By the first quarter of 2023, the much-discussed Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) would be completely operational, this is according to a statement from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).
According to the NPA, this is to eliminate the activities of gas filling stations stemming from the gas explosion at the Atomic Junction in the Greater Accra Region.
On October 7, 2017, a petrol tanker offloading products at the state-owned Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) station caught fire resulting in a large-scale explosion at the site of a Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) station located at Atomic Junction in the Madina Constituency of the Greater Accra Region.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NPA, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid announced the phasing out of the gas filling stations at a press soiree held in Accra.
He said going forward, gas fillings stations will become exchange points where customers will have to exchange their cylinders for a filled one from the cylinder bottling plants.
“We are encouraging investors to venture into the cylinder bottling plant establishments in the county, particularly up north,” he said.
He said already GOIL is doing one in the Kumasi metropolis of the Ashanti Region and one at Tema in the Greater Accra Region.
He added that these two bottling plants will come on stream by the first quarter of next year for the full implementation of the CRM exercise.
He expressed worry over the delay in rolling out the CRM exercise all these years.
He revealed that four other companies have renewed their licences with the NPA to start the processes for the establishment of the bottling plants.
Some eleven passengers who were onboard a car travelling on the Assin Nyankomase-Brofoyedru stretch of the Kumasi highway are reported to be battling for their lives.
The car, Hyundai Grace with registration number AC 1469-22 is said to have been involved in a ghastly accident after a tyre burst.
According to a report by Adomonline.com sighted by GhanaWeb, the driver lost control of the car after landing in a pothole leading to the tyre burst.
The car is said to have somersaulted before coming to a halt.
A team of MTTD officers led by one Inspector Godwin Tsikata upon visiting the accident scene has established through their preliminary investigation that the incident was a result of overspeeding.
Meanwhile, the injured passengers are said to be on admission at the St Francis Xavier Hospital receiving treatment while the accident vehicle has been towed to a police station for investigation to continue.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has admitted that there have been challenges associated with the implementation of the Free SHS policy.
Despite the challenges, the President has assured that the government will address many of them and many more over time during the 70th-anniversary anniversary celebration of Opoku Oware School (OWASS) in Kumasi on Saturday, December 3, 2022.
The theme for the anniversary was “Seven Decades of Leadership Through Self-Discipline” and it was chaired by Justice Steven Alan Brobbey, an old student of OWASS and former Supreme Court Judge.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II was the Guest of Honour along with the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi, His Grace Most Rev Gabriel Anokye.
The program also attracted old students (Akatakyie) from all over the globe, former headmasters and staff, politicians, government appointees, MPs and the public.
President Nana Akuffo Addo stated that despite the challenges, he was very proud of the policy and the results so far.
“Six years following the Free SHS Policy, it has guaranteed a minimum of 1.3 million Ghanaian children, the highest such enrollment in our history, ” he said.
“Yes, there have been challenges associated with the policy which the government is addressing substantially many of them and there will be more over time, such is the nature of social evolution to the stage the challenges will be met,” he admitted.
In addressing the situation, the President assured that “despite the economic difficulties confronting the nation, the government has devoted more resources to the running of the SHS Policy.
“From the budget of GHC2.3 billion in 2022, a 28.6% increase has been applied to this year’s budget for Free SHS Policy, ie GHC2.96 billion,” Akufo-Addo added.
The chairperson for the program, Justice Steven Alan Brobbey, an old student and former Supreme Court Judge, urged the students to be self-disciplined.
He indicated that it will assist them to achieve academic excellence and play important roles in the development of the nation.
The Headmaster of Opoku Oware School, Rev Fr Stephen Owusu Sekyere, in a remark commended the old students (Akatakyie) for sacrificing their resources to assist the school.
He also expressed his gratitude to President Nana Akuffo Addo for resourcing the school with classroom blocks, however, appealed to the president to then complete a 21-classroom block and build a wall around the wall to ward off encroachment.
Nurses at the Manhyia District Hospital in the Kumasi metropolis have rescinded their decision to strike.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Friday, December 2, 2022.
According to the GRNMA, their employers, the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS), “have reached out in writing to condemn the actions of Mr Alex Opoku Mensah.”
It noted that its employers further called on “the leadership of the GRNMA and the entire Nursing and Midwifery Fraternity to remain calm and withdraw the intended and roadmap to embark on an industrial strike, and allow for the due administrative processes and investigations to be conducted by the National Service Secretariat for a final determination on the incident.”
It also indicated that “other stakeholders including our dear patients and clients and the general public have also formally and informally condemned the actions of Mr Alex Opoku Mensah and have pleaded the leadership of the GRNMA to rescind its decision on embarking on a full scale strike action and resume nursing and midwifery services at Manhyia District Hospital.”
It noted that, in view of this, it has “called off its strike in Manhyia District Hospital and the intended roadmap for a full industrial action to allow the committee set up the National Service Secretariat to carry out its mandate and to ensure that our patients and clients do not suffer unduly.”
It called on all nurses and midwives especially those in Manhyia District hospital to kindly adhere to this directive and return to work Saturday, December 3, 2022 and continue providing safe and quality nursing and midwifery services to the people of Manhyia and its environs.
For failing to sack the Ashanti Regional Director of the NSS, nurses at the Manhyia Government Hospital began a sit-down strike on Friday, 2 December 2022.
The GRNMA spearheading the strike threatened to escalate it on 6 December where all nurses in the region will remain at home if the NSS regional Director was still at post.
The Association in a statement further said there will be a nationwide strike of nurses by Friday, November 9, 2022, if their demand was not met.
Mr Opoku-Mensah has been suspended by the management of the NSS pending investigations but the GRNMA is unsatisfied.
They want him sacked from office for barging into the Manhyia Government Hospital to insult a nurse on duty.
Mr Opoku-Mensah went to the hospital to fight the nurse on behalf of his daughter after the nurse had questioned the house officer on an issue.
The nurse is believed to have used her own phone to call Mr Opoku-Mensah’s daughter to come to the hospital and log into the E-Health System and update a patient’s prescription order so that the patient is not billed for unissued drugs.
It is not clear how the nurse communicated with Mr Mensah’s daughter on the phone which made her feel disrespected.
Mr Opoku-Mensah then followed his daughter to the hospital and was captured on tape insulting the nurse and threatening to mastermind her removal from the hospital.
He went on further to say his daughter is more intelligent than the said nurse and further threatened to come to the hospital in his daughter’s defence anytime she is intimidated by anyone in the facility.
The GRNMA said Mr Opoku-Mensah had no right to enter the hospital to abuse a nurse.
The group said as a Regional Director of the NSS, he should have known that the Manhyia District Hospital has management with whom he could have lodged a complaint instead of barging into the facility to attack the nurse.
Meanwhile, Mr Opoku-Mensah has apologised for his action.
In a Facebook post, the embattled Mr Opoku-Mensah said “I understand the disappointment and appreciate the inconvenience my action has caused the general public as well as the Nursing FRATERNITY and Manhyia Hospital.
“This has never been my style but for a genuine reason to mediate a persistent issue between my daughter(Doctor) and a colleague nurse who I as well consider my daughter.”
“I do apologise for any mishap and assure all, there shall not be a repetition of such…I look forward to maintaining a cordial relationship with any affected person.”
An Accra High Court has remanded into prison custody Huang Lei and another Chinese National for immigration offenses.
Appearing before the criminal court 5 presided by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, prosecution noted that the accused person was arrested on September 2, 2022 at their residence in Kumasi.
Per the statement of facts the two are standing trial over the expiration of resident permits, contrary to Section 20(1) and 52(1)(D) of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573); possession of ammunition without lawful authority contrary to section 11 of the arms and ammunitions Act, 1972, NCD 9, and possession of a forged official document contrary to section 166 of the criminal and other Offences Act, 1960, Act 29.
“A search conducted in the room of the first accused person (Huang Lei) revealed among other things, eight (8) packs of Eley shotgun cartridges, containing about two hundred and fifty (250) pieces of ammunition. He was not able to provide a valid licence for them,” Watkins Adama, a State Attorney told the court on Thursday.
The prosecution also indicated that the second accused person Huan Hiahua had in his possession a Chinese passport with forged residence permit. During the arrest, the prosecution added that Jian Li Hau a purported girlfriend of the son of Aisha Huang was picked up for suspected illegal mining activities.
The court remanded Huang Lei ans Huan Hiahua into prison custody. The case has been adjourned to December 13 for case management.
The two Canadian ladies who were the victims of kidnapping and their families would observe the judgement of the High Court on December 20, 2022, via video link.
This was after the court had granted a request from the family of the victims to the court through the office of the Attorney General to be allowed to monitor the judgement.
The two ladies – Miss Lauren Patricia Catherine Tiley and Miss Bailey Jordan Chilley, who were in Kumasi to participate in a youth programme on June 4, 2019 were kidnapped.
Sampson Agharlor, together with three others including a Ghanaian are facing judgement after a full trial.
The four persons who have been charged with unlawful imprisonment of two Canadian nationals have pleaded not guilty to four charges related to kidnapping.
The accused – Sampson Agharlor, aka Romeo, the ring leader together with Elvis Ojiyorwe, Jeff Omarsar and Yusif Yakubu have all denied the charges of conspiracy to kidnap, two kidnappings and an unlawful improvement.
They have been accused of playing various roles in the kidnapping of Miss Lauren Patricia Catherine Tiley and Miss Bailey Jordan Chilley, who were in Kumasi to participate in a youth programme on June 4, 2019.
The trial has ended with the court set to deliver its judgement.
However in court on Thursday, November 24, 2022, when the case was initially fixed for judgement the court presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo said, the judgement is not ready.
“We were to have our judgement today (Thursday, November 24, 2022) unfortunately, same is not ready. Meanwhile, I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General requesting that some members of the victims and their family will want to be part of the delivery of the judgement.
“The court is agreeable to their request. We shall create a link which they can join on the day the judgement would be delivered. This information would be relayed to them at least four days before the judgement,” Justice Osei Marfo noted.
The case has been adjourned to December 20 for the judgement to be delivered.
The accused persons who are in lawful custody according to EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent Murtala Inusah, were all present in court.
President Nana Akufo-Addo through the Ministry of Health has appointed Professor Otchere Addai Mensah, a Senior Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.
