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NO. 100643 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018 PRICE: GH¢2.00<br />
DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
•Prof. Newman K. Kusi,<br />
Executive Director, IFS<br />
•Mrs Eyram<br />
Bashan, Group<br />
Managing News<br />
Editor of EIB<br />
Network giving the<br />
survey document to<br />
Muhammed Abdul<br />
Samed-Gunu, MP for<br />
Savelugu<br />
visit us: @dailyheritagegh dailyheritage facebook.com/dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
GA-027-0054
02<br />
CONTENT<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018<br />
DAILY QUOTE<br />
What would you do<br />
if you weren't afraid<br />
--Spencer Johnson<br />
ANNIVERSARIES<br />
06 March, Independence Day<br />
30 March, Good Friday<br />
02 April, Easter Monday<br />
Published by: EIB<br />
Network / Heritage<br />
Communications Ltd.<br />
Managing Editor:<br />
William Asiedu:<br />
0208156974<br />
Editor:<br />
Kofi Enchill:<br />
0265653335<br />
ISSN: 0855-52307<br />
VOL 7<br />
Location: Meridian<br />
House (Starr FM) Ring<br />
Road. Box AD 676,<br />
Adabraka, Accra,Ghana.<br />
Telephone: +233-0302-<br />
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www.dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
WORLD<br />
SA postpones Zuma<br />
State of Nation<br />
speech<br />
POLITICS<br />
Minority can’t hold<br />
Parliament<br />
to ransom – Mensah-<br />
Bonsu<br />
BUSINESS<br />
PG.04<br />
Ghana Beyond Aid<br />
achieved yet?<br />
SPORTS<br />
PG.11<br />
Elite Bodybuilding<br />
Open set for March<br />
PG.10<br />
PG.15<br />
Reckless driving is<br />
weapon of mass destruction<br />
BY KOJO ANSAH<br />
NATIONAL ROAD<br />
Safety Ambassador, Mr<br />
Gabby Adu Gyamfi is<br />
calling for strict enforcement<br />
of the road<br />
traffic laws to ensure<br />
that reckless drivers face the required<br />
punishment.<br />
He said reckless driving is a weapon of<br />
mass destruction due to its tendency of<br />
killing many law abiding motorists.<br />
According to him, reckless driving is<br />
used by even terrorists to kill many people<br />
on the road hence a critical attention<br />
must be paid to the canker by the law enforcement<br />
agencies.<br />
Mr Gyamfi said this when he visited<br />
the scene of the fatal accident which<br />
killed 15 people at Anyinam in the Eastern<br />
Region.<br />
Grieved by the horrifying accident,<br />
Mr Gyamfi also called for construction of<br />
speed ramps at accident prone areas<br />
along the Accra to Kumasi Highway as a<br />
mitigation measure. He also suggested<br />
tougher punishment for drivers who<br />
drive recklessly.<br />
The death toll of the fatal accident<br />
that occurred last Thursday night at Anyinam<br />
in the Eastern Region rose from 14<br />
to 15. One of the injured recently died at<br />
the hospital.<br />
Reports suggested that the death toll<br />
may rise considering the fact that some of<br />
• Says Road Safety Ambassador<br />
•Gabby Adu Gyamfi, Road Safety Ambassador and<br />
Supt. Eric Asiedu, the Anyinam Police Commander<br />
the critically injured are still battling for<br />
their lives.<br />
Meanwhile, one person was knocked<br />
down to death at the accident area on Friday.<br />
Preliminary investigations by the Eastern<br />
Regional Police Command into the<br />
fatal accident that claimed 15 lives on the<br />
spot revealed that the sprinter driver was<br />
recklessly overtaking.<br />
Confirming the accident to DAILY<br />
HERITAGE, the Public Relations Officer<br />
(PRO) of the Eastern Regional Police<br />
Command, ASP Ebenezer Tetteh said the<br />
accident which occurred at about 11:30pm<br />
on Thursday at a spot opposite WAPCO<br />
Filling Station near Anyinam, involved<br />
three vehicles - a Mercedes Benz Sprinter<br />
Bus, a Diesel Cargo Truck and a Mercedes<br />
Benz.<br />
He said the Mercedes Benz with registration<br />
number GN 3699-14 loaded with<br />
about 25 pieces of 2/4 woods and 25 passengers<br />
from Nkawkaw towards Accra<br />
overtook several ongoing vehicles and in<br />
the process collided head on with the<br />
Diesel Truck with registration number WR<br />
5783-C also fully loaded from the opposite<br />
direction.<br />
The driver of the Cargo lost control of<br />
the steering wheel and also collided with<br />
another Mercedes Benz with registration<br />
number GT 546-U loaded with passengers<br />
and foodstuff.<br />
According to the PRO, the 14 people<br />
who died on the spot included five children<br />
and nine adults, all occupants of the<br />
Sprinter Bus.<br />
Other occupants of the Cargo Truck<br />
and the Sprinter Bus sustained serious injuries<br />
hence were rushed to the Engresi<br />
Government and Kibi Government hospitals<br />
for treatment.<br />
The bodies have been sent to the Holy Family<br />
Hospital at Nkawkaw.<br />
The Eastern Region has recorded many fatal<br />
accidents along the Accra to Kumasi Highway<br />
this year of which about 20 lives were lost in<br />
January.<br />
Statistics from the Motor Transport and<br />
Traffic Department in the region indicate that a<br />
total of 1,233 accident cases were recorded in<br />
2017 in the Eastern Region with 1,732 vehicles<br />
involved out of which 374 people perished and<br />
2,254 were injured during the year.
