Married in School, Single at home in Ghana.

Thought of if you have noticed in almost every university in Ghana you would find a lot of 'undergraduate couples. That is the male and female students living as husbands and wives. You find a lot of this misguided people in virtually all schools, it is so bad that they are duly recognized and acknowledged as couples by fellow students, lodge mates, neighbors and even leaders of various students unions.

• The Guy takes responsibility of being a father and the girl being the mother.

• These students are very young who don’t understand the whole idea of being in a marriage.

Ghana Presidential Transition: History should not repeat itself.

 

Once again, Ghana has underscored her reputation as a model African democracy – a standing which owes much to the peaceful change of governments through the ballot box. It is, however, ironic that previous changes in government through the democratic process have exposed serious shortcoming in our country’s governance institutional framework.

Ghana’s record on political transitions is not a proud one. Due to a history of coup d’états, the first time in our history when power was transferred from one democratically elected President to another was in 2001; the second was in 2009.

Africa's avoidable deaths

A couple of weeks ago, Kervin Kofi Moses, a 15-year old student of Ghana's Achimota School, died at the 37 Military Hospital after falling ill at school. His distraught mother called for the school to be closed down because school authorities were negligent in his death. This story hit me hard, maybe, because I have a son of the same age.

In truth though, the needless death of this boy was not an isolated incident. In 2012, I was involved in the care of a post-partum patient at Interbertin hospital in Cape Coast who died. Amongst other things, we could not get labs on weekends while the patient was on a ventilator!

A few months before then, I walked into a Healthcare post at Moree in the Central region of Ghana and found a two and a half-year old boy who had mental status changes and was on a blanket quietly waiting to die because his mother could not afford transport to send him to a hospital in Cape Coast.

ASHANTI TRADITIONAL RELIGION.

The hierarchy of Ashanti deities has at its apex, Nyame, the supreme god, omniscient and omnipresent.  His 'sons' are generally represented as being various natural features, such as rivers and lakes, his favourite son being the River Tano. The earth is represented by the goddess Asaase.  Below these are the many lesser gods, or abosom, which are of great immediate importance as they are directly accessible to human beings, in a way in which the principal gods are not. Nyame is too remote to be petitioned directly in the normal course of events; although many Ashanti compounds contain an altar in the form of a forked branch in which is set a pot or basin, where offerings are placed, and most prayers commence with an invocation to the supreme being.  The abosom are important therefore, in that they act as intermediaries between Nyame and mankind.

Mission possible for Nduom's Progressive Peoples’ Party (PPP).

Ghanaians are going to the polls this Wednesday 7th December,2016, to elect a new government that shall take over the administration of our country from 2017 to 2020. Care must be taken to choose a credible, competent and efficient leader to champion the cause of our dear nation. 

The electorate are advised against voting on tribal, religious or parochial lines. We no longer need promisers to lead us but we need a leader with a proven and practical track record and an incorruptible person who shall be a servant rather than master of the people.

Past and present leaders

Other rulers, past and present; President Kwame Nkrumah, Prime Minister Busia, Presidents Hilla Limann, J.J. Rawlings, J.A. Kufuor, J.E. Atta Mills and now J.D.

Full Speech: Donald Trump & Mike Pence Speech At Carrier Indianapolis Plant (12/01/2016) #Trump

Donald Trump spoke at the Carrier plant in Indianapolis on Thursday, announcing a deal with the company to keep about 1,000 jobs in the state instead of moving them to Mexico.

The decision by the air-conditioner company comes as a win for the President-elect, who made the issue of retaining manufacturing jobs in the United States a core economic focus of his campaign.

 Trump has said he will overhaul the corporate tax code to be more friendly to businesses like Carrier, and the company will receive economic incentives worth $7 million, which were negotiated by Vice President-Elect Mike Pence, who is still governor of Indiana, according to the New York Times.

Despite the deal with Trump, Carrier still plans to close a plant in Huntington, Indiana, which will result in about 700 jobs moving to Mexico, NBC reported Thursday.

Stop “joking” & re-strategize – Franklin Cudjoe blasts NPP.

 

The Executive Director IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe has advised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to stop joking and re-strategize if they want to win power in 2016.

“If the NPP believes they are a viable opposition, they should stop the joking and try to organize themselves properly,” Franklin Cudjoe said.

Speaking on Citi FM’s News Analysis Programme, The Big Issue, Mr. Cudjoe asked the party to develop sensible and alternate policies that will deliver Ghanaians from the current crisis.

“Even though this is the worst form of governance that we have seen, if they assume that they can get into office by shouting hey corruption, hey corruption, without showing us a plan backed by proper calculations, they will be kidding themselves. We will wait for them when they bring their leaflets they call manifestos we will see.”

2012 election the fairest in Ghana’s history- Felix Kwakye.

 

A Deputy Minister of Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu has described the 2012 general elections as the fairest in the history of Ghana.

He said history shows that Ghana consistently records various irregularities in its elections, but the 2012 general elections was an exception.

