ‘trapped’ in the recent galamsey pit collapse atAngloGoldshaft in the Ashanti region.
These individuals were part of a group of 300 illegal miners who had entered the mine shaft in search of gold deposits but became trapped in one of the shafts.
The police and military were deployed at the main exit of the shaft and instructed the miners to come out voluntarily. Subsequently, they were arrested and taken to a nearby police station.
In response to the arrests, a gathering of youth and relatives of the miners assembled at the Obuasi East District Assembly, demanding the release of the detainees.
The tense situation led to some individuals expressing their frustration by damaging the windows of a vehicle used to transport the arrested miners to the police station.
A significant number of miners have chosen to remain underground out of fear of being arrested.
On Tuesday, AngloGold Ashanti refuted suggestions that the over 300illegal miners trapped in one of the company’s mine shafts were confined and unable to exit.
In a statement from the mining firm, it was explained that the trapped miners have not been confined and can exit on foot via the existing ramp from the mine.
“Unauthorized persons underground are able to exit on foot, using the existing ramp through the main access of this mining area. No person underground has been confined in any way, and the main exit ramp from the mine remains open.
“Obuasi Gold Mine’s management team has notified the relevant authorities and public security services and is working closely with them.”
The oppositionNational Democratic Congress(NDC) has been cautioned to prepare for a similar defeat in the general elections of 2024 as it reels from its recent setback in the parliamentary by-election held at Kumawu in the Ashanti region.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive, Yohane Amarh Ashitey, has promised that the 2024 routing of the NDC by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) will be like the whipping of a school child.
“In the lead-up to the by-election in Kumawu, everybody said it would be a verdict on the performance of the NPP government ofPresident Akufo-Addoand as we now know, that verdict was another resounding rejection of the NDC.
“The NDC, therefore, should be preparing their minds for another whipping in 2024 – that one will be like a schoolmaster whipping a school child,” Hon. Yohane Amarh Ashitey told journalists.
He fired the taunt on the sidelines of a general meeting of the Tema East NPP delegates and party members at the Olams School in Tema Community One.
According to the MCE, “Kumawu is the writing on the wall for the NDC.”
The meeting had been held to deliberate on internal party issues but had seen the Tema MCE take almost all the shine from the event which was also attended by bigwigs including the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the party, Divine Agorhom.
Others in attendance were the Tema East NPP Constituency Chairman, Nene Ofoe Teyechu Agbadiagba IV, Hon. Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover, former deputy Minister of Transport and MP for Tema East, Mr. Stephen Aboagye, 2nd Vice Chairman, Solomon Sackitey, a senior officer at GPHA and Tema East NPP Secretary, Hon. Dennis Amanor Tetteh, Tema East sub-metro chairman, Gilbert Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover, constituency youth organizer and Albert Kraku, constituency communications officer. Hon. Albert Okyere, Ashaiman MCE, used the occasion to preach unity.
First, Yohane Amarh Ashitey had been mobbed by the delegates upon his arrival at the meeting and showered with cat-calls proclaiming him as the NPP’s incoming Parliamentary candidate for Tema East.
The meeting had been used by Divine Agorhom to announce that when the party opens nominations, way will be created for anybody interested in contesting for any of the three seats in Tema to contest.
To this, the delegates around started chanting the name of the MCE amidst war songs and avowals that only Hon. Yohane Amarh Ashitey will be allowed to contest unopposed for the Tema East NPP ticket which is currently vacant after former hardworking MP, Titus Glover, lost the election to the NDC’s Isaac Ashai Odamtten in 2020 as a result of betrayal on the part of some NPP Gurus.
The Tema MCE holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Master’s degree in Mobile Communications from Beckton University of East London.
He is also a former lecturer at the All Nations University College in Koforidua where he taught Transmission Lines and Wave Guide, Antenna and Wave Propagation, Microwave and Optical Communications.
A university Foundation Lecturer in Engineering Science and Engineering Mathematics, his credentials were touted by his fans.
Meanwhile, Hon. Yohane Amarh Ashitey explained why the NPP will soundly beat the NDC in the 2024 elections.
“It is a simple matter of records, Free SHS, we have built more schools, more roads, more factories, more interchanges and better managed the economy, the challenges of COVID notwithstanding, We have also shown more policy competence than the NDC, so the whipping of the NDC by the NPP like a school child in 2024 is a sure banker.” Yohane Amarh Ashitey.
Over 300 illegal miners are allegedly trapped in AngloGold’s Obuasi mine shaft at Anwiam, Ashanti Region.
The miners reportedly entered the underground shaft in search of gold deposits but were unable to come out after all exit routes were closed.
One of the illegal miners, Ali Tijani who spoke to the media said some of his colleagues are unconscious as they have run out of food and water.
He said they have reached out to their families and are hoping authorities can intervene to get them out of the shaft.
“We went to the AngloGold mine to work, but the place was closed down. For four days now, we are just in there. We don’t have any food or water. And they do not want to give us water. We are about 300. We went there on our own. The DCE must come to our aid. We don’t have any work, that’s why we go there to mine to take care of ourselves and our families,” he said.
Meanwhile, efforts to get a comment from officials of AngloGold on the development have not yielded any positive results.
The family of a 17-year-old student at St. Monica’s Senior High School has accused authorities of negligence at the institution following the incidents that led to the sudden death of their relative.
This was sighted in a newspaper report by the Chronicles dated May 29, 2023.
The deceased student, identified as Patience Amanyi or Maame Sakyiwaa, was laid to rest over the weekend in Obuasi, in the Ashanti Region.
According to the newspaper, Maame Sakyiwaa, a General Arts student, had been unwell for some time. Despite her attempts to secure permission to seek medical attention outside the school, her requests were reportedly ignored by the school authorities.
Instead, she was advised to visit the school’s sick bay, which proved insufficient to handle her illness.
The newspaper added that the family received news of her passing only a few hours after she had contacted her mother for her Ghana Card details.
Richard Monnie, a cousin of Maame Sakyiwaa, expressed the family’s confusion surrounding her untimely death.
The newspaper stated that Monnie, on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, around 17:00 hours called the mother of the deceased, requesting information related to her Ghana card for a registration exercise.
Shortly after, the family received another call, informing them of the devastating news of Maame Sakyiwaa’s passing.
Monnie suspects that the person who made the call was not his cousin and believes that she had already passed away before the staged conversation took place.
“We are very much sure that our relatives died long before the call came through, and the person who called was not Maame Sakyiwaa. It was someone who spoke on her behalf because we are told she managed and visited the sick bay of the school on Saturday, May 20, 2023, and went to church on Sunday, but on Monday, May 22, 2023, when she went to class, she could not sit upright, putting her head on the table throughout the day.
“Per information available to us, Maame Sakyiwaa was kept at the school sick bay without hospital attention,” Monnie was quoted to have said.
The deceased’s cousin questioned the school’s lack of communication with the family during Maame Sakyiwaa’s failing health condition and raised concerns about the decision-making process.