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018<br />
Whenever you find yourself on the<br />
side of the majority, it is time to<br />
pause and reflect.<br />
—Mark Twain<br />
IFS commends govt<br />
NEWS DESK REPORT<br />
THE INSTITUTE for Fiscal<br />
Studies (IFS), a renowned economic<br />
think-tank, has welcomed<br />
plans by the government<br />
to hedge the country’s oil imports.<br />
The Institute has since 2015 urged the<br />
government to consider hedging Ghana’s oil<br />
imports because it is the best strategy to mitigate<br />
the adverse impact of oil price volatility.<br />
Addressing a press conference at the Institute’s<br />
head office in Accra yesterday, the<br />
Executive Director of the IFS, Prof. Newman<br />
Kusi noted that the IFS was “pleased to<br />
note recent reports in the media about plans<br />
by government to hedge the country’s oil imports.<br />
The IFS welcomes this development as<br />
a step in the right direction, given that hedging<br />
provides an insurance to mitigate the adverse<br />
impact of oil price volatility.”<br />
Ghana’s oil capacity<br />
He explained that “currently, Ghana produces<br />
nearly 200,000 barrels of oil per day.<br />
Ghana’s share has risen to nearly 20% of this<br />
total output, which it sells on the international<br />
market. Ghana is however a net oil importer,<br />
except last year when oil exports<br />
exceeded imports.<br />
“Without an oil hedging programme the<br />
country stands to lose foreign exchange earnings<br />
from exports when oil price drops on<br />
the world market. Likewise when oil price increases,<br />
the country suffers through increases<br />
in its oil import bill. Both scenarios are undesirable<br />
and can be mitigated by an effective<br />
hedging programme to ensure stability in fiscal<br />
management.”<br />
He said hedging is not entirely new to<br />
Ghana’s fiscal management and is an insurance<br />
instrument used to buy protection<br />
against risks and not a gamble for futuristic<br />
• Over plans to hedge oil imports<br />
gain.<br />
•Prof. Newman K. Kusi, Executive Director, IFS<br />
Success story<br />
It would be recalled that in March 2010,<br />
after the country had built capacity in commodity<br />
risk management in collaboration<br />
with one of the world’s reputable banks,<br />
Goldman Sachs, the government implemented<br />
a Commodity Risk Management Policy<br />
to help protect the economy from the<br />
volatilities in commodity prices.<br />
In line with the policy, a National Risk<br />
Management Committee was established and<br />
charged with the responsibility of hedging<br />
Ghana’s oil imports and exports through<br />
“call” and “put” options, respectively. Initially,<br />
the government hedged at a strike price<br />
of US$ 82.50 per barrel on monthly imports<br />
of 1,000,000 barrels.<br />
In July 2011, this was increased to<br />
2,000,000 barrels of imports per month at an<br />
average strike price of US$ 115.00 per barrel.<br />
The programme proved immensely successful,<br />
and by end-2011, the scope of the hedging<br />
programme had been expanded to<br />
provide a 100% cover for Ghana’s oil imports.<br />
The commencement of oil production<br />
from the Jubilee Field created a new price<br />
risk exposure for the country. To protect the<br />
oil revenue to enable it support fiscal stability,<br />
the scope of the hedging programme was expanded<br />
to include revenues from oil exports<br />
through the “put” option.<br />
Up to the end of 2011 fiscal year, 100%<br />
of the anticipated receipts from crude oil exports<br />
were also fully hedged. The government<br />
was also in the process of implementing<br />
Interest Rate Hedging programme which<br />
was to begin in 2012 to help stabilise interest<br />
costs arising from the external credit it had<br />
secured, including the China Development<br />
Bank US$ 3.0 billion loan.<br />
No hedging programme<br />
As of today, Ghana has no hedging programme<br />
in place. The country’s hedging programme<br />
was abandoned in 2013, exposing its<br />
foreign exchange resources to the vagaries of<br />
an unpredictable and often harsh international<br />
commodities market.<br />
Meanwhile, Ghana’s Jubilee Partners –<br />
Kosmos, Anadarko and Tullow Oil – have insulated<br />
themselves from oil price volatilities<br />
through active hedging.<br />
So, while Ghana’s crude oil sold for an average<br />
price of US$ 46.13 per barrel on the<br />
world market in 2016, Kosmos and Tullow<br />
raked in US$ 73.60 and US$ 61.70 per barrel,<br />
respectively.<br />
Way forward<br />
Due to the above statistical analysis, the<br />
IFS is of the conviction that “Ghana’s previous<br />
experience with hedging points to one<br />
key lesson: with a well-designed hedging programme,<br />
it is possible to protect the country<br />
against volatilities in commodity prices<br />