“2012 election was the most fairest, cleanest, safest and violent free election,” Ofosu Kwakye opined.

He said there were no reported cases of snatching of ballot boxes or intimidation of voters by macho men.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP), after Electoral Commissioner Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan declared President John Dramani Mahama as winner of the 2012 presidential election, challenged the authenticity of the results in an eight-month legal battle in the Supreme Court.

Although the NPP believed there were irregularities in the election, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said it was due to administrative mistakes.

One-year after SC verdict; even lawyers are still confused – Ursula Owusu.

 

The Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful fears the lack of ‘definitive statement’ by the Supreme Court (SC) in its election petition ruling could scare aggrieved parties from going to court in subsequent elections.

After eight months of sitting, the court’s verdict has rather left many people, including lawyers, confused, she admitted on Joy FM’s flagship programme, Newsfile on Saturday.

In her analysis, the New Patriotic Party MP said the Supreme Court fell short in its declaration on what the laws say about what “constitutes proper election,” as well as the legal framework and legal way for future elections.

In his criticism of the SC ruling, a constitutional lawyer, Prof. Kwasi Prempeh accused the court of failing to give binding recommendations for electoral reforms to the Electoral Commission.

Casely-Hayford: Elvis Afriyie Ankrah's tears mustn’t excuse any wrongdoing.

 

The tears shed by former Sports Minister Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah before the Justice Dzamefe Commission – which is probing the events that conspired to frustrate Ghana’s successful participation in the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil – must not excuse any wrongdoing, Financial Analyst Sydney Casely-Hayford has said.

Afriyie-Ankrah could not hold back his tears during one of the hearings when he appeared as a Witness.

He got emotional when the Chairman of the Commission asked him about how he felt, as Sports Minister, when the senior national team, the Black Stars, threatened not to play their last group match until they had been given their appearance fee of $100,000 apiece.

His tears forced a hiatus during the hearing amidst a good doze of comforting by Justice Dzamefe, who repeatedly told the former Minister not to be “emotional” and “relax”. “We’re helping mother Ghana”, Dzamefe consoled.

President John Mahama cleans gutters in Accra.

 

President John Mahama, Saturday, personally immersed himself in the filth of the capital, Accra, to help clean the city.

Reminiscent of a similar move by Jerry Rawlings when he was head of state some two decades ago, Mahama descended into filthy drains and garbage-choked corners in James Town, a slummy suburb of Accra, to clean up the area.
Accra Mayor Alfred Vanderpuije and other government officials were also part of the cleanup exercise.

The President used the gesture to encourage residents in the area to also clean up their environment so as to avert cholera and other diseases.

Kan Dapaah: Ghana needs Akuffo-Addo now.

 

Former Defense and Energy Minister, Albert Kan Dapaah says Nana Akufo-Addo is the only one capable of taking Ghana out of the challenges confronting the nation.

According to him, Nana Akufo-Addo has prepared himself enough to manage this country better.

“I think he is what Ghana needs now," Mr. Kan Dapaah said Wednesday, in a chat with Mark Okraku Mantey, host of the ‘The Profiler’ Show on Hitz 103.9 FM.

Nana Akufo-Addo is one of seven candidates hoping to lead the New Patriotic Party into the 2016 presidential election despite failing to make good that opportunity twice- 2008 and 2012. Other contestants are Alan Kyerematen, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, Stephen Asamoah Boateng, Kofi Osei Ameyaw and Francis Adai Nimoh.

Ghana: Power Play Over Ghana Gas - As Ghanaians Wait for Delivery First Gas.

 

A long simmering turf war for control over associated gas from the jubilee fields could be playing out on the eve of the first processing of the commodity from the oil fields.

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has confirmed to The Chronicle, a media report that the Jubilee partners are 'demanding' a full audit of the gas processing plant before it is connected to the floating vessel, FPSO Kwame Nkrumah, offshore.

State newspaper Daily Graphic, quoting sources close to the project, reported that an initial plan to create a by-pass to carry gas onshore from the FPSO to pipelines leading to the Aboadze Thermal Plant was ignored by Ghana Gas Company, despite huge investments made by the partners in purchasing equipment for that purpose.

This has raised fears of further delays in the country's quest to deliver gas from the fields for cheaper power generation. The Communications Manager at the GNPC, who confirmed the report to The Chronicle, said the audit was only "a common sense approach" to testing the integrity of the facility for safety reasons.

But, Dr. George Sipa Yankey, explained that the by-pass idea could have extended the delivery period of the gas from the field for another nine months.

Ghana Armed Forces to help in building Ebola isolation centres.

Field Engineers of the Ghana Armed Forces have been deployed to speed up work on the three designated centers to be set up in the treatment of Ebola in the country in case of an outbreak.

The centers are to be set up in Tema, Kumasi and Tamale as part of measures taken by the Interministerial Team on Ebola to prevent an outbreak of the deadly disease in Ghana.

The disease has so far killed over 1,000 people in West Africa since its outbreak in February.