He recounted an incident from the previous month when she [reference to the deceased] was delayed at home for two days after the school’s reopening and was subsequently denied entry to the dormitory upon her arrival and was made to sleep outdoors for two days.
Monnie further disclosed that the family has been assured by the school authorities of prompt investigations into the case.
The Public Relations officer at the Ashanti Regional Education office is reported to have urged the family of the deceased to remain patient awaiting the outcome of the inquiry.
Parents of the about 500 suspended students of the Kumasi Technical Institute (KTI) in the Ashanti region have called on the school administration to allow their wards back to school.
The parents held an emergency meeting with the management ofKTI to apologise for the misconduct of their wards.
The students were suspended by the school’s disciplinary committee for staging a protest on campus and destroying school property.
The students went on rampage when the authorities failed to grant them access to watch a football match outside campus. They vandalised several school property, including school vehicles, water tanks and classroom desks.
According to the school authorities, some students who managed to run out of school to watch the football match also attacked the school’s security guard at post for refusing to allow them entry into the school compound.
Another group of students also managed to leave campus without permission to attend the inter-school athletics competition, absenting themselves from class for nearly three weeks.
On May 26, 2023, the school authorities investigated the matter and concluded on suspending these students.
The students were asked to leave the school premises and not return until management recalls them.
But parents of the affected students, disturbed by the verdict of the school management, held an emergency meeting with school authorities to plead on behalf of their wards.
The management of KTI is yet o revoke their decision.
Over 500 students have been expelled from the Kumasi Technical Institute in theAshanti Regionfor flouting school rules.
The students, who were all in the boarding house, reportedly caused damage to school properties during a rampage on May 17.
School authorities failed to give further information on the matter but only said they took action to instill discipline in the school.
The authorities say they have submitted an official report of the conduct of the students to the Technical and Vocational Education Training Directorate for the appropriate action.
Citi News has learned that the affected students failed to attend a general assembly parade on Friday during which the authorities conducted a roll call.
The authorities subsequently asked the students to pack their luggage out of the dormitories and will be made to face the school’s disciplinary committee when they are recalled.
The authorities are expected to meet the parents of the affected students to brief them on the development.
Most of the affected students on Friday left the school while others were still packing out when Citi News visited the premises.
Police from the Manhyia Divisional Commandlater went to the school and the Police Commander addressed the remaining students in the school and urged them to be law-abiding.
Residents of Amakomin the Ahafo Ano South East District of the Ashanti Region have been disconnected from the national grid following a major theft of power meters in the area.
According to the residents, they now have no access to electric power after some suspected thieves invaded the community and made away with meters in the community.
Expressing concern over the issue to Faustina Adutwumaa, a student of OTEC School of Journalism and Communication Studies, some residents said the rate of meter theft in the community was alarming.
They disclosed that over ten meters were stolen on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, causing fear in the area.
The residents have therefore called on the Electricity Company of Ghana and the Ghana Police Service to intervene and find a lasting solution to the problem.
“We were connected to the national grid just two years ago, and since then, those who connected power have had their meters stolen”.
“We do not know those doing this to us, but they have left us with no light in our houses, and so we want the police to investigate the situation,” one resident Mr Halidu Haruna cried out.
The Otumfuo Ahenenanom Hene, Nana Kwame Mensah-Bonsu, has strongly criticized President Akufo-Addo for the lack of developmental projects in the Ashanti Region.
Nana Mensah-Bonsu, who is a sub-chief of Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, accused President Akufo-Addo and his political party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), of neglecting the Ashanti Region and taking it for granted.
During an interview on the ‘For The Records’ program aired on Sunday, May 21, 2023, Nana Mensah-Bonsu highlighted that the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), despite receiving fewer votes in the Ashanti Region, has implemented more projects in the region compared to the NPP government.
This criticism emphasizes the perceived disparity between the promises made by the NPP and the actual development experienced by the Ashanti Region under President Akufo-Addo’s leadership.
He added that the Akufo-Addo government is the worst he has seen, asking “whether the president had any education”.
“I am here to fight for Ashanti. Akufo-Addo should come and point out all the development projects he has brought to the Ashanti Region and let Mahama also do same.
“… has Akufo-Addo gone to school since he came into politics, who is his classmate? Who did he go to law school with? Who did he go to the university with? He has not brought any project to the Ashanti Region.
“I beg you call the NDC and call the NPP for them to come and account for what they have done in the Ashanti Region. We’re not fools. If we were blind yesterday, today we can see that it is raining and the ground is wet,” he said in Twi.
The Otumfuo Ahenenana went on to list a number of projects started by the John Dramani Mahama administration, including the Sofoline Interchange in Kumasi, which the Akufo-Addo government has failed to complete in the over six years it has been in office.
He urged Ashanti chiefs to speak up and called on the people of the Ashanti land to make wise electoral choices for their own good.
The Ghana Police Service has assured residents of Kumawu and its environs in the Ashanti regionthat the upcoming by-election will be held peacefully on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.
According to the Police, adequate security arrangements have been put in place to maintain law and order as well as ensure peace and security before, during and after the Kumawu constituency be-election.
“Adequate Police personnel have been deployed to Kumawu and the other communities within the Constituency to support the local Police to provide security for the election,” Director Public Affairs, ACP Grace Ansah-Akrofi explained in statement dated May 22, 2023.
TheInspector General of Police(IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, has scheduled a meeting with all participating parties in the upcoming by-election in Kumawu, Ashanti region.
The IGP’s meeting with the parties ahead of the Kumawu by-election is scheduled to happen at the District Police Command on Monday May 22, 2023 in the morning.
Dr. Dampare had earlier touched base with the Police deployment in the area over the weekend. He assessed the security preparedness ahead of the Tuesday May 23, 2023 polls.
He also interacted with the public, walk through the street and assess the general security ahead of the upcoming KumawuConstituency by-election.
The by-election follows the death of the MP for the constituency who will be buried on Saturday.
The leadership of the NDC and new NPP have been in the constituency supporting their various candidates.
The late Member of Parliament for Kumawu, Philip Basoah, pledged to revamp roads in his communities before his demise, according to the Mayor of Kumasi in the Ashanti region, Samuel Pyne.
This comes on the back of the district capital of the Sekyere Kumawu district in Ashanti region township roads being asphalted days to the Sekyere Kumawu Constituency’s by-election on 23rd May 2023.
Work is also progressing steadily at Woraso, Bodomase, Besoro, and Kumawu-Effiduase highway as contractors work day and night to meet the deadline given to the project.
Commenting on the development on Morning Starr with Francis Abban Monday, May 22, 2023 Mr. Pyne indicated that development is a continuing thing hence the on-going construction in the area.
“It is not because of the by-election that’s why Kumawu roads are being fixed. The Ejisu to Kumawu road was in two phases, the first phase was from Ejisu to Juaben and the second phase from Juaben to Kumawu. Your reporters who were there saw that work had commenced not from Kumawu but from the Juaben end which passes through parts of Juaben constituency then Effiduase constituency before the Kumawu constituency.