A formal letter from the ministry of health has been received by the Board Chairman of the teaching hospital, Bompatahene Nana Effah Apenteng.
Source in Manhyia Palace has also confirmed that Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has also received a formal letter from the Health Ministry informing him about the president’s new appointment in line with tradition.
Starr News checks at the referral facility disclosed that the board chairman of the facility at its last Board meeting briefed the board members about the new appointment which requires their approval
The hospital’s board after the approval is expected to formally inform the entire working staff of the Komfo Anokye teaching Hospital in the coming days.
Staff of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) had served notice that they will reject any appointment of non-permanent staff of the Hospital as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
This followed speculations within the premier hospital that the President in consultation with Ashanti Regional Executives of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) is considering announcing the appointment of Prof. Okyere Addai Mensah as a successor to the retired CEO Dr. Oheneba Owusu Danso.
The said notice from the staff read: “No KATH staff, No CEO; We are capable of managing our own affairs”
Dr. Oheneba Owusu Danso retired last week after serving the referral facility for over 3 decades.
Staff of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region have served notice that they will reject any appointment of non-permanent staff of the Hospital as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
This comes on the back of speculations within the premier hospital that the President in consultation with Ashanti Regional Executives of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) is considering announcing the appointment of Prof. Okyere Addai Mensah as a successor to the retired CEO Dr. Oheneba Owusu Danso.
The said notice from the staff read: “No KATH staff, No CEO; We are capable of managing our own affairs”
Dr. Oheneba Owusu Danso retired last week after serving the referral facility for over 3 decades.
Hundreds of jobseekers thronged to the Prempeh Assembly Hall in the Kumasi Metropolis to participate in the second edition of the SNV GrEEn Regional Job Fair, to explore employment opportunities in the Ashanti Region.
The fair, which was held on Tuesday November 15, 2022, brought together jobseekers and employers with the aim of matching both parties with available vacancies while creating networks for future employment opportunities for those unable to get jobs.
Held under the theme, “Green and Circular Economy: A sure way to creating decent & sustainable employment and jobs’’, the fair brought together over 500 job seekers, employers, and exhibitors from the green and circular economy.
Over 46 businesses were present with more than 120 vacancies and openings being offered to qualified job seekers.
Speaking to OTEC News Kwame Agyenim Boateng at the sidelines of the event, Project Manager of the GrEEn Project at SNV Ghana, Laouali Sadda said prior to the 2022 Green Regional Job Fair, SNV Ghana organised a CV Review Clinic in collaboration with the Ashanti Regional Labour Department, AGI and the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs to edit the CVs of job seekers and prepare them for the job openings at the fair as well as educate and sensitise job seekers on Ghana’s labour laws.
He added that, the job fair was held with support from the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Labour Department and the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs.
He pledged the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation’s commitment to training the youth in green and circular businesses.
“Our experiences and leanings from these job fairs have resulted in our gathering here today. Today’s Green Regional Job Fair has, as main objective: to properly match job seekers, who we call talents, to employers. We will also be providing business development support to entrepreneurs and inspiring more youth to kick starts their green businesses”. He said.
He commended the European Union in Ghana for their consistent support in creating sustainable jobs in the green economy.
“I would like to deeply acknowledge the wonderful work of the European Union for their dedication to skills development, sustainable job creation and support for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)”. He added.
He disclosed that, SNV Ghana and the European Union through the GrEEn Project, aside supporting job creation and skills development also promote growth of local businesses and SMEs that are green in their operations by making use of waste materials or not engaging in activities that adversely affect the environment.
“Businesses with innovative ideas also receive matching grants so they can scale up and create jobs at the local level. In 2021, under the GrEEn Innovation Challenge, 12 businesses received a totalling matching grant of GHS 1.17 million. In September while 51 green businesses received matching grants totalling GHS 1.5 million under the second GrEEn Innovation Challenge in 2022?”
The Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Hon. Ignatius Baffour Awuah, Commended the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation for their efforts in training and support start-ups in the country.
In a speech read on his behalf by Gloria Bortele Noi Director, Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, at the Ministry, Hon Baffour Awuah said the youth need the requisite employable skills to get job opportunities.
He therefore urged the youth to take advantage of opportunities in the SNV GrEEn Project to develop enough employable skills.
About SNV
SNV Netherlands Development Organisation is a not-for-profit international development organisation that makes a lasting difference in the lives of people living in poverty by helping them raise incomes and access basic services. SNV specialises in three sectors: agriculture, renewable energy and Water and we are present in over 25 countries. SNV has been working in Ghana since 1992.
About GrEEn Project
The Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) project is a four-year action from the European Union, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).
The project aims at creating greater economic and employment opportunities for youth, women and returning migrants by promoting and supporting sustainable, green businesses and providing employable skills training to youth job seekers in two selected regions in Ghana: Ashanti and Western in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development.
GrEEn is implemented under the European Union Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF) for Africa with a total contribution of EUR 20,600,000.
Some residents in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, have kicked against the directions by the leadership of some religious leaders to declare fasting and prayers aimed at reviving Ghana’s ailing economy.
According to them, “prayers and fastings alone won’t solve our economic hardship, but what Ghana needs is strong, incorruptible leaders with the very strong mentality to formulate and implement good policies to revive the economy.”
The current economic hardship, which has been widely speculated about by many Ghanaians and admitted by the president, has resulted in many people suggesting solutions on how to propel the country to greater heights.
Church of Pentecost
The Church of Pentecost (COP) declared a three-day fast and prayer session for all members starting on November 10, 2022.
The Church’s Executive Council arrived at the decision in the wake of economic hardship being experienced in the country.
“It is apparent that the country for some time now has been going through some economic challenges which threaten the peace and security of the nation.
“The church in times like this has a divine responsibility to intercede for the nation,” he said. Addressing the congregation on Sunday, the Chairman of COP, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, told the members to adhere to the directive.
Recognizing that the announcement was made on short notice, he urged the gathering to do so in order to invite divine guidance into Ghana’s leadership and put the economy on a better footing.
He highlighted a biblical reference to buttress his point. ‘So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He answered our prayer’ (Ezra 8:23).
On the back of this, he indicated that “we should also pray for wisdom for our leaders to find immediate solutions to these challenges.”
The fasting and prayers are expected to take place from November 10th to November 13th.
Presbyterian Church of Ghana
The Presbyterian Church of Ghana also declared a three-day fast and prayer for Ghana’s economy.
The church noted that most economies around the world are facing economic difficulties, and Ghana is not an exception.
The church said they remain hopeful that the Lord will step in and put an end to these difficulties.
“In light of this, the Moderator of the General Assembly, with the support of the General Assembly Council, has declared a three-day fasting and prayer from November 28th to November 30th, 2022, to fervently intercede for the wellbeing of Ghanaians.
“We encourage all congregations to set aside these days to pray for the nation,” a statement issued by the Church on Thursday, November 10, said.
But speaking to OTEC News on Friday, November 11, 2022, some said they would not participate in the fasting and prayers for the country because it is a waste of time and energy, adding that “if prayers and fasting were the solutions to Ghana’s problems, we would have been a prosperous nation by now.”
Instead of fasting and praying all the time, they charged religious leaders to advise their church members on proper ethical behaviour, discipline, and adhering to the responsibilities of the state and the community.
Another noted that, if praying for the country’s economy was the answer to the problems in the country, the economy would have been fixed already.
Another citizen said traders increasing the prices of their goods at an unreasonable price also affects the economy, so if they do not refrain from that, the economy will never grow no matter the number of prayers and fasting.
The University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, has qualified for the semi-finals stage of the Tertiary Edition of the Gas Challenge Quiz Competition organised by the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC).
UMaT emerged as winners for the zone three edition of the quiz, which was held at the Prempeh Assembly Hall in Kumasi on Wednesday, November 9, 2022.
UMaT amassed 55 points against 52 points and 51 points for the University of Energy and Natural Resources and Kumasi Technical University KsTU, respectively.
About GNGC Gas Challenge
Speaking to OTEC News Kwame Agyenim Boateng at the sidelines of the event, a Senior Research Officer at GNGC, Harrison Seth Kwabena Ayim, said the Ghana National Gas Company initiated the quiz competition three years ago to create a common platform for relevant industry players and engineering students in Ghanaian tertiary institutions to share important ideas on the gas industry.
“The Gas Challenge “, aims at creating the avenue for capacity building in ensuring that future generations are well thought to take over the gas industry.”
“We as a company are very proud to use this competition as a major tool to educate stakeholders on issues of natural gas commercialisation, its safety, and utilisation”, he said.
The 2022 Edition of the Quiz
Mr. Seth Ayim said the 2022 edition of the competition is being organised under the theme “Embracing the future together: the indispensable role of Gas in Facilitating socio-economic growth and development” has 12 tertiary institutions participating.
The competition, he noted, was divided into four groups, each containing three schools.
The first group has All Nations University, Takoradi Technical University, and the University of Cape Coast.
Group two also has the University of Ghana, Ghana Communication Technology University, and Tamale Technical University.
Group three will see the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology KNUST, Ho Technical University, and Regional Maritime University.
UMAT, Kumasi Technical University, and the University of Energy and Natural Resources competed in the fourth group.
The Grand Finale is expected to take place on Thursday, December 8 2022, in Accra.
Deloris Frimpong Manso, also known as Delay has expressed that selecting a car from her garage on a daily basis for her daily rounds, has been one of her challenges.
Citing it as a ‘problem for the rich’, the popular media personality said that the situation should be the kind of ‘headache’ people should yearn for.
Counting her blessings whiles addressing the youth at a conference in Kumasi, Delay said: “I say that my biggest headache sometimes is not knowing which car to use. That is the kind of problem you want to have in life. When you are going out and you don’t know which car to drive.”
Delay, however, established that her success wasn’t funded by a sponsor adding that she started building from scratch.
“It wasn’t handed over to me on a silver platter. I didn’t get any rich man sponsor to help me get to this stage. I worked from the ground up. I started Delay sardine with just a container. By God’s grace, I’m able to import about seven to eight containers. You can see the products all over in town, right?”
According to Delay Foods founder, to date, people still doubt that she owns such merchandise.
For such people, she understands their misbeliefs but the fact still remains that she has become an accomplished entrepreneur and media personality.
“Some people still ask whether the Delay products are mine. I understand them because how can it be mine if not God? It’s like a dream. It’s like a story which doesn’t add up for many people. It was just a few years ago I started.”