All suspected cases in Ghana have tested negative, forcing the Interministerial Team headed by the Minister of Health to intensify preventive measures.

Flashback! Ato Ahwoi's letter to Dr Spio-Garbrah.

 Below unedited, is an open letter from Mr. Ato Ahwoi, a leading member of, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to another leading member, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah:

"Hello Spio,

I have read with interest and disbelief, your long article published in the September 18 and 23, 20009 issues of The Daily Graphic. It was deceptively headed, 'HONOURING NKRUMAH'S LEGACY: A CHALLENGE TO THE NDC'. I use the word, deceptively because it was an opportunity for you to launch an unnecessary attack on President John Atta Mills and the NDC government, under the guise of honouring Nkrumah's legacy.

Spio, I get the impression that you are trying to intimidate the President to give you a cabinet appointment. You gave many Ghanaians that impression when you quoted the reason ex-President John Kennedy gave his brother, Robert Kennedy (then Attorney General) for tolerating a difficult man like J. Edgar Hoover as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). You said President Kennedy told his brother, 'Bob, I'd rather have Edgar inside the government pissing out than outside pissing in.'

Rawlings mourns PV Obeng: “I feel so bad”.

Former President of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings, has said he “feels hurt” by the death of PV Obeng, one of Ghana’s most decorated public servants.

The ex-chairman of the National Development Planning Commission died on May 17 this year after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was laid in state on Thursday at the State House in the nation’s capital, Accra.

Rawlings, who is the longest living past president of the young oil-producing country, worked closely with the ex-senior adviser to the late John Evans Atta Mills and continued in a similar role under current leader, John Mahama.

“It hurts me. I feel so bad about it. We have lost a gem,” Rawlings told state-owned Radio Ghana.

NDC keeps Ghanaians poor for its own benefit - Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey.

 

Former NPP Chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, in an interview with Ghananewsmedia.com, has declared that the NDC has no interest in lifting Ghanaians out of poverty because “it is to the benefit of the NDC to keep people poor.” As long as there is rampant poverty in Ghana, it makes it easier for the NDC to prey on poor Ghanaians with cash and other tokens in return for their votes during elections.

Also Suggesting that educated and discerning Ghanaians are more likely to understand the issues facing the country, and are therefore less likely to be convinced by lies and propaganda by the NDC, Jake indicated that the less educated people are, the more likely they are to be influenced by lies and propaganda. Thus, the NDC has no interest in educating Ghanaians.

“If I am reasonably well off, or I have ambition, and you come and say to me that you want to buy my votes with GHC50, then I would tell you that my vote is worth a heck of a lot more than GHC50.

West Africa: How Does the Ebola Serum Work? an Ebola Serum Researcher Explains.

 
Interview

The World Health Organisation on Tuesday authorised the use of an experimental serum in the fight against the deadly Ebola virus. The ZMapp treatment is in the early stages of development and has only been tested on monkeys.

However, it has been used to treat two US aid workers and a Spanish priest who were infected in Liberia. The serum is in short supply but the company has said it has sent all available doses to West Africa free of charge following an outcry over its use on foreign aid workers.

RFI spoke to structural molecular biologist Erica Ollmann Saphire from the Scripps Research Institute, who worked on developing the Ebola serum.

Could you explain specifically how this ZMapp serum works?

A vaccine is something that would inspire your immune system to raise its own antibodies. In this antiserum we're providing the antibodies immediately. So you're conferring immediate immunity against the virus. In this serum there are three particular antibodies that work three different ways. Two of them actively neutralise or inactivate the virus.

West Africa: Ebola Q+A - Why Is This Outbreak So Severe?

 

The largest ever outbreak of Ebola shows no sign of abating, and attempts to contain it have so far met with little success.

People are avoiding medical centres for fear of catching Ebola, and dying of treatable diseases like malaria and diarrhoea as a result.

But how easy is it to catch Ebola? And why has this outbreak affected so many more people than previous outbreaks of the disease?

Thomson Reuters Foundation asked Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Here's a quick summary of what they said:

How easy is it to catch Ebola?

Ebola is one of the deadliest diseases known to humanity with a fatality rate of up to 90 percent and no known cure.

Africa Ebola outbreak: How do we prevent it?

 

The outbreak of Ebola in West Africa has put the international community on alert. Observers have described one of the scenes as a state of war. The crisis could no longer be handled by line ministries and affected governments have been forced into a state of emergency.                                              

The immediate sources of the crisis are medical. But lasting solutions will have to be sought in the wider economic context in which health care functions. The roots lie in at least two major weaknesses in Africa's current development trends: poor infrastructure and limited investment in public health.

The Ebola strain ravaging West Africa and putting the international community at risk has not changed since the first outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan in 1976. But Africa's rapid urbanisation has by far outstripped the capacity of public infrastructure and health services to stem the spread of disease.

Two of the countries that are most severely affected (Liberia and Sierra Leone) endured long periods of civil war that destroyed or stalled planned infrastructure and public health development. Guinea has an equally long history of low investment in infrastructure.