“So would anyone want to tell me that because of Kumawu we are doing the three constituencies? If you check from the records even the Paramount Chief of Kumawu put it straight when this matter came up that the last time that they had adurbarand the MP (late Basoah) came to address them. He stated categorical that works on the Kumawu were going to be commenced by April this year (2023),” Mr. Pyne stated.
He continued: “But it was unfortunate that he is gone but that is the situation. When the road minister addressed the media he reiterated that point. So if people want to associate that to the by-election and other comments that are not palatable and even wishing that their MP die. It’s an unfortunate thing.”
The Minister of Roads and Highways has refuted reports that road renovations in Kumawu, Ashanti Region, are being carried out in preparation for the impending by-election on May 23, 2023.
According to the Minister, Kwasi Amoako-Atta, the timing of the ongoing road works in the constituency is a mere coincidence.
He explained the government had already awarded the road to contract before the unfortunate death of Philip Basoa the Member of parliament of the constituency.
Kumawu, the district capital of the Sekyere Kumawudistrict in Ashanti region township roads has been asphalted days to the Sekyere Kumawu Constituency’s by-election on 23rd May 2023.
Work is also progressing steadily at Woraso, Bodomase, Besoro, and Kumawu-Effiduase highway as contractors work day and night to meet the deadline given to the project.
The Kumawu town alone will benefit from a 20 kilometers asphaltic road network, according to the sector minister.
Bodomase community will also get 2 kilometers of asphaltic roads, Woraso 2 kilometer, 10 kilometers Asokore, and 10 kilometers for Afigyasi community.
The Asante Juaben through Effiduase to Kumawu road will equally be asphalted to create comfort for commuters to promote trade and agriculture in the district.
The roads and highways minister who inspected progress of work stressed that improving the road network in Kumawu district has nothing to do with the upcoming by-election.
Kwasi Amoako-Attah pleaded with communities who are yet to benefit from the road infrastructure project to exercise patience and wait for their turn. He noted that demonstrations do not build roads.
Meanwhile, the national Organizer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Joseph Yammin who is busy campaigning in the constituency is confident the NDC’s candidate Kwasi Amankwaa will win the by-election.
He said, the overnight road construction projects in the constituency can win the electorates who have already taken their decision.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has assured stakeholders of its preparedness to conduct the Kumawu by-election in the Ashanti Region.
In an interview with the Ashanti Regional Director of the EC, Benjamin Bano- Biohlast Wednesday (May 17), he stressed that the EC had made available all the materials needed for the election, with the exception of some ballot papers which were currently being printed and should be ready by today (Friday, May 19, 2023).
Training of trainees
Mr Bano-Bioh said for the past two days, the EC had engaged some returning officers in a workshop to prepare them ahead of the election.
He said beneficiaries of the two-day training programme would also train some key players including Presiding Officers, Name Reference List Officers and Ballot Issuers.
“We are well resourced and prepared for this election. Everything is in order,” he said, adding that the EC was poised to conducting a free and fair election, in ensuring that the wish of the people was realised,” he said.
According to Mr Bano-Bioh, all that political parties and candidates needed to do was to ensure that their representatives at both the voting and the collation centres were knowledgeable enough to appreciate proceedings and the outcome of the election.
Security
“As for the police we are always in touch with them. We have sent them the list of all 75 polling stations and their locations. We have also indicated areas that we think are hotspots,” Bano-Bioh stated.
Notice of Polls
Meanwhile the Notice of Poll published by the Electoral Commission ahead of the May 23 exercise indicated that there were four candidates who were contesting the by-election.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, Ernest Yaw Anim, is the number one on the ballot paper; the National Democratic Congress candidate, Kwasi Amankwa, takes the second spot while the third and fourth positions are for two independent candidates who bear the same name.
Recall
Parliament, before adjourning sine die for the Easter holidays, notified the EC of the need to conduct a by-election in the Kumawu Constituency following the death of Philip Basoah, the NPP MP for the area.
Mr Basoah, 53, was a Member of the Seventh and Eighth Parliaments of the Fourth Republic.
The leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ashanti Region has said that it will meet with the defeated Parliamentary aspirant forEjura-Sekyedumase who was captured in a viral video showering cash during the party’s parliamentary and presidential primaries.
Even before the invitation from the party, the former aspirant, Juliana Kinang -Wassan had been summoned to appear before the office of the Special Prosecutor to answer some questions.
Citi News has learned that the meeting by the party’s leadership with the former aspirant will seek to point out what the constitution of the party says about her conduct.
Madam Kinang-Wassan was seen in a widely circulated video raining cash on delegates, party supporters, and bystanders upon arrival at the voting centre at Ejuraon Saturday.
Her conduct caused a major stir at the voting centre with voters abandoning voting booths to grab a note from the MP aspirant.
The notes ranged from as low as 5 Ghana cedis to as high as GH¢100 notes.
Her conduct has been severely condemned by a section of the public with some calling on her to be sanctioned by the party.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) leadership has stated that it will address all outstanding issues in four constituencies in the Ashanti Region in order to pave way so internal elections.
Delegates in the Manhyia South Constituency did not take part in the NDC’s presidential and parliamentary primaries held over the weekend following some unresolved issues.
Fomena, Adansi Asokwa, Manhyia South and Mampong constituencies did not take part in the parliamentary elections, but delegates in these areas only took part in the presidential elections.
The party indicates that it will take the necessary steps to conduct internal elections in these constituencies before the end of 2023.
Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NDC, Augustus Andrews Nana Kwasi speaking to journalists during his monitoring of the elections on Saturday said the Ashanti region will be a deciding factor in the 2024 general elections.
He noted, “We have a year and a half before the general elections, and this is the first time NDC, we have conducted our primaries early. I can assure the good people of Ashanti Region especially Manhyia South that by the end of the year, we would have resolved that issue. It’s not only Manhyia South, we are having Adansi Asokwa, Fomena and Mampong. These constituencies were on hold for the parliamentary, but we will surely conduct the elections in these areas.
“The message is that we are going to take over Ashanti Region, and we are going to get maximum votes that will make former President John Mahama become the next president of Ghana in the 2024 general elections. Ashanti Region will be the deciding factor in that regard. And Insha Allah, we are going to get more seats. The signal is good that we are coming to power”.
Eleven constituencies in the Ashanti Region have been declared ‘Hotspots’ by the Regional Secretariat of the NDC, as it prepares for Saturday’s primaries.
The 11 ‘Hotspots’ are among 46 Constituencies in the region, where the flagbearer contest will take place. However, the Manhyia South Constituency has been declared ineligible to take part in the exercise.
Regional Organizer of the National Democratic Congress, NDC, Isham Alhassan Bonsu, disclosed this to GBCNEWS in Kumasi.
Ashanti Region has 47 Constituencies, the largest in the country. The elections which are in two parts, electing parliamentary and presidential hopefuls, will take place concurrently in most of the constituencies except a few of them.