Some teachers at the Pre-tertiary level in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi, have defied the directive by the leadership of three teacher unions to embark on a nationwide strike.
The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT) on 4th November declared a strike over the appointment of Dr. Eric Nkansah as the new Director General of the Ghana Education Service.
The teacher unions want President Akufo-Addo to revoke the appointment with immediate effect, insisting that Dr. Nkansah does not qualify to occupy the position.
A visit by Citi News to some of the schools on Monday morning showed that many teachers were in class as academic work was going on smoothly.
The authorities in those schools who spoke to Citi News on condition of anonymity said there has not been any formal communication for them to embark on the strike, hence their decision to go ahead with normal academic work.
Some teachers however refused to go to class as they complied strictly with their leadership’s directive.
The teachers who spoke on grounds of anonymity said, although they had their own reservations and do not necessarily agree with the leaders to embark on the strike, they felt there was a need to comply.
Heads of various schools who spoke to Citi News said they are not under any obligation to compel the teachers to return to the classroom and as such, they have asked their students to be available for any teacher who decides to teach them.
The Kumasi Technical University chapter of the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana has also backed the appointment of Dr. Nkansah as the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service.
The group insists that the credentials of Dr. Nkansah and his contributions to Ghana’s education sector make him fit for the job.
The Minority in Parliament is asking the government to use part of the over GH¢8 billion revenue accrued from petroleum products to cushion petroleum consumers against the current price hikes.
The Minority says the government has received over GH¢8 billion from petroleum resources
in less than 3 months, as against its GH¢6 billion projection for the year.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, November 2, 2022, the Ranking Member on the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, John Jinapor urged the government to act in halting the escalation of fuel prices which he bemoans has seen over 300 percent increase in less than a year.
“In less than three months, the government has received over GH¢8 billion from our petroleum resources. So in three months, the government has received more than it projected for the whole year, so government is making supernormal profits. In fact, even the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy which are supposed to subsidize fuel, government projected that in the first two quarters, it will receive GH¢269 million and as we speak, from the Ministry of Finance’s own record, the Government has received GH¢800 million. And so this notion that Government is not making any money is a fallacy”.
“Government is making so much money from our petroleum resources, I, therefore, call on President Akufo-Addo and the outgoing Minister of Finance that they should do something about this pricing increment. They should sit up and think outside the box and apply these supernormal profits to cushion the ordinary Ghanaians.”
Mr. Jinapor indicated that the economic crisis worsens by the day as he receives calls every day from some of his constituents seeking diverse assistance to enable them to stay afloat.
“I receive calls every day from members in the Constituency from people who cannot even afford one square meal a day, people who cannot even send their kids to school because of the exorbitant fuel prices which are having a cascading effect on food prices, and general cost of living.”
“We hold the view that Government can do something about the fuel price increment, Government must sit up, Government must do something and the Government must cushion the ordinary Ghanaians.”
Some transport operators in the Kumasi Metropolis have today, Wednesday, 2 November 2022, increased transport fares.
This comes on the back of hikes in fuel again.
A recent 19 per cent hike in transport fares took effect on Saturday, 29 October 2022.
However, on Tuesday, 1 November 2022, fuel prices were increased again.
The transport operators in the Kumasi Metropolis therefore increased fares to reflect the new hike.
Currently, the transport fare from Kumasi to Techiman which used to be GHS40 has been increased to GHS45, while Kumasi to Berekum has been increased from GHS50 to GHS55.
Some of the station masters and drivers spoke to Class 91.3 FM’s Ashanti Regional Correspondent Elisha Adarkwah.
Bright Lamptey, Bereku-Sunyani station master said: “It’s not our fault, we got notified that they had increased fuel. When we went to see, it was true.
“This has affected our business. Now when we get to Berekum, you can spend four to five days before you get passengers back here.”
Meanwhile, some passengers have bemoaned the effect of the increase in transport fare on their pockets saying, “It has had a negative impact on my money and my life, the money we’re spending is too much.”
Another passenger said: “It’s too bad. Everybody is suffering in this country and I can say the president is aware and everybody is crying in this country so it’s too bad.”
The price of diesel has shot up to GHS23.49 per litre, according to the latest prices advertised by TotalEnergies at the pumps.
The Dental and Medical Council has called on Health professionals not to seek greener pastures abroad as the country is losing health professionals.
This call was made at the induction of newly qualified Medical and Dental practitioners.
Speaking as the chairperson of the induction ceremony, Member of the Dental and Medical Council, Dr. Constance Addo-Yobo, who acknowledged this phenomenon, pleaded with the newly inducted health professionals not to seek greener pastures abroad to the detriment of the health sector in the country.
Dr. Addo-Yobo also urged doctors to make sacrifices within the country too.
“Please accept postings to the regions and the districts outside Accra and Kumasi. You will learn a lot there,” she said.
“Also, do not be tempted to look for greener pastures in places like the UK and other countries, like some of your colleagues are already doing.”
“Let us halt this brain drain. It has taken the taxpayer a lot to invest in your education,” Dr. Addo-Yobo implored.
A Kumasi High Court has adjourned the alleged bribery case, involving Alexander Sarfo Kantanka, the ex-nominee for the position of Chief Executive for the Juaben Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti region.
Kantanka was alleged to have paid monies to some assembly members to influence them to confirm his nomination by President Akufo-Addo.
The case was adjourned to 27 February 2023, after the court granted a request by the prosecution to hear the case omnibus.
“The prosecution had pleaded with the court to fix the trial for a week to help reduce the risk and cost of travelling from Accra to Kumasi for the trials and that request was granted.
The judge also fixed 28 February, 1 March and 2 March for the hearing”, reported Asaase News’ Jonathan Ofori.
Meanwhile, a second prosecution witness Prince Opong Kyekyeku an assembly member for Bomfa Ahenbronum electoral area mounted the box and was cross-examined by the counsel for the accused person, Denis Osei Antwi.
Oppong Kyekyeku has also denied receiving a bribe from the accused person.
He, however, recalled that he received an amount of GHC1000 from a personal assistant of the accused person to take a mentally challenged person to the hospital.
Amadu Emmanuel Basintale, who represented the Office of the Special Prosecutor, told journalists after the proceedings at the court that the prosecution intended to call five witnesses for the trial.
They would include three assembly members, a police officer, and an officer from the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
The leadership of the association says members are not happy over what they say are unfavourable policies by the Medical and Dental Council and demanded a new body to supervise and manage their affairs.
President of the Association, Emmanuel Appiah, says leadership is facing intense pressure from members for an exit from the Medical and Dental Council.
“There is huge pressure on leadership because of the kind of things the regulator has done, so there is nothing members understand. Anything you say, members push it out. We asked members to cooperate because we told them there is a new face of the Council, but it got the members annoyed, so they trust the Council again because they feel it is not ready to help the profession and for that matter, we need an exit from the Council”, he expressed.
Mr. Appiah who spoke at the Association’s 19th Annual General Conference in Kumasi said the government and the Ministry of Health have continuously ignored demands to grant financial clearance for over 800 qualified Physician Assistants who are currently without jobs.
“Now there are those who have completed schools and have passed the Council’s exams. The Prescribers are needed at the facilities but we don’t get them there because they do not have the financial clearance. So government must set its eyes in that regard because the employment is frustrating.”
About eight trader groups and importers in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region are threatening to close their shops and stop imports for two weeks to protest the continuous free fall of the cedi against major trading currencies.
The traders who import and sell clothes and wares say the unstable nature of the exchange rate is collapsing their business and also eroding their capital.
The Deputy Secretary of the importers Association in Kumasi, Nana Yaw Agyeman, said the leadership of the various groups is mobilizing members to begin the strike next week.
“At this moment, we are running at a loss. All our capitals are in a ditch,” Mr. Agyeman said to Citi News.
“The inflation is killing us. It is collapsing all our finances, collapsing all our capital, and we cannot sit down for our capital to drain like that,” he added.
The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) went on strike last week over similar concerns.
The strike lasted two days because the government came out with some interventions to appease the importers.
Among interventions and concessions the government has made to GUTA, a Deputy Trade and Industry Minister, Michael Okyere Baafi, said a fixed exchange rate will be maintained at the ports for the next three months to cushion traders who import goods.
The Deputy Minister also said the government will suspend the ongoing invigilation by the Ghana Revenue Authority that has resulted in protests and the closure of businesses, specifically in Adum, Kumasi.
The Ashanti Regional Police Command on Friday foiled bank robbery attacks at Suame in Kumasi.
One was shot dead during the operations and another is being hunted by the Police.
A press release shared on the Ghana Police Service’s Facebook platform, said,”On Friday, October 21, 2022, following intelligence that an armed robbery gang was planning an attack on the cluster of banks in the Suame Magazine and Maakro enclave in Kumasi, the Police launched a special anti-robbery operation in which one of the armed robbers was shot.”
The press release signed by Chief Superintendent of Police Grace Ansah-Akrofi Director of Police Public Affairs Unit, said the armed robber and his accomplices who were on motorbikes, attacked a customer who had stepped out of the Fidelity bank, Maakro branch, carrying a brown envelope.
“The robbers attacked the bank customer and snatched the envelope amidst the firing of guns,” it said.
It said the rear windscreen and the left door glass of a Daewoo Matiz saloon car which was parked on the bank premises were hit during the shooting.
The Police, it said, which had mounted surveillance in the area, responded to the situation by firing at the armed robbers and succeeded in hitting the pillion rider who fell off the motorbike whilst the rider who also sustained gunshot wounds managed to escape.
“One of the Police officers was shot by the armed robbers during the exchange of fire and sustained a gunshot wound to his right hip.”
It said both the injured officer and the suspect were rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for medical attention but the suspect was pronounced dead on arrival.
The press release said the body of the deceased suspect had been deposited at the morgue for preservation, identification and autopsy as efforts were underway to arrest his accomplice.
Police have therefore appealed to the public especially those who run health facilities within the Kumasi Metropolis and its environs to report any person seeking medical attention with gunshot wounds, for prompt Police action.
The President of Ghana, President Akufo-Addo, is currently in the Ashanti Region as part of a tour of the region.
According to communication that was made public ahead of his four-day tour that started on Sunday, October 16, 2022, the president is expected to commission projects, inspect ongoing ones, and confer with traditional leaders of the area.