through the ‘call’ and ‘put’ options.<br />
“Since 2015, the IFS has strongly advocated<br />
the need for Ghana to re-introduce the<br />
petroleum hedging programme to cover both<br />
imports and exports to save the country from<br />
losing millions of foreign exchange earnings<br />
and also provide stability to the national<br />
budget.<br />
“The IFS therefore commends the government<br />
for its plans in this direction. We<br />
urge government to consider a comprehensive<br />
hedging programme that covers oil imports<br />
and exports, as well as interest rates on<br />
public debt.”<br />
Starr Woman team visits Parliament, Ghana Fed. for Disability<br />
STARR WOMAN Dream Edition<br />
project seeks to empower women entrepreneurs<br />
with disability to defy the<br />
odds and become successful at running<br />
business. The aim is to promote<br />
awareness of the systemic issues facing<br />
women entrepreneurs and to call<br />
on duty bearers to roll out policies to<br />
suit them.<br />
This year, the project will focus on<br />
Savelugu and Yendi Municipalities.<br />
For this reason the Starr Woman<br />
Dream Edition team led by Project<br />
Lead, Mrs Eyram Bashan paid a courtesy<br />
call on the Member of Parliament<br />
(MP) for Savelugu to brief him on the<br />
project and officially invite him to our<br />
stakeholders' forum to be held in<br />
Savelugu on <strong>February</strong> 15, 2018.<br />
The team also presented a copy of<br />
the survey report conducted in the<br />
two districts, which puts spotlight on<br />
the challenges of persons with disability<br />
in the Northern Region.<br />
The MP for Savelugu, Muhammed<br />
Abdul Samed-Gunu expressed excitement<br />
over the initiative, accepted the<br />
survey report and pledged his total<br />
support for the project.<br />
A similar visit was paid to the<br />
Ghana Federation of Disability organisation<br />
to officially seek for their support<br />
and involvement in the project.<br />
The project coordinator of the organisation,<br />
Akua Beatrice congratulated<br />
the team on taking up such<br />
initiative. She expressed great worry<br />
over the situation of Persons with<br />
Disability.<br />
“It is time we move out of the<br />
charitable approach and support<br />
them to become independent,” she<br />
stated.<br />
She further pledged their support<br />
towards the project in order to<br />
make it a success since the organisation<br />
which is the umbrella body for<br />
Persons with Disability will benefit<br />
a lot from the project.<br />
The Group Managing News Editor<br />
of EIB Network and Project<br />
lead, Mrs Eyram Bashan expressed<br />
gratitude over their unflinching support.<br />
•Mrs Eyram Bashan, Group Managing News Editor of EIB Network<br />
giving the survey document to Muhammed Abdul<br />
Samed-Gunu, MP for Savelugu
Inside <strong>February</strong> 7, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/6/18 7:57 PM Page 3<br />
•The Palestinian child is held by his mother in Dora<br />
hospital in Gaza City<br />
Gaza health facilities face closure due to fuel shortage - U.N<br />
FUEL FOR emergency<br />
generators that keep Gaza’s<br />
hospitals and sanitation<br />
services operating will run<br />
out within 10 days, the<br />
United Nations said on<br />
Tuesday in an appeal for<br />
immediate donor support.<br />
The shortage stems<br />
from a dispute between<br />
Gaza’s dominant Hamas Islamist<br />
group and the West<br />
Bank-based Palestinian Authority<br />
(PA). Both signed a<br />
unity deal in October but<br />
have failed to finalize the<br />
details of political powersharing.<br />
So far generators have<br />
stopped at three of Gaza’s<br />
13 hospitals and 14 of its<br />
54 medical centers, said<br />
Ashraf Al-Qidra, the<br />
Hamas-appointed<br />
spokesman for the impoverished<br />
territory’s Health<br />
Ministry. Officials at the affected<br />
facilities said they<br />
were directing seriously ill<br />
patients to other health facilities<br />
and operating at limited<br />
capacity. Reuters<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
World news in 4 stories<br />
SA postpones Zuma<br />
State of Nation speech<br />
SOUTH AFRICAN President<br />
Jacob Zuma's state<br />
of the nation speech in<br />
parliament has been postponed,<br />
as pressure grows<br />
on him to resign.<br />
Parliament speaker Baleka Mbete<br />
made the announcement, without<br />
giving a new date for the address<br />
that had been scheduled for Thursday.<br />
The ruling ANC earlier called a<br />
meeting of the party's top body for<br />
Wednesday to decide the president's<br />
future.<br />
Mr Zuma, 75, has resisted calls to<br />
quit over corruption allegations.<br />
He was replaced as party leader<br />
by his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa, 65,<br />
in December. He is now the front<br />