Constituencies such as Mampong, Adansi Asokwa, Fomena, Obuasi East, Manhyia South, Kumawu and Tafo will take part in only the flagbearer polls because they are either presenting an unopposed parliamentary aspirant or there are unresolved issues among the party members.
In all, about 6,000 delegates from all the 6,737 branches of the party, and 1,425 constituency and regional executives, former ministers and deputy ministers of state, Council of Elders Members among others constituting 62,054 electoral colleges, are eligible to vote in the two elections in the region.
For now, only the Manhyia South Constituency has been stopped from taking part in both the parliamentary and flagbearer contest due to a Court Injunction. This means 46 Constituencies will participate in the polls with about 76 Parliamentary aspirants cleared to contest.
The Kumawu Constituency already has its parliamentary candidate for the upcoming by-election later this month and also next year’s election.
In an interview with GBCNEWS at the Regional Secretariat in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional Organizer of the NDC, Isham Alhassan, said apart from two Constituencies with minor disagreements over the delegates’ list which he is certain will be amicably resolved in time, all the approved Constituencies are set to undertake the exercise.
According to the Regional Organizer, 11 Constituencies have been declared as ‘Hotspots’ with the potential of violent misunderstanding for which the Police have been asked to take charge to avert any disturbances.
Mr. Alhassan said a special arrangement has been made for delegates from the hinterlands as well as members of the Seventh Day faith to vote.
Mr. Alhassan assured that as a Party determined to win next year’s Presidential and Parliamentary elections, the NDC’s regional executives have resolved to create a level playing field for all the contenders to reduce to the barest minimum, any acrimonies if any, to present a united and formidable front toward achieving the set goal for 2024.
He, therefore, appealed to all the interested individuals and groups within the party in the region to ensure mutual trust, respect and confidence in the measures put in place for the success of the primaries.
The Regional Organizer said even though the official schedule for the elections is between 7 am and 4 pm, polls could close at any time within the period and results declared only if every eligible delegate has voted.
A total of 106 candidates have been cleared to contest the NDC parliamentary primaries at various constituencies in the Ashanti region.
The party finished the vetting of all the parliamentary aspirants in the region on Tuesday 09, ahead of the conduct of the elections on May 13, 2023.
The vetting of candidates for the Fomena constituency was put on hold following a directive from the national office of the party.
Out of the total number of candidates cleared, seven are going unopposed.
They are Samuel Aboagye- Obuasi East, Joseph Azumah – Akrofouom, Samuel Prempeh Jnr – Bekwai and Kwasi Amankwaa – Kumawu.
The rest are Shamudeen Mohammed Kamil – Old Tafo, Hamzah Swallah – Manhyia North and Ebenezer Ekow Aidoo – Asante Akim Central.
Fifteen females are among the candidates contesting for the elections in the region.
The Ejura Sekyeredumase constituency has the highest number of five candidates contesting the elections.
Dr Frank Amoakohene, Ashanti Regional Secretary of the NDC told the Ghana News Agency that no aspirant was disqualified during the process.
He said the party was satisfied with the outcome of the vetting process and the quality of people who submitted themselves to contest the primaries in the various constituencies.
The atmosphere for the campaigns in the region had been relatively calm, except for the Asawase constituency where the supporters of the two main contenders, Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, the incumbent, and Mubarick Masawudu, have been trading derogatory utterances in their campaigns.
A former Deputy Minister of Transport and special aide to ex-President John Dramani Mahama, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, has dismissed a fake social media post that attributed tribal remarks against the Ashanti people to her.
She said the post was shared from a clone account and had nothing to do with her. She also accused the current Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government of being behind the creation of such accounts to tarnish the image of political opponents and sow discord among Ghanaians.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, May 9, 2023, Mogtari wrote that,
“As soon as they announced a government initiative to curb the spread of fake news, I knew that this infamous government had discovered a new scam! Clone the accounts of political opponents and set them up for attacks or create disaffection.”
She thanked those who quickly noticed the fake tweet and alerted her, but urged them to,
“discount, discredit or report the fake tweets instead of sharing same across platforms knowing same to be false, fake and disinformation.”
Mogtari is a Ghanaian lawyer and politician who served as the Deputy Minister of Transport from 2013 to 2017 under Mahama’s administration. She is also his official spokesperson and a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The police in the Ashanti Region are currently investigating circumstances leading to the alleged butchering of a toddler by the son of a landlord.
Reports gathered indicates that the suspect allegedly killed the toddler after an altercation with the child’s father, who is a tenant in their house.
The incident is said to have occurred at Adankwame within the Atwima Nwabiagya North District of the Ashanti Region on Friday, May 5, 2023.
According to the available details, the suspect, Emmanuel, inflicted machete wounds on the landlord and sister of the deceased.
The two were rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, where they were being treated.
The deceased’s mother, Janet Owusuwaa, told the media, “My husband left for work in the morning and returned home in the evening between 4pm and 5pm. My son ran to hug his father to welcome him. It was around that time that our landlord’s son who was wielding a machete confronted my husband. He butchered my son and my husband.
He also attacked my daughter, who attempted to save my son. We then had to run away. All three people have been sent to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. The toddler, who is one year and four months old, has, however, died.
Investigations have been launched bypolicein the Ashanti Region over the alleged slaughtering of an infant by a landlord’s son.
Reports indicate that the suspect killed the toddler after he had an altercation with the child’s father, who is a tenant in their house.
The incident happened at Adankwame within the Atwima Nwabiagya North District of the Ashanti Region on Friday, 5th May 2023.
The suspect, who has only been identified as Emmanuel, also inflicted machete wounds on the deceased’s father and sister who are battling for their lives at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
“My husband left for work in the morning and returned home in the evening between 4pm and 5pm. My son ran to hug his father to welcome him. It was around that time that our landlord’s son who was wielding a machete confronted my husband. He butchered my son and my husband. He also attacked my daughter who attempted to save my son. We then had to run away. All three persons have been sent to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. The toddler who is one year and four months old has however died,” Janet Owusuwaa, mother of the toddler said.
Two young girls are alleged to have perished in Sanfo-Aduam’s Bekwai Municipality in the Ashanti Region after falling into a galamsey pit.
The two; Alicia and Anita Asare, are all 13-year-old students at Sanfo-Aduam SDA elementary school.
They were said to have spent hours trapped beneath the pit before neighbors came to their aid.
According to eyewitnesses, the victims drowned in the pit while swimming in a river surrounded by galamsey pits with their companions who had gone on a swimming expedition.
The two teenagers were laid to rest on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, amid community mourning.
Hon. Joseph Owusu, Assemblyman for Sanfo-Aduam, verified this in a statement describing the incident as painful.
He lamented that the activities of illegal miners have destroyed the water body in the area.
He said the miners failed to cover the pits and that is something he had complained about.
“The children got stuck in one of the abandoned pits in the area. Their death was painful. They are currently not mining at the moment. But they have abandoned the pit without covering it. That was what caused the death of the two minors.”
Authorities at Collins Senior High School in Asante Akyem Agogo, Ashanti Region, are having difficulty feeding students following the destruction of its kitchen facility.