On Sunday, 16th October, President Akufo-Addo visited the Manhyia Palace to interact with the Asantehene and Asantehemaa.
As part of his itinerary, the president was also supposed to honour a number of radio appointments in the region.
Having already done three days of his tour, there have been a number of concerns raised by some Ghanaians over how the president’s activities in the region have gone so far.
Among those are a number of utterances the president has made in either his addresses at some of his scheduled engagements, and then others he made during his radio interviews.
In an earlier interview, the president also courted the disaffection of Ghanaians over some statements he made.
Below are some of the things Ghanaians wished President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should not have said, or, could have said better:
I am not afraid to be voted against
During an interview on OTEC Fm in Kumasi, President Akufo-Addo made a comment that got many people literally in stitches.
In the interview, the president stated that he is not moved by threats of electoral consequences by some supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He explained that he knows that people will vote for their preferred candidates in an election and that voters can also not be forced to make choices in a democratic dispensation, hence there was no need to threaten a government with votes.
The president was responding to concerns raised by people in Manso and Kwabre, who had threatened to vote out the NPP in 2024 if their roads are not fixed.
Their concerns were conveyed by the journalist who conducted the interview on OTEC FM.
“The people of Kwabre and Manso, we know they voted massively for Nana, they have asked me to inform the president that if their roads are not fixed, they will be pained and in 2024, they will vote against the NPP,” the journalist asked after the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, had responded to a question.
“No problem, no problem. I am saying people make those kinds of threats, me, they don’t frighten me. Somebody votes for you, somebody supports you, it is because they want you to do things for them, so I understand that,” the president quickly weighed in with a response.
I will shame you all
Still in the Ashanti Region for his tour, the president took an opportunity while making an address to send a statement to persons he believes are his political detractors in the region.
According to him, these people will be shamed one by one by the numerous work he has done for the people of the region, which is considered the ‘political world bank’ of the governing party; the NPP.
President Akufo-Addo stated that for the past six years that he has been in office, the people of the Ashanti Region have benefitted enough from his government, therefore, his detractors cannot say otherwise.
“And to those of you going around saying bad things about me in the Ashanti Region, one after the other, they are all going to be shamed convincingly, today, tomorrow and the day after.
“In spite of our present difficulties which I know will be gone as soon as possible, I continue to be excited about the future prospects of the nation and I urge all Ghanaians to join hands in building the Ghana that we want, we can realize it if we all work at it,” he said.
The president was speaking during a sod-cutting ceremony for the Suame Interchange, on October 18, 2022.
You can vote for NDC
While still speaking in his interview on OTEC Fm in Kumasi, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made another comment about how unfazed he is about his party losing the next general elections.
He explained that while there are threats to vote against them, he is unmoved, adding that intimidations of voting against the NPP due to unfulfilled promises or lack of development under his tenure, is a personal decision he cannot be bothered about.
“People make those kinds of threats; they don’t frighten me. Somebody votes for you, and somebody supports you. It’s because they want you to do certain things for them. I understand that. But there is no need for people to say that if I am unable to do this and that… those are their own issues to deal with. Of course, I will do it (the road).
“But if it comes to the election and you choose to vote for the NDC, that is your own issue that is not my worry because nobody holds your thumb to vote; it is your own work. The important thing is that I understand my responsibility, and we will deal with it,” the president said.
I’m not so sure if Aisha Huang was deported
In September, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo granted an interview to Stone City Radio in Ho during his tour of the Volta Region.
During the interactions, he made a statement about the case of the embattled Chinese galamsey ‘kingpin,’ Aisha Huang (En Huang).
The statement came under a lot of public scrutiny because it was determined to have contradicted what some of his appointees had said on the same subject, to the effect that Aisha Huang had actually been deported from Ghana in 2018.
But speaking in that interview, President Akufo-Addo said it is likely that the ‘galamsey’ queen may not have been deported, but rather fled the country in 2018.
“… I am not still sure whether she was, in fact, deported or whether she fled the country the first time and has now come back or whatever. There still seems to be some uncertainty about it.
“Whichever way it is, she has become a sort of nickname for all that the ‘galamsey’ represents and also, unfortunately, for the involvement of Chinese nationals in this illicit trade,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo has yet again been subjected to public jeering owing to the dire economic situation Ghanaians are facing.
On Monday, October 17, the President who took to the streets of Adum in Kumasi to inspect the Phase II of the Kejetia/Central Market Project as part of his four-day tour of the Ashanti Region was met with a hostile crowd.
Unlike the usual cheers and waving of approval, residents of the area known to be the stronghold for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) were not pleased seeing their president.
In a viral video sighted by The Independent Ghana, a group of market women, hawkers and artisans, were seen voicing their displeasure as the President’s convoy made its way through the market.
The economic downturn and its attendant increasing hardships appear to have eroded all of that love.
This is the second time the President has been booed in public. During the Global Citizens Festival, the youth who gathered at the concert jeered at him.
Social media users joined the discussion on whether or not booing President Akufo-Addo is was justified.
Where are the NPP Propagandists??
I hear boos of shame, etc
Is this also instigated?
Who continues to advise this failed govt to maintain the sickening motorcade in this chaotic environment of inflation, high petrol prices, IMF, depreciating Cedi
Meanwhile, the President has commissioned a 20-unit residential facility for justices of the Appeals Court in Kumasi.
The project, which comprises four bedrooms each, a swimming pool and recreational facilities, has been completed on schedule.
It is expected to ease the accommodation pressure of the justices and fast-track adjudication of cases at the Appeals Court in Kumasi.
This means justices of the court, who commute from Accra to Kumasi, can be accommodated in Kumasi to help reduce the cost and time to promote justice delivery.
Ahead of the commissioning, Project Manager of FeDems Limited, consultants for the project, Benjamin Fosuhene Asante, told JoyNewsthe facilities are tailor-made for the justices.
About three weeks ago (September 24, 2022) President Akufo-Addo was treated to a similar unfriendly reception by youthful partygoers at the Global Citizen Festival in Accra.
During the festival, the president who had been introduced to tout the government’s initiatives in prioritising vital causes in line with the organisers’ mission for social justice, was interjected by the youthful revellers who simply wanted him ‘away’.
The facility would accommodate justices who usually commute from Accra to Kumasi to sit on cases
Some government communicators later described the development as the doing of the opposition National Democratic Congress while, a Deputy Tourism Minister called the jeers as cheers for the President.
The project, which is an integral part of the West Africa Power Pool Project, seeks to reinforce the Ghana Transmission System, and ensure the export of, at least, 100 megawatts of electricity to Burkina Faso, as well as increase the reliability of the Ghana-Burkina Interconnection project.
To help achieve this objective, GRIDCo also constructed a 330kV Transmission line from the Aboadze Power Generation enclave through Prestea to Kumasi.
The 330 kV Kumasi-Bolgatanga Transmission Line Project consisted of the construction of approximately 550km of 330kV Transmission Line from Kumasi to Bolgatanga, the construction of 330kV substations at Kumasi, Kintampo, Tamale and Bolgatanga, as well as the expansion of the existing 161kV Substations at these locations, and the implementation of Environmental Mitigation Measures and a Resettlement Action Plan for the Project.
The French Development Agency (AFD) financed the project at a total cost of US$173.9 million.
Not only has the project succeeded in supplying 150 megawatts of power to Burkina Faso, but it has also increased transmission capacity to meet growing demand in Ashanti, northern Ghana and beyond.
The Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, also noted that the projects have also contributed to the reduction of transmission line overloads and associated high transmission losses and improved voltages, particularly in Ashanti, Bono and Bono East regions.
He stressed that the 330kV transmission lines have also helped to improve the quality and reliability of power supply in the country.
History of WAPP
The West Africa Power Pool ( WAPP)projects commenced with the Coastal Transmission Backbone Projects (CTB) which involved the construction of 330kV Aboadze-Volta (Tema)-Momehagou (Togo) Transmission Line and associated substations as well as the upgrade of Power Generation facilities in Ghana.
The projects were jointly implemented by the Volta River Authority (VRA), Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) and Communauté Electrique du Bénin (CEB) of Togo/Benin and completed in 2014.
The developmental objective of the CTB project was to increase access of WAPP “Zone A” coastal states (Cote-d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin & Nigeria) to more stable and reliable electricity to alleviate power supply deficits and to reduce their collective vulnerability to drought-induced power supply disruptions.
The subsequent project was the Interzonal Hub Transmission Project. The development objective of the first phase of the project was to reduce the cost of and improve the security of electricity supply to Burkina Faso while increasing Ghana’s electricity export capacity.
The Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi, was on Monday, October 17, the scene of jeers and catcalls for President Akufo-Addo, who was inspecting the Phase II of the Kejetia/Central Market Project.
On their way to the Kumasi Central Market, the president’s convoy was met by scores of traders at Adum in the central business district who had displayed their wares for sale.
On seeing the vehicles conveying the president and government officials, the group of market women, hawkers and artisans wasted no time in voicing their displeasure with the prevailing economic situation.
In a video posted on the microblogging platform, TikTok, the traders and passersby are seen in the chorus of boos as the convoy advanced.
In good times, the stronghold of the ruling New Patriotic Party would be most welcoming of the President, with residents waving their approval, with some offering their cloths for a carpet for him to walk on.
The economic downturn and its attendant increasing hardships appear to have eroded all of that love.
This is the second time the President has been booed in public. During the Global Citizens Festival, the youth who gathered at the concert jeered at him.
Social media users joined the discussion on whether or not booing President Akufo-Addo is was justified.
Meanwhile, the President has commissioned a 20-unit residential facility for justices of the Appeals Court in Kumasi.
The project, which comprises four bedrooms each, a swimming pool and recreational facilities, has been completed on schedule.
It is expected to ease the accommodation pressure of the justices and fast-track adjudication of cases at the Appeals Court in Kumasi.
This means justices of the court, who commute from Accra to Kumasi, can be accommodated in Kumasi to help reduce the cost and time to promote justice delivery.
Ahead of the commissioning, Project Manager of FeDems Limited, consultants for the project, Benjamin Fosuhene Asante, told JoyNews the facilities are tailor-made for the justices.
About three weeks ago (September 24, 2022) President Akufo-Addo was treated to a similar unfriendly reception by youthful partygoers at the Global Citizen Festival in Accra.