runner to succeed him as president.<br />
Earlier on Tuesday, the Nelson<br />
Mandela Foundation urged Mr<br />
Zuma to step down.<br />
South Africa had seen "systematic<br />
looting" under Mr Zuma's rule,<br />
and he "must go sooner rather than<br />
later", the foundation said in a statement.<br />
In a statement, Ms Mbete said recent<br />
"calls for disruption" of a parliament<br />
meeting on Thursday<br />
"caused us great concern".<br />
Therefore the decision had been<br />
taken, she said, to "create room for<br />
establishing a much more conducive<br />
political atmosphere in parliament".<br />
•President Jacob Zuma has been resisting calls to leave office<br />
She said that "with this in mind",<br />
Mr Zuma was approached about<br />
postponing the address, but "when<br />
we met the president, we then learnt<br />
that he was already writing to parliament<br />
to ask for the postponement".<br />
Mr Zuma's office later said in a<br />
statement that "the president has requested<br />
the postponement due to<br />
certain developments".<br />
South Africa's main opposition<br />
parties, the Democratic Alliance<br />
(DA) and the Economic Freedom<br />
Fighters (EFF), had been pushing<br />
for the postponement of Mr Zuma's<br />
speech. BBC<br />
Poland President<br />
Duda 'will sign' controversial<br />
Holocaust bill<br />
POLAND'S PRESIDENT<br />
says he will sign a controversial<br />
Holocaust bill, despite<br />
angry protests from Israel<br />
and the United States.<br />
Andrzej Duda defended<br />
the legislation, which will<br />
make it illegal to accuse<br />
Poland of complicity in such<br />
Nazi crimes committed<br />
under occupation.<br />
The Polish government<br />
says it aims to stop the Polish<br />
nation or state being blamed<br />
for the atrocities.<br />
But Israel has raised concerns<br />
it could stifle the truth<br />
about the involvement of<br />
some Poles.<br />
There are also fears Holocaust<br />
survivors could face<br />
criminal charges for giving<br />
testimony that incriminates<br />
Poles.<br />
In a speech on Tuesday,<br />
Mr Duda said the bill "protects<br />
the Polish interests...<br />
protects our dignity, the historical<br />
truth, so that we could<br />
be judged fairly in the world,<br />
so that we would not be slandered<br />
as a state and as a nation".<br />
But he said the Polish<br />
state bore no responsibility<br />
because it ceased to exist following<br />
the invasion by Nazi<br />
Germany and the Soviet<br />
Union. He said there had<br />
been no systematic collaboration<br />
of Polish institutions.<br />
BBC<br />
•President Andrzej Duda says Poland has the right<br />
"to defend historical truth"<br />
Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai 'critically ill’<br />
ZIMBABWE'S MAIN opposition<br />
leader Morgan Tsvangirai is critically<br />
ill in a South African hospital,<br />
reports say.<br />
Local media quoted family<br />
sources as saying the 65-year-old<br />
former prime minister - who is<br />
being treated for colon cancer - is<br />
suffering from weight loss, exhaustion<br />
and muscle thinning.<br />
During his political struggle<br />
against ex-President Robert Mugabe,<br />
he has been beaten and imprisoned<br />
numerous times.<br />
Mr Tsvangirai heads Zimbabwe's<br />
Movement for Democratic<br />
Change (MDC) party.<br />
He has been in and out of<br />
hospital since June, receiving<br />
treatment in a Johannesburg hospital<br />
for cancer. He returned to<br />
the hospital early last month.<br />
Mr Tsvangirai's health deteriorated<br />
rapidly on Monday, family<br />
sources told Zimbabwe's Bulawayo24<br />
news website on Tuesday.<br />
He had lost appetite and had<br />
difficulty eating or swallowing fluids,<br />
the sources said. Mr Tsvangirai<br />
also reportedly had breathing<br />
problems.<br />
Meanwhile, an MDC party<br />
source was quoted by Reuters<br />
news agency as saying that Mr<br />
Tsvangirai "is critically ill and we<br />
should brace for the worst".<br />
Mr Tsvangirai's spokesman,<br />
Luke Tamborinyoka, said the<br />
MDC leader was "stable but the<br />
nation should keep on praying".<br />
BBC<br />
•Mr Morgan Tsvangirai founded the opposition MDC party in 2000
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018<br />
Time for the unemployed to<br />
think outside the box<br />
IT IS a known fact that most successful<br />
entrepreneurs dared to be<br />
different from the onset and took<br />
hard decisions by thinking outside<br />
the box.<br />
Born on October 28, 1955,<br />
William Henry Gates III, popularly<br />
known as Bill Gates showed extreme<br />
interest in computer programming<br />
at age 13 and by thinking<br />
outside the box as he grew older<br />
built the world's largest software<br />
business, Microsoft with his friend<br />
and later business partner, Paul<br />
Allen.<br />
As far back as 1970, Gates at age<br />