The kitchen facility which served over 1000 students according to school authorities was completely razed following a downpour.
Jacob Agyenim Boateng, a journalist from Otec FM visited the school and he observed that matrons of the school were force to cook under a dilapidated structure which poses as a threat to lives of the students.
Speaking to OTEC News on Wednesday April 26, 2023, the Organizer for the 1989 year group (an old students association of the school) Mr. Owoahene Acheampongdescribed the situation as worrying.
Mr. Acheampong said the recent destruction of the kitchen facility has disrupted teaching and learning in the school as matrons fail to serve food to students on time.
He urged authorities in the Ashanti Region and the education sector to treat the issue as a matter of urgency and find solution to the problem.
“As old students, we are doing our part to ensure the smooth running of the school, just recently we organized ourselves and present teaching and learning materials to the Home Economic Department of the school, but this particular problem is beyond our reach
“This is the reason why we are calling on stakeholders in the educational sector to come to the aid of the school and provide a befitting kitchen for the students”, he said.
In the upcoming presidential primaries, Eugene Boakye Antwi, the member of parliament for Subin in the Ashanti Region, has warned New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates not to tamper with what he described as Christian or Akan votes.
The former Deputy Minister of Works and Housing explained that the NPP, for a long time has derived its political strength and support from Christian or Akan-dominated areas across the country.
He argued that it is important that delegates of the party do not tamper with that trend.
“Delegates shouldn’t do anything to antagonize that base because if the base refuse to vote, you are out of office,” he said.
Speaking in an interview with Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV, Eugene Boakye Antwi said that there are about 12 polling stations in his constituency where the NPPalways trails behind the NDC.
He added that this is because those areas are non-Akan-dominated areas.
He, therefore, cautioned the party against electing candidates who will be detrimental to the base of the NPP.
“The empirical evidence is that we derive our political power, support, authority, and existence from Akan-dominated or Christian-dominated areas of this country, and it’s a fact. Check our current numbers in parliament and you would establish that most of the MPs from the Majority Caucus emerged from Akan-dominated areas. So, why do you want to elect a candidate who will be detrimental to your base?” he quizzed, while speaking with the morning show host, Kwesi Parker-Wilson.
The Subin MP also dismissed claims that his analysis is centered on tribalism, insisting that “in our current politics, we cannot rule out ethnicity or religion.
“People are only making hypothetical analysis that electing Bawumia as flagbearer will weaken the base of the NDC in Muslim communities. The NDC appreciates that Ghana is a Christian-dominated country, reason they elected a Christian as their flagbearer,” he added.
Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mark Okraku-Mantey has officially commissioned the first amphitheatre in Kumasi, Ashanti Region.
This is to fulfil the NPP’s manifesto promise of building theatres in some selected regions.
This year, the government promised to build 5 Amphitheatres; two (2) in Accra, one (1) in Kumasi, one (1) inTakoradi and one (1) in Tamale.
The purpose of these amphitheatres is to serve as venues for performances and other forms of entertainment, to aid industry players to plan for their events and to create jobs to boost the Industry’s economy.
Performing the sod-cutting on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 in the presence of the Executive Secretary NFA, Juliet Asante, Nana Sarfo Kantanka (Project Coordinator) MoTAC, Kumasi Mayor, Mr Samuel Pyne and Kwadwo Antwi CEO (GTDC), MarK Okraku-Mantey said:
“This is the day the most high has made, finally, we are on the soil, we are on the grounds to start the project, so we are here to do the first digging, so it can be put on record that the project has started”.
The Deputy Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts Minister tasked the contractors to ensure that there is value for money, as well as ensure strict adherence to completion timelines.
At Akwatialine in theAshanti Region, wood vendors, traders, and some locals have accused some security personnel of inflicting injuries on them in an effort to drive them out of the area.
Scores of traders who have been operating at the wood market enclave at Akwatialine for years have been asked to leave the area to allow for redevelopment.
The Akwatialine wood sellers association and other traders have described the move by authorities to evict them as unfair since they have not been given places to relocate to.
During Citi News’ visit to the area on Friday morning April 14, there was a heavy security presence as some persons in the area accused the police of assaulting them which led to some people sustaining injuries.
The Secretary of the Akwatialine Wood Sellers Association, Mohammed Umar speaking to Citi News on the development said, “They told me that anti-robbers and police beat them, and they later arrested some of them as well. You can’t just evict us without providing us with a new place. We will not resist if the government gives us a good place to trade”.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Asokore Mampong, Kennedy Kankam however allayed fears of the wood sellers and the other traders, insisting that the people are not being necessarily evicted from the area.
He says the redevelopment is being done in phases and no trader would be asked to move away but would still be allowed to operate within the area while construction works go on in the other parts of the area.
He says he is so far not aware of the alleged assault on some persons, which he described as unfortunate.
“They are just misunderstanding me, we are not evicting anybody, we are just rearranging the place so that we will start the project, and we will be shifting them through phases. We don’t want to finish the market, and it will turn into a white elephant. Let’s all abide by the rules and regulations. I will not allow anyone to move to a place where they cannot continue with their business”.
“It’s quite unfortunate I have not gotten the briefings of the assault from my security capos. If excesses happened I will talk to my security agencies, and we know how to go about it”.
It has emerged that former President John Dramani Mahama did not condemn the people of Ashanti Region for their loyalty to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as claimed.
Presidential staffer, Nana Hesse Ogyiri, in a Facebook post on Thursday shared an artwork with UTV’s logo which said: “Don’t be like Ashanti Region. They are emotionally attached to the NPP that they don’t even think before voting for them.
“Your party and your son has led Ghana into a ditch, be bold to vote against them. Be different. Come back to the NDC in 2024 and we wont neglect you this time,” it added.
Aide of John Mahama, Joyce Bawah-Mogtari has refuted the claims made by the presidential staffer.
She entreated the general public to disregard the news, describing it as fake.
“Wait a minute: Treat with utmost contempt,fake news headlines being churned out by a desperately unscrupulous government that has absolutely nothing to show for itself than to hide behind faceless lies and propaganda against notable political opponents!” she said.
Also, a search on the Accra-based TV station’s social media platforms revealed a similar artwork but with different details.
The April 11, 2023, artwork read: “By God’s grace we have the experience, we didn’t buy it in the store, we didn’t learn it in school, it is God who gave us the opportunity to gather that experience. Don’t worry about what some people are saying, it is God’s will, I attend church and when I pray God speaks to me and God has said this is the time for NDC, he has given us power. If God decides no one can change it.”
Former President John Mahama has expressed optimism that the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) will win the 2024 elections.#UTVNewspic.twitter.com/eqqryJgI8V
Former President John Mahama completed his regional tour of the Eastern Region on Thursday and is expected to start the Greater Accra Regional tour almost immediately.
Seven persons accused of assaulting a police officer have been granted bail.
The Effiduase District Court admitted to bail the seven who had been arraigned for allegedly assaulting the police officer at a Snap Check between Wonoo and Akotsosu in Ashanti Region.