During the festival, the president who had been introduced to tout the government’s initiatives in prioritising vital causes in line with the organisers’ mission for social justice, was interjected by the youthful revellers who simply wanted him ‘away’.
The facility would accommodate justices who usually commute from Accra to Kumasi to sit on cases
Some government communicators later described the development as the doing of the opposition National Democratic Congress while, a Deputy Tourism Minister called the jeers as cheers for the President.
Francis Fosu Kwakye, Deputy Zonal Officer for Ashanti, Bono and Bono East regions, who stated this said improvement of standards of products of SMEs and exporting more, would help the country achieve the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS) target of 25.3 billion dollars by 2029.
He was speaking at a day’s export school organised by GEPA in Ashanti region for registered SMEs and prospective exporters in Kumasi aimed at equipping participants in the knowledge and skills needed for export.
They were taught contract negotiations, social media marketing, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), trade agreements, skills in non-traditional exports (NTEs), among others.
Mr Kwakye said GEPA was building capacities of more exporters to expand production and add value to manufactured goods.
He said among the products that were being supported to help increase their export targets and improve the economy, were sugar, salt, cocoa products, pharmaceuticals and textiles.
Diana Bosompem, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of 360 Naturals Cosmetics, said the export school was a refreshing course to equip them with skills to enhance their exports activities.
She encouraged all SMEs to register their businesses with GEPA, to acquire the knowledge needed to improve their businesses and be export worthy.
President Akufo-Addo has refuted claims by his critics that mismanagement by the ruling government has led to the current economic hardships in Ghana.
“I am opened to all manner of criticisms but I won’t take those mismanagement accusations from anyone”. The president said.
The President in an exclusive interview on the Kumasi-based OTEC 102.9 FM’s breakfast show Nyansapo on Monday, October 17, 2022, said Ghana’s current economic turmoil was caused by external shocks.
“We are all aware of the difficulties we went through during the COVID-19 era and the subsequent invasion of Ukraine by Russia, these shocks from the two unforeseen factors have heavily impacted the economy and are to be blamed for the country’s woes and not mismanagement by the government.”
“Like everybody on this planet you have been hurt by exogenous shocks. First the pandemic, then Russia-Ukraine. And then we need to realise it is not because of bad policies in the country, but because of this combination of shocks,” he told the host of the show Captain Koda.
The President, once again assured the people of Ghana that his government is determined to bring relief to the Ghanaian people and return the economy back to the high rates of growth that characterized the management of the economy in the three years preceding the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.
The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has advised residents in Accra to buy all items they would need for their respective homes before Wednesday, October 19, 2022, since they will shut down all shops in the region.
President of GUTA, Dr. Joseph Obeng, who disclosed this said they are in solidarity with traders in Kumasi, who locked their shops in protest of what they say are exorbitant taxes imposed on businesses by government.
The traders are also kicking against a decision by the Ghana Revenue Authority to station their officers at each shop to record Value Added Tax (VAT) on products they sell.
Dr. Obeng said the issues raised by the traders were not limited to that Kumasi traders but nationwide hence traders across the country, are not in good standing at the moment.
Speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm, he said aside from the killer taxes, the depreciation of the cedi against the dollar is also threatening the expansion and successful operation of Ghanaian businesses.
“The issues raised by the traders in Kumasi are not only limited to Kumasi. GUTA is in full support of their action. Traders in Tamale, Accra and other regions are also experiencing the same problem. The exorbitant taxes imposed on our businesses are not the best,” Dr Obeng said.
“We are struggling. The cedi depreciation and other challenges confronting businesses are collapsing our businesses. We have complained, but we have not been given the attention,” he stated.
“As a result, we are asking Accra residents to go out and buy household items because we will close our shops next week on Wednesday, October 19, 2022. We didn’t know when we’d reopen the shops after closing them. So, please, go out there and buy what you need so that when we close our shops, you won’t have to struggle,” he stated.
The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) has stepped up its capacity building for increased export revenues, as it expands its Export School to the Ashanti Regional capital Kumasi.
The five day packed training is strategically positioned to support the authority’s drive to increase Ghana’s non-traditional export earnings to $25billion by the year 2029.
The participants included exporters; persons with interest in venturing into exports as well as financial institutions prospecting for viable companies for export financing.
It covered some seventeen (17) broad areas including personal and product branding; marketing; research; trade financing; book keeping; standardization and certification, proper management practices and the opportunities existent in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area.
Opening the School; Deputy CEO for the Authority Albert Kassim Diwura pointed out that Ghana’s Nontraditional Exports Development strategy would hinge on capacity building for competitiveness and increased trading volumes.
“We want to let them be able to now trade more and sell their products more online. We also have courses on Africa Continental Free Trade because we want them to be able to have the knowledge that will enable them trade among their African colleagues.”
Mr. Kassim Diwura was also positive Ghana’s export earnings would sail at a faster pace if the youth were introduced to explore potentials in export business.
He noted that the Export Promotion Authority is championing this policy direction under GEPA’s Youth in Export Program currently on roadshows across the country.
“We all know if we get it right in export in this country, what it means to the development of this country especially the strengthening of our Ghanaian cedi. So we encourage everybody, the youth, please take up this business seriously. If you have completed school and you think that government has no jobs, with export you can create your own job and even employ others,” He admonished.
Some participants were for the first time introduced to terms like letters of credit and other international trading terms to better handle transactions.
“We face a lot of problems in export. You can get a customer from outside asking you if the person can pay you with letter of credit, just different aspects that you can’t even answer. We are going to learn how to be in the outside market, how to work hand in hand with the immigration and the associations we have to register under,” a shea butter and smock producer averred.
A banker with the Agricultural Development Bank told Ultimate News’ Salimatu Hawini, “Sometimes we get clients who are exporters and they present issues we don’t have a lot of knowledge on them, it becomes a little difficult and you need to fall on other people so this platform will actually empower me with the needed knowledge and understanding of how to advise them. It is also a platform for me to network for other business opportunities.”
The school which runs for five days is expected to be replicated for more entries depending on the response and outcomes of its participants.
On Thursday, videos and photos from the customary wedding between Festus Boateng, the son of Ghanaian business mogul, Stephen Boateng, known chiefly as Kessben, topped trends.
The display of culture, elegance and affluence at the marriage ceremony, which took place in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi, highlighted the wealth of the Boateng family.
The bride, Asomdwoe, who is a professional makeup artist and CEO of AnA Makeover, was the talk of the town.
Her beauty and well-tailored traditional gowns caught the eyes of many.
Also, the bridal team made up of the groomsmen and bridesmaids, left no stone unturned, from their outfits to the hype they gave to the newlyweds during their union.
The event was broadcasted by wedding blogger, Kwaku, as well as the tall list of vendors who were employed for their services.
The family of the latest couple also displayed style in their kente clothes and lace attire.
Festus and Asomdwoe entertained their guests with their dance moves with the groom, showcasing his Kete dance.
Traders in the Ashanti regional capital – Kumasi – have called on government to take all revenues at the point of entry of goods and desist from harassing traders with other taxes.
According to the Executive Secretary of the Ashanti Business Community, Charles Kusi Appiah-Kubi, the business community was poised to pay corporate income tax and Pay As You Earn.
However, traders can no longer pay Value Added Tax (VAT) to government.
Mr Appiah-Kubi added that it is about time government finds more innovative ways to collect taxes for the betterment of the country.
Speaking at a press conference in Kumasi on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, he said, “Government should take all its revenue from the points of entry. Take all the charges you want to charge at the point of entry or at the manufacturing and leave us alone.”
“We are ready to pay our corporate income tax and our Pay As You Earn (PAYE), but we can’t pay the VAT again,” the Executive Secretary of Ashanti Business Community stressed.
On Monday, October 10, 2022, some traders in Kumasi locked up their shops in protest of the frequent depreciation of the cedi.
They also cited the high cost of doing business and the collection of exorbitant taxes by the government as some reasons for the protest against the government.
According to the traders within the central business district, the demonstration will last for three days.
They explained that the protest also aims to kick against the decision by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to station their officers at each shop to record Value Added Tax (VAT) on products they sell.
About 400 women-led Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) will benefit from the Women SME Innovation Programme – Digitalize for Jobs (D4J) to fully leverage the potential of digitalisation and to better organise their business information.
The programme will also support the women with efficient record-keeping and financial management practices to facilitate their access to finance, expand their customer base and turnover and develop new products and services.
Mrs Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) at the launch of the programme, said SMEs today were critical to the growth, employment, and poverty reduction in the country.
The programme is supported by the special initiative on training and job creation, which operates under the brand ‘Invest for Jobs,’ an initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Implemented by GEA and supported by “Invest in Jobs”, the project sought to provide capacity-building to women-owned/led SMEs on different aspects of digitalization and how their companies can grow from its use and increase their process efficiency and competitiveness by providing access to knowledge, and digital tools.
It will create a digitalized business environment conducive to the rapid growth of SMEs in Ghana and this will ensure that they are creating jobs after the programme
The SMEs will also be trained to build their online visibility via company-owned websites and social media to reach more clients.
The CEO said the SMEs account for over 50 per cent of private output, nearly 70 per cent of employment, and 90 per cent of businesses in Ghana.
“Consequently, the importance of the SME sector and the role it plays in national development and economic transformation cannot be underestimated,” she added.
She said the Programme was a scale-up measure of the COVID-19 SME Innovation and Digitalisation Support Scheme, which helped 500 SMEs to ensure business continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby sustaining 6,750 jobs.
Mrs Yankey-Aryeh said SMEs, with a focus on those that were women-owned/led, were faced with challenges that compromised their ability to function effectively and to contribute to the economy.
He said over the years, GEA had encouraged SMEs, especially women-owned to adopt digital methods to augment business growth and competitiveness.
“So far more than 11 million dollars have been utilized to train or support over 10,000 Women Entrepreneurs,” she said.
Mr John Duti, Team Leader of Invest for Jobs at GIZ Ghana, said if SMEs were to remain competitive in the global world, they have no choice but to digitalise.
He said focusing on women-owned and led enterprises represented an opportunity to reduce the digital gender gap, which brings social and economic benefits for the whole country given the significant role of women and their enterprises in Ghana’s socio-economic development.
“Female empowerment is a powerful tool to make everybody’s life richer and successful,” Mr Duti said.