15 with his friend developed “Trafo-Data,”<br />
a computer programme<br />
that monitored traffic patterns in<br />
Seattle and netted $20,000 for their<br />
efforts. He eventually became the<br />
richest man in the world.<br />
Not long ago, the DAILY<br />
HERITAGE carried the inspiring<br />
story of three University of Ghana<br />
students who are into bread baking<br />
business to avoid joining the teeming<br />
graduates languishing at home<br />
after four years of university education.<br />
Kingsley Darkey, then in level<br />
300-Business Administration; Kumi<br />
Richard, a level 300 Political Science<br />
and Adult Education and Kofi<br />
Tenkorang, a graduate are the bakers<br />
of delicious PBM Bread.<br />
According to the three, who are<br />
best of friends; their passion to<br />
cook drove them to go into bread<br />
baking though they were still in<br />
school.<br />
The three were currently the<br />
laughing stock on campus, but<br />
chances are that they would be very<br />
successful in life because they have<br />
begun thinking outside the box.<br />
The point is, merely following the<br />
crowd is a recipe for mediocrity. We<br />
need to think beyond the ordinary<br />
for success.<br />
We, therefore, wish to urge our<br />
youth to challenge the status quo<br />
to avoid being part of the crowd<br />
looking for jobs after university<br />
education.<br />
Ghanaians march<br />
against fuel prices today<br />
BY ROSEMOND B. ADDAI<br />
rosemond.adjetey@yahoo.com<br />
OVER<br />
EIGHT<br />
worker<br />
unions<br />
across the<br />
country<br />
will today demonstrate against<br />
government over hike in fuel<br />
prices.<br />
According to the unions,<br />
government’s failure to reduce<br />
taxes on petroleum products<br />
is responsible for the recent<br />
secret rampant increases in<br />
fuel prices in the country.<br />
Mr Duncan Amoah, executive<br />
member of Chamber of<br />
Petroleum Consumers<br />
(COPEC), in an interview<br />
with the DAILY HER-<br />
ITAGE complained bitterly<br />
about the high prices of fuel<br />
and urged the government to<br />
do something about it.<br />
To achieve their aim, the<br />
unions will today hit the<br />
streets by converging at the<br />
Obra Spot at the Kwame<br />
Nkrumah Circle through<br />
some principal streets of<br />
Accra to the Arts Centre after<br />
which another petition would<br />
be submitted to the Ministries<br />
of Energy and Finance, Parliament<br />
and Office of the<br />
President.<br />
He said killer taxes on petroleum<br />
products and attendant<br />
hikes in prices of fuel<br />
were affecting many businesses<br />
in the country.<br />
“Individual pockets are<br />
also being affected,” he stated.<br />
He said “we need to draw<br />
government’s attention to the<br />
rising cost of fuel in the<br />
country. We have on several<br />
occasions indicated to the<br />
government our position on<br />
taxes. We still insist that the<br />
Special Petroleum Taxes<br />
(SPT) at this point has overstayed<br />
its course and must be<br />
scrapped to bring some relief<br />
to all of us.”<br />
Mr Amoah lamented that<br />
The government<br />
should<br />
scrap the<br />
SPT immediately<br />
because<br />
fuel<br />
prices are at<br />
all time high.<br />
anytime oil prices go up, fuel<br />
prices also go up and is compounded<br />
by the SPT.<br />
“For a developing country<br />
with income not paid in dollars,<br />
a litre of fuel is above<br />
one dollar. We think that<br />
something must be wrong<br />
with the pricing template and<br />
we think that it should be reviewed<br />
immediately.<br />
“On Wednesday (today) we<br />
will express our civil rights<br />
against specific government<br />
policies and taxes that continue<br />
to lead to difficulties. We<br />
will do one for Accra then in<br />
Kumasi and Brong Ahafo;<br />
drivers are very eager to<br />
demonstrate, they do not<br />
want to be left out,” he stated.<br />
He lamented that though<br />
Ghana and Nigeria trade from<br />
the same international oil<br />
market, the price of petrol in<br />
Nigeria is the GH¢ 10.00<br />
equivalent of the Naira, but is<br />
GH¢ 20.00 in Ghana.<br />
He attributed this to taxes<br />
such as the SPT imposed on<br />
petroleum products.<br />
“The government should<br />
scrap the SPT immediately<br />
because fuel prices are at all<br />
time high, he stated.”<br />
According to Mr Amoah,<br />
the expectations of Ghanaians<br />
were that the SPT would<br />
have been scrapped by now<br />
because the price is around<br />
$70 on the international market.<br />
The unions expected to<br />
demonstrate are True Drivers<br />
Union, COPEC Ghana, Concerned<br />
Drivers Union, Ghana<br />
Importers and Exporters<br />
Union, General Petroleum<br />
and Chemical Workers Union,<br />
Committed Drivers Association<br />
and Industrial and Commercial<br />
Workers Union.