All seven are to present one surety each in the sum of GHs10,000 each.
The Court presided over by Justice Frank Nii Ashetey Addo further assured of cracking the whip if the suspects are found culpable.
The prosecution, in their opening statement, requested that the court only head the charges and case details to the suspects.
They further stated that investigations into the incident remain incomplete.
One of the seven suspects, Thomas Kusi, is hospitalised from injuries sustained in the brawl.
All seven were charged with Conspiracy to commit crime and assault on a public officer.
A driver of the vehicle in which the suspects were in, 32-year-old Felix Boateng, was charged with failure to use all reasonable means to stop the commitment of felony by the six.
The facts of the case presented to court revealed the suspects, in an attempt to stop the police officer, Gen/Cpl Sylvestre Nana Berhene from conducting a check on their vehicle, struggled with the police officer resulting in the discharge of the police officer’s rifle.
It further states the suspects further assaulted the officer as his phone was stolen.
To complete investigations, prosecution pleaded for the suspects to be remanded.
Counsel for the suspects, Henry Ohemeng in defense prayed the court to grant the suspects bail since the offence is a misdemeanor.
“It would not be in the interest of justice in my humble opinion if the court should refuse the grant of bail just because the state says that investigations are ongoing”, he said.
Mr. Ohemeng added, “before I came to court I had the chance to speak to these people and the one on admission, they all informed me they did not assault the public officer”.
The Court in granting the bail application condemned attacks against public officers.
The court added if civilians go about attacking police officers then security of the citizenry including that of the magistrate is not assured.
Families of the suspects received the news in excitement.
Luv News sources indicate the police officer who sustained injuries at the knee remains hospitalised.
According to some caterers of the School feeding Programme inKumasi in the Ashanti Region they are likely yo lose their jobs should the New Patriotic Party (NPP) be ousted from power.
Dorothy Ofori-Sarpong, who provides meals for school children in basic schools in the region in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday claimed that all caterers in the region are bonafide members of the NPP.
According to her, there is no way they will be retained if theNational Democratic Congress (NDC) wins the 2024 elections.
She added that it is a known fact all current caterers must be members of the NPP.
Making a point for arrears owed them to be paid, Dorothy Ofori-Sarpong said caterers in the region have sacrificed for long, and it is time the government pays attention to their plight.
“We know that when the NDC wins power, we will all lose our jobs.,” Ofori-Sarpong told host Bernard Avle adding “All of us are members of the NPP”.
Dorothy also slammed the Ashanti Regional Minister for disrespecting them when they besieged his office to demand payments for their arrears.
She revealed that they have not been paid for three school terms and caterers have virtually run out of funds.
The caterers who are calling on the government to pay them their arrears and also increase the amount expressed their disappointment with the Regional Minister over how he received them.
Meanwhile, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah has justified his reason for reacting angrily to caterers under the government’s school feeding programme in the Ashanti Region when they presented a petition to him on Monday, April 3.
Speaking to the media however, Mr Simon Osei Mensah insists that the caterers did not follow due process and were protesting at the Regional Coordinating Council which compelled him to react the way he did.
“I was in a meeting yesterday when I heard some noise outside the office, and so I sent my special assistant to find out, and he came and told me it was caterers protesting outside. They did not even seek security clearance before demonstrating, so you can imagine what would have happened if the security personnel at the Regional Coordinating Council had reacted to them”.
“We must be truthful to ourselves in this country and stop pampering people because impunity is too much. Though I sympathise with the caterers, we should not allow people to break the law in their attempt to have their problems solved. We should solve our problems through legal means. You can’t just take the law into your hands and do what you want because I will not tolerate that.”
A group of eight alleged cannabis traffickers have attacked two community police officers with a pestle in the Ashanti region,Juaben.
A video intercepted by GHone News, saw eight able men pounding on helpless police officers in uniform while other members of the group hit the victim with a huge pestle, sticks and stones while on the floor.
The victims were caught in the video with blood oozing from the victim’s mouth and nose and other parts of his body where he was hit with a stick.
The unfortunate incidentaccording to the Assembly member of Asante Juaben Ransford Osei, happened on Wednesday April 5, 2023.
“Per my checks, police in the area had arrested a friend of those you saw in the video for dealing in some illicit drugs, the two community police officers were reported to have taken Gh¢1000 from the gang under the guise of given it to the commander for the swift release of their friend” Juaben Ransford Osei alleged.
“The group after waiting for some time without any affirmative results went to the police station and discovered that the two community Police officers did not give the money to their commanders for the release of their friend as promised they got agitated”. He explained.
“They went to the various homes of the officers and attacked them, the one you see striking them with a pestle is known in the area as Owuraku, 26, who lives in my Electoral Area, and the other one is called Exhibit, 33”.
Juaben Ransford Osei further confirmed, the two attacked Community Police officers have been hospitalized responding to treatment.
Meanwhile the Juaben Police Command has arrested six persons captured in the video attack; the two Community Police officers have been arrested to assist police investigation.
At Kronum-Abuohia in the Suame Municipality of the Ashanti Region, a lifeless body of a girl has been discovered dead.
The deceased, yet to be identified, was found in a drain at an area known as Adonko factory on Monday, April 3, 2023.
Speaking to OTEC News Jacob Agyenim Boateng, the Assembly Member for Kyerease-Abuohia Electoral Area,Elvis Nyantakyisaid they suspect the body to have been there for at least three days.
“When I arrived the scene, I saw the body was decaying proven it has been therefore more than two days”.
“I suspect the little girl was dragged by the heavy rains the previous days killing her in the process”, he told the host.
Elvis Nyantakyi said Personnel from the Ghana Police Service arrived on the scene and transported the body to the Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Morgue.
He called on the public particularly those living around Atimatim, Kronum Cementmu, Bronkum Newsite and other adjoining communities who had their daughter missing to visit the hospital for verification.
Caterers on the School Feeding Programme in Ashanti Region have once again laid down their tools over unpaid arrears.
The decision comes a day before the reopening of basic schools across the country.
The caterers are expecting arrears for the third term in the previous academic year to be paid before they resume work.
They have threatened to throw away the meals cooked by colleagues who may go contrary to the decision.
“Our reason is simple, during Covid-19, we cooked but government didn’t make full payment. We have been complaining since but to no avail. Currently, we’ve cooked for students for three terms and they have still not made full payment,” she said.
“Meanwhile, we all testify to how food prices shot up last year, yet government has not reviewed the cost per child. They are still paying ¢0.97 per child and in all that they are not paying in full.
“So now we can’t cook anymore, we are demanding that third-term payment before we cook otherwise as school reopens tomorrow, nobody is going to cook.”
One caterer commended their former bosses for their transparency and accountability.
She said that their former bosses were communicating with them even when they were incapable of paying the full amount.
“We really miss Otiko Afigya, when she was there, she can pay for 40 days and communicate with us that she will pay the remaining 10 or 15 days so everybody will know that school feeding is owing us 15 days,” the aggrieved caters told JoyNews.