He commended the entire GEA team which ensured the excellent delivery of the first phase and subsequently played a major role in securing the scale-up of our partnership.
He said digitalisation involved a lot of investments in modern software and hardware, as well as capacities in its applications and these costs involved indeed, could not be borne by most of the SMEs.
He expressed optimism that the programme would provide the tools and skills to benefit from digitalisation and harness SMEs’ potential for sustainable growth and job creation in the digital area.
A member of the communications team of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Solomon Owusu, has bemoaned the exorbitant tax policies which he says are slowly killing Ghanaian businesses.
According to him, too much tax and the increasing exchange rate have left business people with sleepless nights as their businesses are struggling to survive.
His comment comes on the back of traders in the Kumasi Central Business District having to close their shops in protest over what they say are exorbitant tax policies affecting their businesses.
The traders have vowed not to rescind their decision until the Government intervenes to address their concerns.
The traders have also been concerned with the strength of the cedi. The Ghana cedi has depreciated by 37.5% to the US dollar as of the end of September 2022 according to the Bank of Ghana.
Commenting on the development on Ghana Kasa show on Kasapa 102.5FM/Agoo TV Wednesday, Solomon Owusu who himself is a businessman urged the governent to step up its efforts at stabilizing the Cedis while reviewing aspects of the tax policy to address concerns of business persons.
“Taxes paid in this country are too much, and the exchange rate keeps increasing by the day and people are losing their capital. Businessmen and women are in great difficulty, where we find ourselves is very scary. No businessman is able to have a good sleep and because the policy rate increases, the loan repayment rate also increases. Business people are dying slowly, it is not funny, it’s very serious.”
“The country will see the effect of the action of the traders between December to February 2023. It takes some time before vessels arrive with imported items, so if we don’t encourage traders to import early, but import later, it will take about a month or two before the items will arrive in Ghana. So between that period when the items will arrive in Ghana, how are people going to survive,” he asked.
Some traders in Kumasi have called on the government to adopt more sustainable and business-friendly tax policies that would help the government to optimise its revenue mobilisation while promoting business growth.
According to them, the current Value Added Tax (VAT) policy being implemented by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) “does not support our system.”
“The tax structure and its administration do not support the features of our market. The policy introduced taxation for each item as it travels along the distribution channel,” the Executive Secretary of the Ashanti Business Community, Charles Kusi Appiah-Kubi said at a media briefing in Kumasi today (October 12, 2022).
He said the current system where the tax was applied to every single item along the distribution line was making the cost of items more expensive and beyond the reach of customers.
Point of entries
Mr Appiah-Kubi proposed that the government should collect all tax at the point of entry of the goods into the country and allow those in the value chain to operate free of intimidation and harassment.
He said the current practice where the same item was charged from the key distributor down to the last consumer, was overburdening the consumer and making goods more expensive.
He said the tax should be collected just once at the point of entry, either at the ports or at the factories, thereby allowing the businesses to operate freely.
“Government should take all its revenue from the points of entry. Take all the charges you want to charge at the point of entry or at the manufacturing and leave us alone,” he said.
“We are ready to pay our corporate income tax and our Pay As You Earn (PAYE), but we can’t pay the VAT again,” he said.
Workers of Metro Mass Transit Limited are embarking on a sit down strike over their two months unpaid salaries.
The workers also say that the nationwide strike action is as a result of five years of incompetent administration by the management of the company.
They want the immediate removal of the management team.
Anthony Secretary to the Senior Staff division of the Union, Anthony Appiah spoke to Citi News saying, “everything of ours is not working. If you have been given room for five years as executives and for the first time in the history of this company, there are three managing directors and we are not seeing anything from them in terms of growth, workers’ welfare and service to the nation, we have to embark on a sit-down strike.”
In Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, both senior and junior workers at the depot of the company joined in the nationwide sit-down strike over their conditions of service.
According to them, aside from not receiving salaries for months, several other pertinent concerns that have been raised over the years have not been addressed.
A visit to the Metro Mass terminal in Kumasi by Citi News‘ Middle Belt Bureau Chief, Edward Oppong Marfo showed that indeed the drivers have refused to work as all vehicles have been parked.
Management members at the terminal have also laid down their tools, saying the failure to resolve their concerns has made life unbearable for them.
“For about three months now, about 90 percent of workers have not been paid, and they haven’t given us any tangible reason. It’s pathetic”, one of the management members spoke toCiti News on condition of anonymity.
Retail trade in the country could grind to a halt by the close of work on Wednesday as the Greater Accra Regional branch of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) joins their counterparts in Kumasi to close down their shops.
This is in protest of what they describe as the unfair implementation of tax measures by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The shutdown of shops is in its third day in Kumasi and the traders have vowed to sustain the action until the GRA withdraws their personnel stationed at shops, restaurants, and other businesses to record sales of products for tax purposes.
The National President of GUTA, Dr. Joseph Obeng, in this regard urged its members nationwide to close their shops, accusing the GRA of unfairness and high handedness in the implementation of the policy.
“You have a system that does not ensure fairness, you have a system that does not ensure equity, you have a system that runs trade concurrently in the same market that we have the standard rate that one pays 90.25 percent and then we have VAT rate of four percent and then we have those who do not pay the VAT at all and they are all legitimate. What system is this?” he questioned GRA.
The Authority has already shut down major trading franchises including the China Mall, Palace Mall and the Regal Chinese Restaurant in Osu for failing to list.
The officials of the GRA are on the move again saying there are more companies that will suffer closure if they ignore the caution.
Mr. Phillip Acquah, the Assistant Commissioner, VAT Administration, at the GRA urged businesses to cooperate with the Authority to ensure that their systems are onboard the platform.
Meanwhile, an executive member of the Adum Traders Association in Ghana, Charles Appiah Kubi said that until the challenges are resolved, they will remain closed indefinitely.
According to him, as businesses, they are not against the payment of taxes, however the structure of the VAT system is hindering the payment.
“We have not said that we don’t want to pay taxes … our market is so unique that you do not impose taxes that do not sit with the dynamics within the market ..so when you introduce VAT into our system, you have few businesses that have registered for VAT if they have to add the six percent levy on it, their prices go so high that customers do not to buy from them and rather buy from those not registered for VAT with cheaper prices,” he said.
Eighty more foreign nationals said to be in fraudulent online businesses were at the weekend arrested by the Tafo Pankrono Divisional Police Command in Kumasi.
They were busted at Kenyase-Duase in the Kwabre East District of the Ashanti Region.
Out of the number, nine were females, all from Burkina Faso, and the rest of them from Nigeria and Niger.
While the females have been kept at Kenyasi police custody the rest were kept at the Tafo Pankrono Divisional Police Command.
They were all said to be living in a chamber and Hall apartment in the area.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Stephen Kwakye, Tafo Pankrono Divisional Commander confirmed the arrest but would not give any details.
Meanwhile, the Unit Committee Secretary for the area, Kofi Kakari, said there were suspicious moves by the suspects and compelled some residents in the area to report them to the police.
He claimed that he led some elders in the community to question them on their activities in the area but they failed to give tangible reasons.
This brings to 128 the number of such suspects being investigated by the police with 48 arrested in two separate operations in connection with alleged terrorism and other fraudulent acts, barely two weeks ago.
Twenty One of the suspects were arrested earlier, while 27 were also arrested later.
They were said to be from Niger, Nigeria, Kenya and Mali.
In the operation, the Ejisu Divisional Police Command made the arrest at Ekyem, a community in Ejisu Municipality, based on a tip off.
The investigation is focused on whether they have links to any terrorist group, following a recent terrorist acts in some neighbouring counties.
Some of the suspects have been placed in police custody at Fumesua and others at Donyina and Ejisu.
Throwing more light on the incident, the Assemblyman for Akokoamon-Achiase-Ekyem electoral areas, Daniel Owusu, said the community members had observed the “suspicious activities” of the suspects for some months and therefore, decided to report them to the police for further investigations.
He said they did not know what exactly was happening in the house but “you will always see them making calls for hours in the evening”.
“Out of curiosity, I entered the house one day and asked them of their mission, but they claimed they were learning because the place is a school.
The move, he said, followed the “See something, say something” campaign being spearheaded by the National Security as a citizens’ awareness campaign aimed at protecting the country against terrorist attacks.
He said the 27 suspects had rented five bedrooms of a storey building while the 21 were also occupying a 13 bedroom house, both at Ekyem.
A search in their rooms saw some teaching boards and documents. The arrest followed a tip off by some community members in the area who noticed the abnormal behaviour of the foreign nationals in the area.
The Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah has announced the judges residential complex in Kumasi in the Ashanti region is going to be commissioned next week Monday.
The Chief Justice said this when he was speaking during a meeting with the leadership of Judicial Service Staff association of Ghana in Accra on Tuesday October 11.
Explaining why he appeared late at the meeting, he said “Please accept my apology for not being here on time. Indeed, yesterday I was unable to come to work because I had to attend to more pressing matter in Kumasi and I came just this morning. As some of you may be aware, we are going to commission the residential complex in Kumasi on Monday and we have invited some of the Directors to be with us.
“So, I had to spend the whole time with the consultant, the contractors, and the regional Minister.”
In April last year, President Akufo-Addo cut sod for the construction of 20 residential facilities for Court of Appeal judges in Kumasi.
Supported by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and the Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, President Akufo-Addo cut the sod to signify the beginning of construction works for the accommodation facilities.
“With the collaboration of the Ministry of Local Government and the District Assembly Common Fund, 20 townhouses and a guesthouse are being built to be used as permanent residences for Court of Appeal Judges based in Kumasi, who will be mandated to handle cases in the northern part of the country,” Mr Akufo-Addo said.
Traders within the Central Business District in the Kumasi Metropolis in the Ashanti Region have closed down their shops to protest what they say are exorbitant taxes imposed on businesses by the government.
Most of the locked-up shops had red bands tied on them as traders say the protest will last for three days.
The traders are also kicking against a decision by the Ghana Revenue Authority to station their officers at each shop to record Value Added Tax (VAT) on products they sell.
The affected shops are for traders who deal in groceries and are situated at Pampaso and PZ in the Central Business District.
Some of the shop owners who spoke to Citi News want the government to reduce the taxes on businesses.
According to him, investing in SMEs would also strengthen the economy of the country as it involves a higher labour force.