Inside <strong>February</strong> 7, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/6/18 7:57 PM Page 5<br />
06<br />
View DAILY<br />
HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
African leaders must learn<br />
to solve their own problems<br />
BY DENIS ANDABAN<br />
•Raila Odinga has declared himself the 'people’s president'<br />
SINCE WE choose the<br />
path of democracy, we<br />
have no justifiable reason<br />
to tread on that of<br />
lawlessness. This attempt<br />
to confuse our<br />
well defined governance system<br />
has the potential of ruining the<br />
sociopolitical and economic fortunes<br />
of the continent.<br />
It is incontestable that most<br />
African countries deliberately and<br />
in some rare cases unconsciously<br />
emulated democracy from the<br />
West. It is also apparent that these<br />
consummated democratic traits<br />
are virtually incongruous to the<br />
African customs and traditions.<br />
The adoption of democracy<br />
has proven not to be a curse at all<br />
because most African States are<br />
able to modify the system into an<br />
appreciably suitable convergence<br />
with long existing tradition and<br />
customs. As long as we practice<br />
democracy, we will continue to<br />
strengthen it by improving the<br />
identifiable weaknesses. That is<br />
how every system is developed.<br />
No matter how it is, we can no<br />
longer be thinking of the negatives<br />
in adamant aloofness.<br />
As young as some of us are,<br />
we have heard, read and sometimes<br />
witnessed the strives being<br />
made by African leaders in having<br />
a well cherished democratic dispensation<br />
in an even expanded<br />
form as in the quest to having a<br />
United Africa. In which ever stage<br />
the struggle has reached, we must<br />
see ourselves as brothers and sisters<br />
with a common destiny. This<br />
is why I think the loud silence of<br />
continental leaders in the happening<br />
of Kenya is in bad faith.<br />
Now let me succinctly and narrowly,<br />
if I may say, walk you<br />
through the ugly happenings in<br />
Kenya.<br />
In August 2017, Uhuru Kenyatta<br />
won convincingly, the presidential<br />
elections fiercely contested<br />
with opposition leader Raila<br />
Odinga. The opposition challenged<br />
the election results basing<br />
their argument on electoral irregularities<br />
and malpractices. Indeed<br />
the court nullified the results and<br />
ordered the Electoral body to<br />
conduct fresh elections in November<br />
2017.<br />
Some of us thought that<br />
Odinga was going into the election<br />
strongly to get the mandate<br />
of the people, having proven that<br />
indeed he is the best alternative to<br />
the incumbent but something peculiar<br />
happened and I was extremely<br />
amused.<br />
The opposition leader boycotted<br />
the electoral processes few<br />
days to the Election Day. When<br />
Raila Odinga pulled out of the<br />
race, some of us rightly speculated<br />
that he was having something diabolic.<br />
Many political pundits were<br />
in tenterhooks as tension continues<br />
to sour in the country and beyond.<br />
For whatever reason the<br />
opposition had, they could have<br />
still dealt with it legitimately without<br />
necessarily boycotting the<br />
elections, if indeed they were out<br />
for power following due process.<br />
In my view, the boycott was a<br />
political blunder because such a<br />
"defeatist approach" only favours<br />
your political opponents. Kenyatta<br />
therefore won the election hands<br />
down without any legal objection.<br />
Odinga and his surrogates however<br />
took to the street, crying over<br />
spilt milk. That needles protest led<br />
to a dreadful clash with state security,<br />
leaving a many people dead<br />
and many others injured. The opposition<br />
led by Odinga boycotted<br />
the inauguration of Uhuru Kenyatta.<br />
In the midst of all these needless<br />
lawlessness by desperate political<br />
actors, African Leaders sat<br />
aloof and did virtually nothing to<br />
call Odinga to order. Probably,<br />
some of the African leaders have<br />
some interest or may some alliance<br />
with the opposition in<br />
Kenya to breed turmoil in such an<br />
unpatriotic manner.<br />
Or is it the case that everybody<br />
for himself, God for us all?<br />
What astonished the whole<br />
world and made Africa a laughing<br />
stock was when Raila Odinga the<br />
one that boycotted national elections<br />
declared himself president.<br />
He went ahead and organized an<br />
inauguration ceremony where he<br />
was publicly sworn in. If this is<br />
not jeopardy to societal progress<br />
and prosperity, what else could it<br />
be? Such wickedness, greed,<br />
parochial interest and incivility<br />
must not be tolerated. Such "second<br />
Gods" only take opportunity<br />
As young as some of us are, we have heard, read and sometimes witnessed<br />
the strives being made by African leaders in having a well cherished democratic<br />
dispensation in an even expanded form as in the quest to having a<br />
United Africa. In which ever stage the struggle has reached, we must see ourselves<br />
as brothers and sisters with a common destiny. This is why I think the<br />
loud silence of continental leaders in the happening of Kenya is in bad faith.<br />
of the level of hypocrisy and self<br />
seeking attitude by majority of our<br />
African political actors.<br />
In recent past, we saw how<br />
African leaders approached Gambia<br />
political crisis with alacrity.<br />
They sent troops to ensure that<br />
Yahaya Jammeh was shown his<br />
smoothness level. Do you remember<br />
that incident? Why are we<br />
mute over this turmoil in Kenya<br />
today? What is our interest? Ideally,<br />
our interest must be that the<br />
people of Kenya live in harmony,<br />
peace and tranquility.<br />
How can people gamble with<br />
the lives of a country just to satisfy<br />
their own political desperation?<br />
It pains that this is<br />
happening in Africa. Let's sit<br />
down, and let him destroy Kenya<br />
if that is what we want after all,<br />
similar acts benefitted him power<br />
sharing in the past!!!<br />
Sometimes I wonder what our<br />
leaders discuss in AU summit.<br />
Don't you think that they only go<br />
there to waste our resources by<br />
dining, wining and coming home<br />
with nothing either than bloated<br />
stomachs stocked in by the toils of<br />
the ordinary citizen? Posterity<br />
awaits us.<br />
I think that religious groups,<br />
civil society groups and all stakeholders<br />
must dialogue and salvage<br />
the situation in Kenya. Let's not<br />
allow too much partisanship, extreme<br />
self interest, cupidity and<br />
dangerous alliances to put the<br />
lives of our people in danger.<br />
That is not the essence of belongingness.<br />
Africa cannot develop<br />
should some of these barbaric<br />
happenings continue.<br />
Raila Odinga must think of the<br />
general good of the people and<br />
not just himself and few surrogates.<br />
SHALL BE BACK...........<br />
A proud African.