“But since Cynthia Morrison and the others took over, no one has been giving us any update, they only pay the number of days they want to pay, period,” she said.
The caterers disclosed that this unpaid arrears has led to severe hardship and some of her colleagues have lost their lives due to the difficulties.
“A number of people are now dead, some have a stroke, pressure and so on, now we are owing our bankers, indebtedness, we cannot even count the number of challenges,” she lamented.
The caterers are also calling for an increase in the feeding grant from 97 pesewas to three cedis per child.
Over the first five months of operation, theGhana Revenue Authority (GRA) monitoring teams had recovered more than GH86 million for government.
The teams, which conduct market surveillance for compliance, comprise the Tema team, based at Tema Harbour; Eastern Frontier, based at Dabala in the Volta Region; Western Frontier in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, and the Vehicle Task Force whose operation is nationwide.
Their operation also led to the interception and detention of 273 uncustomed vehicles between the last quarter of 2022 and the end of February 2023.
Speaking to journalists about the initiative in Accra, the Commissioner of Customs of the GRA, Seidu Iddrisu Iddisah, said the recoveries made by the team would contribute to the revenue drive of the state and ensure that the security of the country was intact.
Background
The Customs Division of the GRA came up with the monitoring team initiative to ensure importers pay the right amounts of duty and also to serve as a tool to curtail smuggling across the country.
In October 2022, four monitoring teams were inaugurated to undertake risk-based and intelligence-driven operations across the country.
The teams also arrested some uncustomed goods and carried out other related assignments which involved the interception of substances suspected to be Indian hemp, among others.
According to the Customs Division of the GRA, an assessment of the operations of the teams between October, 2022 and February, 2023 indicated that the teams had significantly impacted on revenue mobilisation.
No compromise
Giving a breakdown of the amount recovered to the state, Mr Iddisah said the Tema team alone collected GH¢85 million while the Western Frontier team also recovered a total collection of GH₵1.46 million.
The Vehicle Task Force intercepted and detained 193 uncustomed vehicles in the last quarter of 2022 and 80 vehicles between January and February 2023.
Mr Iddisah explained that the monitoring teams served as another layer of security measures put in place by the Authority.
The Commissioner of Customs said the monitoring team was also one of the layers of enforcement as the monitoring teams operate at certain strategic areas to ensure that “if someone is able to dodge from the entry points, these teams will be able to apprehend them for the right amount of duties and customs processes to be done.”
He commended the teams for the successes chalked up, saying since they were “set up towards the latter part of last year to February, Tema team alone has collected over GH¢85 million and seized other goods that did not meet the standards required for the country”.
The Commissioner of Customs said in the operation of the teams there was no room for compromise and cautioned that the team would not compromise on any unethical exercise by any importer or trader against the country’s customs laws.
Harassment
On the concerns of some team members harassing innocent traders at some of the country’s borders, Mr Addisah admitted that such complaints had been made in the public domain but without any concrete evidence.
“We have always encouraged people to come out with evidence of our team members harassing individuals or any form of corruption so that we can investigate and deal with the officers involved.
He explained that the teams were guided by a code of ethics and conduct and when it was breached, the necessary sanctions were applied accordingly.
The Kumawu seat in the Ashanti Region has been declared vacant by Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon. A.S.K. Bagbin.
This follows the death of Philip Atta Basoah, the former Member of Parliament.
The Speaker has therefore, directed the EC to hold a by-election for a replacement of the late MP.
Article 112 (5) of the 1992 constitution states that “whenever a vacancy occurs in Parliament, the Clerk to Parliament shall notify the Electoral commission in writing within seven days after the vacancy occurred, and a by-election shall be held within thirty days after the vacancy occurred.”
The former lawmakee died on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, where he had been on admission briefly.
He’s said to have been struck with a stroke while sleeping.
Some executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ashanti Region have fought off claims that they wore military uniforms on a campaign tour of former President, John Mahama.
Vice Chairman, Capt Rtd John Kwame Jabari says what they wore were only camouflage dresses which they will continue to wear.
This is in response to police invitation for the wearing of what they describe as military uniform for a campaign tour.
Captain Jabari says they will continue to wear the shirts to party functions.
“I rebuke that we were not in a military attire, we were in a camouflage dress. Because as a former military officer I know a military attire if I see one and I will never wear one because I am out of the service”, he said.
Captain Jabari who led some party executives to honor an invitation from the police added, “we will continue to wear it until a competent court tells us we can’t wear it”.
They include; Captain John Kwame Jabari, the First Vice Chairman, Baah Acheamfour, the Deputy Secretary and Seth Atanga, the Deputy Youth Organizer.
The rest are Treasurer, Marvin Philip Frazer Norman, and two others.
In a picture that has gone viral, some party executives are pictured in green camouflage outfits with the inscription “Green Army” embroidery on the right side. On the left side is the name of the individual wearing them.
They cite instances where similar camouflage dresses worn by certain members of the public have been ignored, claiming that their invitation is an attempt to intimidate the NDC.
“I have given you people evidence of celebrities and other politicians wearing camouflage and none of them have been invited”, he said.
All six persons have since honored the police invitation. Caution statements of all the suspects were taken and granted bail by the police as investigation continues.
There is no specific legislative prohibition on wearing military camouflage in Ghana, according to Peter Lanchene Toobu, the member of parliament for Wa West.
The former superintendent of police said the wearing of replicas isn’t criminal.
Speaking on the back of the invitation of some Ashanti Regional NDC executives by the Regional Police Command for wearing military camouflage during a tour by former president John Dramani Mahama, Mr. Toobu said if wearing camouflage was illegal, the government would have taken measures to halt the importation of the many replicas that flood the open markets.
Mr. Toobu explained that “the principle is simple, if you are a police officer, you dress in a uniform to show that you are an officer and if you are a soldier, you are a soldier by training, but the uniform is symbolic of who you are and so if you are not a police officer or a soldier, and you are wearing army uniform, they [the military] have the right to question you.”
He further intimated that aside from the questioning by the military to prevent impersonations, there is actually nothing unlawful about wearing replicas.
“If you wear camouflage, that is not the Ghana Army uniform, that shouldn’t be an issue unless there is a law banning the importation of camouflageinto the country,” he further told Umaru Sanda Amadu on Eyewitness News on Citi FM.
Mr. Toobu also admonished the public and the media to be circumspect in reporting these incidents to avoid unnecessarily denting the image of the Ghana Army.
Six executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ashanti Region were invited for questioning for wearing military attire during the former president’s visit.
In the Ashanti Region alone, 118 pregnant women died during childbirth in 2022.
The percentage, according to the Ghana Health Service, accounts for 22% of the 875 fatalities reported nationally throughout the study period.
The maternal mortality rate increased slightly from 132 to 134 per 10,000 live births during the review period.
The alarming number has a number of causes, according to an ongoing yearly health performance review in the area.