He said, “As part of this program, and a major component of it, I must say is for us to identify growth-oriented SMEs in Ghana, support them grow and to grow further, expand, and by so doing, create decent jobs, together with our partners.”
“We all recognize the fact that SMEs are the backbone of our economy in Ghana. They constitute I’m told and I’m aware, they engage more than 80 percent of the labor force here in Ghana. And we can not underestimate the significance of SMEs in Ghana.”
He was speaking at the official launch of the final edition of the Green SME Networking Festival in Tamale on Tuesday, October 4, 2022.
Mr. John Duti said the aim to introduce these festivals is because of climate change, hence the need for SMEs (the 100 SMEs in the festival)to consider the environment in their production processes.
“We really want to discuss green and greening. We all know, and we’re experiencing the effects of climate change. We are witnessing erratic rainfalls, we are witnessing a lot of changes in our weather, our climate that we never saw in the past 10 years, and therefore the fact that the climate has changed, we are experiencing it, then it’s incumbent on all of us in our ways to support efforts to mitigate the effects of our actions on the climate”, he said.
Meanwhile, this is the final edition of the Green Festival for the year 2022 after the first and second editions happened in Accra and Kumasi respectively.
Asantehene has urged the youth in Ghana to choose the nursing profession because they have the heart for it and not because of its relative job assurance and other benefits that come with being in nursing training institutions.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II said that most people go into nursing and teaching not because of the love they have for these professions and they end up becoming frustrated.
The Asantehene, who made these remarks when a team from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana paid him a courtesy call, reiterated that only people who have the calling can become good nurses.
“If you don’t have the heart for the nursing profession don’t go into it because you will not be able to do the work effectively.
“People who go into nursing because it is a reliable source of employment are mostly not happy. People who are called, who love taking care of people are those who become better nurses.
“If you want to become a good nurse it must come from your heart. You must have patience. Dealing with sick people is very stressful but you are the person who will be taking care of them. You have to help bedridden people ease themselves, you must bathe them and so on. In all these, it is the empathy that you have that can make you an excellent nurse,” he said in Twi.
Ghanaian musicianAndy Odarkyhas recounted how he escaped death from three unknown gunmen after performing at an Akwesidae Festival in Kumasi.
Andy was one of the brightest sparks of the Mentor1 reality show that was organized by TV3. Immediately after Mentor, the talented musician enjoyed some success as he released his debut album in 2006. After the release of the album, he went off the music scene for almost a decade.
However, explaining why he went off the music scene in an interview on Atinka TV’s ‘JukeBox’ – hosted by Nana Adwoa Annan, Odarky revealed that he was nearly assassinated by three unknown gunmen after performing at an Akwesidae festival in Kumasi.
“After performing at the Akwesidae in Kumasi at the Jubilee house, I realised that I was being followed by three motor riders…So I prompted my dancers that per the way the motor riders were following us raises an eyebrow…When we speed then they speed too…they then started firing gunshots at my car till I got to my hotel” Andy told Nana Adwoa Annan.
“Initially, I thought they wanted to snatch my car but when I called a Police friend, after examining the car, he told me the gunmen wanted to kill me…So I got frightened and relocated to Accra where I decided to go on break for five years”.
Andy is currently out with his debut single track after escaping from being assassinated. The song which is dubbed ‘Twe’ features popular Afro-pop star Krymi music.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has described as alarming, the current rate of deforestation in the country, estimated at 10 million hectares per year.
He said available statistics indicated that Ghana had one of the highest deforestation rates in Africa and the world, at two per cent per annum, on the average losing 135,000 hectares of forest per year as of 2020.
The development, he said, called for a concerted effort by stakeholders to address the situation, stressing that the managers of the country’s natural resources should up their game and help restore Ghana’s forest cover.
Otumfuo made the call in a speech read on his behalf by the Asakyirehene, Nana Mensah Bonsu, during the 40th anniversary celebration of the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources (FRNR), College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
Event
The event was held at the Great Hall last Saturday, October 1, 2022.
A number of dignitaries and stakeholders in the natural resources and environment industry, including the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, graced the occasion.
One of the highlights of the event was the unveiling of a proposed 300-seater computer laboratory being executed by the alumni of the faculty in support of their 40th anniversary celebration.
Mr Abu Jinapor and the Asakyirehene jointly cut the tape to unveil the proposed project.
Challenge, support
Otumfuo, who doubles as the Chancellor of the KNUST, observed that with many rural and peri-urban residents relying on forest products, the forest and natural resources had come under attack for people’s survival.
“With the dependency of rural and peri-urban dwellers on forest products, the challenge of over-exploitation and the spread of agriculture has become one of the factors causing the depletion of our natural resources,” he indicated.
He, therefore, rallied support for eco-system-based programmes intended to enhance the ecology, such as the ones by groups, including FORM Ghana and Miroforestry, to see to the planting of over 15 million trees each year.
“This is critical in reclaiming our lost forest cover,” he remarked, and urged the government to provide the enabling environment for the initiatives to be sustained.
He acknowledged the tremendous progresses made by the FRNR for training over 6,000 graduates and postgraduate natural resources managers – who continued to play various roles in forestry, wildlife, fisheries and water management globally.
Collective responsibility
Mr Abu Jinapor, speaking on the theme: “40 Years of Training Natural Resources Managers: A New Age for A New Focus,” said the theme was absolutely apt and timely.
He said as an educational and research institution, the faculty must take a lead role in educating the general population and local communities on the roles and responsibilities in the management of these natural resources.
He admitted that the government had a greater responsibility for their sustainable management through the promotion of relevant policies and laws.
“But the ultimate responsibility lies on the shoulders of all citizens, residents of Ghana and visitors alike. This is a collective responsibility.
“This new age with its challenges presents us with the opportunity to take stock, re-strategise and adopt new or additional measures for the efficient, effective and sustainable management of our natural resources,” Mr Abu Jinapor emphasised.
Green Ghana Day
The minister also commended the KNUST for being part of history by planting 2,000 trees in commemoration of the Green Ghana Day initiated by the government.
“Let’s continue to support the initiative to restore the lost forest cover of our country and come to grips with the climate crises,” the minister appealed.
Chiefs not to be blamed
Meanwhile, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, at a different forum, has said that chiefs cannot be accused of allowing illegal mining to thrive when licences are issued without recourse to traditional authorities.
He also questioned the failure of the security agencies to successfully fight illegal mining in the country.
Welcoming the US Ambassador, Virginia E. Palmer, to Manhyia, the Asantehene acknowledged the economic drivers for illegal mining operations, but said that should not supersede the environmental devastation.
He blamed leadership of Ghana for failing to tackle galamsey.
“In Ghana, chiefs don’t issue permits and licences for mining. Those are issued from Accra and it is done without consulting the chiefs.
“The law says the state holds the land in trust for the people and so determines those things. How can a chief supervise when he has no control over the licence and who should mine and how it should be done?
“At the district level, we have the political administration – the district chief executive and the security council. Are they all saying that they are unaware of the activities of these galamseyers?” Otumfuo questioned.
The Asantehene emphasised that if the political leaders could not stop illegal miners from operating, then they were not up to the task of leading.
“If they are unable to detect and stop the operation of these galamseyers then they are unworthy to be there, it is as simple as that,” he stressed.
Forest cover
According to the National Forest Plantation Development Programme, approximately less than one per cent of forest cover remained outside of the forest reserves, much of which was in small, scattered patches, swamps and sacred grooves.
Over the years, some measures have been instituted to improve the nation’s environment, including the creation of some 120,000 hectares of forest planting in 2007 by the Forestry Commission.
This, however, fall short of the general commitment needed on the part of the citizenry in tackling the current high rate of deforestation in the country, some environmentalists have argued.
Astute lawyer and former Director of Ghana School of Law, Mr Kwaku Ansa-Asare who is the lawyer for the petitioners in the Okuapeheman chieftaincy dispute has stated that per the ruling of the National House Of Chiefs in Kumasi last week there is no Okuapehene.
Addressing a gathering in Akropong Akwapim after the Landmark ruling at the National House of Chiefs in Kumasi, Lawyer Ansa-Asare said the body of eminent Chiefs has asked parties in the Okuapeman Chieftancy dispute to go back and follow the ruling of the Eastern regional House of Chiefs and that the Queen Mother of Okuapeman and the Asonahene are part of those who are clothed in authority in selecting the next Okuapehene, therefore, the installation process of who becomes the Okupehene must be started all over again.
He said this makes the man who carries himself as Okuapehene Nana Kwesi Akuffo III, so-called installation null and void.
Last year the ‘Okuapehene’ of Akropong-Akuapem, Odehye Kwadwo Kese together with one Abrewatia Lilly Agyemang were convicted of contempt by a Koforidua High Court in the Eastern Region.
The court presided over by Justice Doris Dabanka-Bekoe sentenced them to a fine of GH¢10,000 for which they risked spending 14 days in prison if they fail to pay the fine within seven days of the court’s judgment.
That ruling came at the back of a suit filed by Nana Afua Nketiaa Obuo II, Okuapehemea, and Nana Kwesi Omenako II, Asonahene of Akuapem against the contemnors for blatantly ignoring the judgment of the Judicial Committee of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs.
The Judicial Committee in a ruling on April 30, 2020, nullified the nomination, selection, and enstoolment of Odehye Kwasi Akuffo as Okuapehene, on grounds that the processes leading to his installation were not carried out in accordance with custom, hence were null and void.
Subsequently, the committee directed the Queenmother of the Akuapem Traditional Area, bestowed with the customary responsibility, to nominate a candidate to mount the Ofori Kuma Stool as Okuapehene to recommence the process of finding and installing a new Okuapehene.
She was to reconduct the nomination and selection process of a new Okuapehene in consultation with the elders of the Sajyiabea family, Asonahene of Akuapem, on the grounds that, “the process of nomination and selection is a matter purely for the Adehye of the Asona Clan, and no other person or entity.”
According to the facts of the suit, The National House of Chiefs ruling came at a time that Abrewatia Lilly Agyemang on May 1, 2020, in blatant disregard of the orders of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs Judicial Committee, ignored the consequential order of the regional house of Chiefs nominated and selected Odehye Kwadwo Kesse for enstoolment as Okuapehene.