Inside <strong>February</strong> 7, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/6/18 7:58 PM Page 6<br />
Immediate first aid for burns<br />
• Heat burns<br />
Smother any flames by covering<br />
them with a blanket or water. If<br />
your clothing catches fire, do not<br />
run: stop, drop, and roll on the<br />
ground to smother the flames.<br />
• Cold temperature burns<br />
Try first aid measures to warm<br />
the areas. Small areas of your body<br />
(ears, face, nose, fingers, toes) that<br />
are really cold or frozen can be<br />
warmed by blowing warm air on<br />
them, tucking them inside your<br />
clothing or putting them in warm<br />
water.<br />
• Liquid scald burns<br />
Run cool tap water over the<br />
burn for 10 to 20 minutes. Do not<br />
use ice.<br />
• Electrical burns<br />
After the person has been separated<br />
from the electrical source,<br />
check for breathing and a heartbeat.<br />
If the person is not breathing or<br />
does not have a heartbeat, call.<br />
• Chemical burns<br />
Natural foods such as chili peppers,<br />
which contain a substance irritating<br />
to the skin, can cause a<br />
burning sensation. When a chemical<br />
burn occurs, find out what chemical<br />
caused the burn.<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018<br />
&Env.<br />
Ghana Cancer Society outlines<br />
plans to support patients<br />
HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT DESK<br />
THE CANCER Society<br />
of Ghana has pledged<br />
its preparedness to<br />
work with other partners<br />
in the sector to improve<br />
quality of cancer<br />
data for public health use, increase access<br />
to early detection and accurate<br />
cancer diagnosis.<br />
It is also ready to partner others to<br />
increase access to timely and quality<br />
treatment and support palliative care<br />
services to people living with cancer.<br />
This was in a statement issued and<br />
signed by Professor Edwin K.<br />
Wiredu, Chairman of the Trustees of<br />
the Society and copied to the DAILY<br />
HERITAGE. This year’s World<br />
Cancer Day celebration falls on Sunday,<br />
<strong>February</strong> 4.<br />
The day was set aside by the international<br />
community to increase<br />
awareness and education on cancer<br />
with the slogan ‘We can. I can.’<br />
This year’s campaign calls for joint<br />
efforts between governments, nongovernmental<br />
organisations and civil<br />
society organisations to promote action<br />
and investments in areas including<br />
tobacco control, promotion of<br />
healthy lifestyles, cancer screening and<br />
early detection, and improved cancer<br />
treatment services, as well as palliative<br />
care.<br />
The statement said a study conducted<br />
by the Society indicated that<br />
there were about 12,700 reported cancer<br />
deaths in 2008.<br />
According to the Society breast,<br />
cervix, haematopoietic organs, liver,<br />
stomach and colorectal cancers are<br />
the leading cancer deaths in females in<br />
Ghana.<br />
Top cancer deaths<br />
“The top cancers deaths in men<br />
are liver, prostate, haematopoietic organs,<br />
stomach, pancreas and bladder.<br />
The leading causes of cancers deaths<br />
in children are malignancies of the<br />
haematopoietic system, followed by<br />
brain, kidney, eyes, and liver and bone<br />
tumours,” it added.<br />
It said studies by Union for International<br />
Cancer Control (UICC) indicated<br />
that in 2012, worldwide, there<br />
were 14.1 million new cancer cases,<br />
8.2 million cancer deaths (with 50%<br />
of these being premature deaths), and<br />
32.6 million people living with cancer<br />
within five years of diagnosis.<br />
About 8 million<br />
“About 8 million (57%) of the<br />
new cancer cases, 5.3 million (65%) of<br />
the cancer deaths, and 15.6 million<br />
(48%) of the five-year prevalent cancer<br />
cases occurred in the less developed<br />
regions.<br />
“It is important to stress that the<br />
number of cancer deaths is projected<br />
to rise to over 14 million per year over<br />
the next 10 years.<br />
“The global target is a 25% reduction<br />
in premature deaths from cancer<br />
and non-communicable diseases<br />
(NCDs) by 2025. This was a target set<br />
in 2011 by the World Health Organisation<br />
(WHO) to cut premature NCD<br />
deaths by 25% within 14 years.<br />
“It is almost seven years since this<br />
target was set by the WHO. To meet<br />
this target requires more action than<br />
ever to close the inequality in access<br />
to prevention, diagnosis, treatment<br />
and care,” it said.<br />
The statement said the focus of<br />
the UICC in this year’s campaign is to<br />