Speaking at the event, the Ashanti Regional Health Directorate, Dr Emmanuel Tinkorang said the major cause of maternal deaths are eclampsia and postpartum haemorrhage.
He added that the percentage of maternal death audited in the region was 100%.
“Maternity death still remains a major challenge in the region during the year under review, our maternal mortality rate increases marginally from 110 to 2000 live birth to 134 per 100,000 live birth.
“The total number of maternal deaths recorded in the region was 181,” he said.
He went on to say that during the year, the region however saw an improvement in some key indicators, whilst other indicators reduced the family planning accepted rate reduced slightly from 28.1 in 2021 to 27.4 in 2022.
The proportion of service delivery improved from 60.7 in 2021 to 65% in 2022.
The prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy also improved from 33.3% in 2020, dropping to 29.6% in 2022, he stated.
on his part, the General Service Dr Patrick Kumah Aboakye is unhappy with the maternal death figures in the Ashanti Region.
He wants head authorities to work on reducing maternal mortality in order to reduce the national burden.
At Ejisu-Donyina in the Ashanti Region, a 47-year-old pastor has been beaten to death.
The deceased, Ben Jesus, was allegedly killed by one Mr. Kwabena, 35, who claimed the deceased had insulted his parents on Monday March 27,2023.
Speaking to OTEC News Jacob Agyenim Boateng, the spokesperson for deceased’s family, Nana Kofi Akwaboa Otoku said his brother was beaten mercilessly by the suspect and left to die on the street.
He shared, “I received a distress call from some residents who witnessed the incident and so I rushed to the scene, and upon getting there, I saw the victim grasping for breath”.
“Those who witnessed the situation said my brother was subjected to live threatening beatings and so had to rushed him to hospital, the doctors after few minutes of examination declared my brother dead “.
Mr. Akwaboah diclosed that, the suspect has since been arrested by the Ejisu Divisional Police Commandafter an official complaint was lodged by the family.
Body of the victim has been deposited at Emena hospital’s morgue pending autopsy.
TheKumasi Metropolitan Assemblyhas received a report from the committee tasked to examine the cause of the Kejetia New Market fire incident.
The committee in its report among other things recommended that the epicentre of the fire should be closed indefinitely to make way for further assessment of the damage caused by the inferno and also check the integrity of structures there.
Among the key findings of the committee, it disclosed that against the measures and fire regulations instituted in the market, “there were gas cylinders in the area of the fire that should not have been there”.
It lauded the rescue services provided by emergency service providers including the Ghana National Service and intimated that though they did their best in fighting the inferno, the fire still “caused considerable damage to the structure of the fire-affected area of the building. The flames destroyed goods and properties whilst the upper area of the market structure building suffered from significant smoke staining to the soffit of the roof covering.”
The report also disclosed that the incident damaged about 42 shops out of which 12 recorded severe damages.
Parts of the Kejetia New Market went up in flames on Wednesday, March 15 destroying properties worth thousands of Ghana Cedis.
A Committee was constituted on Friday, March 17 after a visit by a delegation from the Local Government Ministry, led by Osei Bonsu Amoah, same day the Ghana National Fire Service also commenced investigations into the fire incident.
Included in the Committee’s key recommendations are; a renewal of the building permit (mandatory), renewal of the fire permit (mandatory), and renewal of the EPA’s permit (mandatory).
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation, in collaboration with Jamerson Strategic Consulting, a Non-Governmental Organisation in the United States of America, have presented maternity kits to new mothers on admission at three hospitals in Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region.
The items including baby feeding bottles, disposable nappies, towels and baby oils were to the Suntreso Government Hospital, Kwadaso Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Hospital and Tafo Government Hospital.
Executive Director of the Foundation, Madam Afua Kobi Prempeh said women contributed so much to the socio-economic development of the nation and needed to be treated in the best way possible when pregnant and make their welfare paramount as they continued to be women even during pregnancy.
The main motive of this foundation was to promote the sustainable development goal three, which includes good health for women as a thematic area.
Also, the foundation seeks to promote education by providing infrastructure and other learning materials to schools in the country to complement the government’s efforts in providing free and quality education to children.
The Director of Jamerson Consulting, Mr Jill Coleman said the organisation shared the same vision as the Otumfuo Foundation which is to help the marginalised in society.
Medical Superintendent of Kwadaso SDA Hospital, Dr. Randolph Adu-Baah called on other organisations or NGOs to support maternity blocks of various hospitals, to help give mothers quality
Healthy babies would help prevent and reduce infant and maternal mortality.
Yesterday, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia attended the second Akwasidae of the year at Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.
According to reports, he was met with loud cheers.
He was accompanied by theAshanti Region Constituency Executives of the party, some party elders, and Ministers of State and their Deputies.
Earlier, speaking at a brief event ahead of the Akwasidae, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia hailed the NPP in the Ashanti Region for the tremendous show of love for him.
He described the gesture, not only as surprising but also tremendous, urging the rank and file of the party in the region to continue to forge ahead in unity.
The National Democratic Congress’ electoral strategy in the Ashanti Region, according to John Dramani Mahama, is what has recently been referred to as being a boot to boot and “do-or-die” election in 2024.
Far from being a call to violence, he informed party members, it is a call to accountability and vigilance at the elections.
The former president and NDC 2024 flagbearership aspirant told supporters in Nhyiaeso on day one of his regional campaign tour that for the NDC to win any election, its numbers in the region was very crucial.
“I have always said that victory in Ghana elections, if we are to win, Ashanti Region is very important for NDC’s victory.
“More often than not, we take it that Ashanti is not our stronghold so we relax, but the numbers we get in Ashanti is sometimes bigger than two or three regions.”
He continued: “So, we are going to do hard work in Ashanti, the boot to boot I have talked about is here. The do-or-die is here. We don’t want anyone to be cheated and we won’t allow anyone to cheat us.”
He explained: “Boot to boot means, we won’t allow you to cheat. It is like a football match in which you are using your feet with boots on but don’t want me to compete same. Let’s bring our boots together and see who gets the ball.”
Mahama reiterated the boot to boot and do-or-die mantra to party faithful in the Tain and Banda constituencies in the Bono East Region during his campaign tour last week.
”I have no doubt that NDC will win the 2024 elections. So, the vote will be a do-or-die affair and we will be matching them boot to boot at the polling station.”
Aside Mahama, other contenders for the NDC’s upcoming flagbearership contest are: Dr Kwabena Duffour businessman Ernest Kwaku Kobeah and Kojo Bonsu, former Mayor of Kumasi.
On Saturday afternoon, John Dramani Mahama, a former president, will start a three-day campaign tour across the Ashanti Region.
This is the first phase of the former president Mahama’s campaign in the Region, according to his spokesperson, Mrs. Joyce Bawah Mogtari.
Mr Mahama will be visiting and interacting with branch and constituency executives in 20 of the 47 constituencies.
Mrs. Mogtari also disclosed that Mr. Mahama will on Tuesday join the royal families and people of the Savanna Region for the coronation of the newly enskinned Yagbonwura before returning to Accra.