Before that, the High Court had held that the Abrewatia acted without the involvement of the other five (5) senior female members, commonly known as Mmeampanyinfo, contrary to the directive of the Judicial Committee.
In the court’s view, the unilateral act of Lilly Agyemang, that is by-passing the Queenmother and the Stool Father of the Akuapem Traditional Area, who had the sole prerogative to nominate and select the Okuapehene, contravened the direct orders of the Judicial Committee and constituted a contempt of court.
According to the suit, the respondents at all material times knew that the applicants had been dragged before the court for committal proceedings, for ignoring the pendency of a motion on notice to restrain them from going ahead with the outdooring of Odehye Kwasi Akuffo and Odehye Kwadwo Kesse as Okuapehene.
The suit again stated that the respondents must have known that the selection, installation, and outdooring of Odehye Kwadwo Kesse as Okuapehene from May 1, 2020, to May 3, 2020, were acts that were in clear contravention of the orders of the Eastern Regional House of Chief.
The applicants thus prayed the court to find the respondents guilty of contempt and make any order determination it deemed fit.
The High Court after hearing the matter determined that Odehye Kwadwo Kese and Abrewatia Lilly Agyemang were guilty of contempt of court and hence convicted them to a fine of GHc10,000 each, or in default go to jail for 14 days. As contemnors, they followed the court order and paid their fine.
Filming and voicing out his frustration in the dark, a livid Derrick Kobina Bonney (DKB) was concerned about the technical challenge that has affected prepaid metering systems making it impossible for customers to top up.
The situation has led to some customers sleeping in darkness as the purchase of electricity credit for prepaid metres has sadly been interrupted.
“Prepaid network down, can’t buy lights, darkness everywhere! But I have to wait on NDC before I’ll know if I’m in darkness! Pure rubbish and nonsense!” the comedian fumed in a tweet, Thursday.
In the video clip that had the aforementioned caption, DKB could not fathom why genuine concerns are diluted for political expediency. He noted that whenever concerns are raised, there is a swift attempt by a section of the public to politicize the matter, a posture he condemned without equivocation.
“In this country, if there is a socio-economic problem bothering you and you complain about it, they’ll tell you you’re manipulated by the opposition,” he said.
“Since morning that we’ve not had prepaid to buy and our lights are off, me as a human being, as a Ghanaian, I can’t see that I don’t have light so I need to wait for NDC to tell me that I don’t have light so that I’ll complain about it and it will unpopularize NDC.”
Meanwhile, the Electricity Company of Ghanahas in a statement assured the general public of its resolve to surmount the challenge.
“Affected customers should please note that our ICT team is working assiduously to correct the anomaly and restore the system to normalcy. We apologise for the inconvenience caused by this technical challenge,” parts of the statement read.
Some customers in Volta, Kumasi, Accra, Takoradi, Tema, Cape Coast, Kasoa, Winneba, Swedru, Koforidua, Nkawkaw, and Tafo have been affected by the hiccup.
Anidaso Mutual Fund, an open-ended fund managed by the New Generation Investment Services Limited (NGIS) recorded an increase in its net asset value per share, from GHC 0.7948 to GHC 0.9431 at the end of 2021.
The figures translate into an annual yield of 18.66 per cent compared to 12 per cent of the government’s Treasury bill.
Mr Edward K. Asamoah, Fund Manager, speaking at the 15th Annual General Meeting of the Fund in Kumasi, indicated that investment income also appreciated by 26 per cent, from GHC 309,691 in 2020 to GHC 390,364 at the end of 2021.
He attributed the significant growth in investment to the bullish performance of the stock market.
Mr Asamoah said the Fund’s net investment income shot up from GHC 161,323 in 2020 to GHC 231,519 in 2021, depicting a 43.51 per cent increase.
Redemption of shares decreased from the previous year’s GHC 560,516 to GHC 433,757, while the sale of shares increased by 10.22 per cent from GHC 350,292 to GHC 386,096.
The Fund Manager said the challenging global economic conditions in 2022 were expected to compound as economies were expected to experience sharp deceleration.
To this effect, he said inflation across most countries had surged as a result of rising commodity prices and higher supply disruptions.
Mr Asamoah pointed out that, the current high inflation in Ghana could impact negatively on the performance of the Fund, although the government was putting measures in place to stabilize the economy.
Notwithstanding the current happenings, he said shareholders must continue to invest and get more returns from the Funds pledging that the management of NGIS Limited would continue to work hard to protect and maintain higher standards in the investment space.
Meanwhile, the Money Market Fund, another investment product managed by the NGIS, recorded a gross investment income appreciation of 20.36 per cent from GHC 566,333 in 2020 to GHC 681,648 in 2021.
The net asset value per share thus, increased from GHC 0.6729 to GHC 0.7770, representing an increase of 15.47 per cent.
Operating expenses increased from GHC 37,190 in 2021 to GHC 49,954 in 2022.
Severe flooding at the Kumasi Central Market in the Ashanti Region has destroyed wares estimated to be over 10 billion old cedis.
About 300 shops filled with wax prints, provisions, kitchen wares, children’s clothing, assorted drinks, and food items among others as water submerged their area early Monday morning.
Some of the affected traders who spoke to OTEC News’ Kwame Agyenim Boateng disclosed that about 1,500 chickens were swept away by the flood
“It was very scary, this is the third time we are experiencing such a deluge in the last month.”
“We have lost almost all our capital to the perennial flooding and nothing is been done about the situation,” one of the victims, Maa Victoria cried.
Meanwhile, the traders accused the contractor working on the second phase of the Kejetia Redevelopment project of blocking drains in the area.
The situation according to them forced river Subin out of its banks and flooded the market.
They have therefore appealed to the authorities in the Kumasi Metropolis to as a matter of urgency speak with the contractor and do the needful to halt the flood.
Fire has gutted portions of a cargo terminal at Ashtown in the Kumasi Metropolis of the Ashanti destroying about 15 coffins.
The ravaging fire which occurred on Saturday, September 24, 2022, also burnt other valuables amounting to thousands of cedis.
OTEC News’ Kwame Agyenim Boateng, said firemen responded promptly to the emergency call and ensured that the fire did not spread to adjoining buildings.
A worker at the terminal Mr. Abdullahi narrated the incident to OTEC News: “Our Cargo Cars load goods from Kumasi to Bolga and other parts of the three northern regions, so we were packing our goods as usual until we suddenly heard a blast in one of our containers.”
“A thick smoke followed the blast almost immediately; we rushed to the scene and saw a fire burning so we called fire officials to help.”
Items lost include refrigerators, plastic containers, several boxes of matches, tricycles, canned foods, and coffins among others amounting to hundreds of Ghana cedis,” he said.
As of the time of this report, fire service officials were still dousing the inferno.
The immediate past Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Madam Elizabeth Agyemang, has expressed concern about indecent dressing among the youth, saying such practice has negative effects on individuals, the country, and the educational process.
Speaking at this year’s Youth and Children’s Week celebration on the topic “Today’s Youth and Social Media” at the Saint Paul’s Catholic Church at New Amakom in Kumasi, the former minister urged the youth to be decorous when it comes to their fashion sense and desist from blindly copying foreign cultures to the detriment of the country’s rich culture.
Social media refers to all applications and websites that enable people around the globe to interconnect via the internet, chat, and share content, video calls among many other functionalities it offers to its users.
For a person to be a member of any social media, he or she has to first signup and then sign in to access content and be able to share and chat with other users of that social media platform.
Some of the common and widely used social media platforms include Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Snapchat many among others.
For some 20 years now, social media has gained growth and fame worldwide.
Despite the fact that almost everyone in the community is connected to at least one social media platform, the youth are the leading and most fanatic of these social platforms to the point that they even social network, while in class or even church.
Despite the good uses, social media has proved to have negative effects on the youth. Discussions continue to be engaged as to whether to go on using the sites or stop or even moderate their usage, particularly among the youth.
It is in light of this that the Saint Paul’s Catholic Church at New Amakom in Kumasi celebrated this year’s Youth and Children’s Week under the theme, “Today’s Youth and Social Media”.
A forum held under the theme was attended by children and various youth wings of the church and parents.
The Executive Director of Child and Family International, Madam Clara Puni Nyamesem who was the resource person, explained how social media affect children and youth upbringing, while some parents and the youth took advantage of the open forum to contribute to the discussion.
Madam Nyamesem urged parents to frequently check and regulate activities of their wards in accessing social media platforms.
The immediate past Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Madam Elizabeth Agyemang noted with concern the growing phenomenon of indecent dressing by young ladies in the name of fashion and blamed the development on the unregulated use of social media by the youth.
The two, Daniel Osei Bonsu and Francis Atuahene, will reappear before the court presided over by Samuel Quansah, on September 19, 2022.
The suspects, slapped with four charges of conspiracy to commit crime, rioting with offensive weapons, causing unlawful damage, and causing unlawful harm, were first remanded into custody by the court on August 24, 2022.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kofi Blagodzi, Head of Legal and Prosecutions at the Ashanti Regional Police Command, told the court that the police needed more time to continue with investigations into the case.
He said the suspects could obstruct investigations if they were granted bail.
Lead counsel for the suspects, William Asamoah Sarpong, pleaded with the court to grant the suspects, one of them a student and the other a worker, bail since their continuous detention could affect them.
However, the court denied them bail and asked them to reappear on September 19, 2022, for the trial to continue.
The two suspects were among a group of students who clashed on the university campus during the hall week celebration of the University Hall.
The confrontation led to the destruction of many property, including vehicles at the Unity Hall of residence of the KNUST, and injuries to some of the students.
The robbers reportedly trailed the victim from his office as he was going to another office to make payment for goods he had purchased.
They attacked him midway and bolted with about GH¢50,000 cash amidst firing of gunshots.
Confirming the incident to Graphic Online’s Kwadwo Baffoe Donkor, the assembly member for the Asafo Electoral Area, Ernest Okai said the incident occurred around 2pm on Wednesday.
He said the victim struggled with the robbers when they attempted snatching the bag containing the cash from his hand.
In an attempt to subdue him, one of the robbers shot but missed him narrowly and the second shot grazed his stomach.
The bag fell, they picked it and bolted amidst the firing of gunshots.
The victim who sustained an injury in the stomach, has since been treated and discharged from the hospital.
The victim is a cold store operator and usually gets supplies from a wholesale supplier also around the same area in Asafo.