raise awareness about the millions of<br />
people world-wide facing unequal access<br />
to cancer detection, treatment,<br />
and care services.<br />
Global access gap<br />
“An acute example of a global access<br />
gap particularly affecting the underserved<br />
and underprivileged is<br />
access to radiotherapy. As one of the<br />
major methods of treatment for cancer,<br />
radiotherapy is recommended for<br />
52% of cancer patients.<br />
The gap between need and availability<br />
is highest in low- to middle income<br />
countries; 90% of low- to middle-income<br />
country cancer patients lack access<br />
to radiotherapy.<br />
“There is an urgent need for support<br />
for some forms of chemotherapy.<br />
The cost outlay in some cases is<br />
close to a death sentence because of<br />
huge barriers to access.<br />
“Cancer is recognised as the leading<br />
cause of global morbidity. Today,<br />
there are an estimated 8.8 million<br />
deaths from cancer every year with<br />
about 70% of cancer deaths occurring<br />
in developing countries which are the<br />
most ill-equipped to cope with the<br />
cancer burden.<br />
“The starkest area of inequity relates<br />
to childhood cancers – a specific<br />
group that the WHO underscored in<br />
its landmark 2017 Cancer Resolution<br />
– with survival rates over 80% in high<br />
income countries and as low as 20%<br />
in low income countries,” it added.<br />
N/R runs out of essential food supplement for children<br />
THERE IS an acute shortage of<br />
ready-to-use therapeutic food also<br />
known as plumpy nuts, a critical food<br />
supplement for children suffering severe<br />
malnutrition in the Northern<br />
Region.<br />
Information available indicates<br />
that the Ghana Health Service has<br />
not supplied the nuts to the region<br />
for the past three months.<br />
This development is putting the<br />
lives of hundreds of malnourished<br />
children at risk.<br />
In a district where women have<br />
little or no knowledge of family planning,<br />
childbirth is rampant and some<br />
women get pregnant just about three<br />
months after giving birth.<br />
This makes it impossible for the<br />
mother to breastfeed her newborn<br />
child, resulting in malnutrition. The<br />
children have to rely on the food<br />
supplement for essential<br />
nutritional needs.<br />
But for the past three months, the<br />
United Nations Children’s Fund<br />
(UNICEF) which had been<br />
supplying Ghana with the food supplement<br />
has cut supplies. This has<br />
left many mothers and health facilities<br />
in the district in a fix and with no<br />
alternatives for babies.<br />
At Lipaasly, one of the towns<br />
with the highest number of malnourished<br />
children, Mr Daniel Alhassan, a<br />
health worker in the Community-<br />
Base Health Planning Services compound<br />
regretted the development but<br />
said there was little they could do.<br />
Mr Alhassan said time was running<br />
out for the children and “when<br />
they are malnourished, their immune<br />
system suppresses so any little infection<br />
takes the child away such as<br />
common malaria can lead to death.”<br />
The Bimbilla District Health Director,<br />
Mr Stephen Dadia said the<br />
district records about 40 cases of<br />
•Essential food supplements are<br />
important for malnurished children<br />
child malnutrition<br />
every<br />
month.<br />
Mr Dadia said the situation was<br />
quite dire and there was the need to<br />
supply the supplements to prevent<br />
deaths.<br />
He also suggested that<br />
government finds a way<br />
to wean itself off the<br />
UNICEF support because<br />
“we cannot<br />
continue to depend<br />
on international<br />
donors.<br />
“If we want to<br />
continue to depend<br />
on<br />
UNICEF, I don’t<br />
think we can survive,”<br />
he added.<br />
The Director General<br />
of the Ghana<br />
Health Service, Dr Anthony<br />
Nsiah-Asare said the<br />
Service was aware of the development<br />
and said measures were<br />
being put in place to address the situation.<br />
He explained that the situation<br />
had come about because “we are a<br />
lower middle-income economy and<br />
we are being weaned off a lot of the<br />
aid we get from our development<br />
partners.<br />
“A local food manufacturing<br />
company in the Brong Ahafo Region<br />
has been contracted to produce the<br />
supplement moving forward,” Dr<br />
Nsiah-Asare disclosed.<br />
“We want to reach a stage where<br />
we will do it ourselves to solve the<br />
problem once and for all, so that we<br />
don’t depend on UNICEF,” he said,<br />
adding that “because if they cut<br />
down their aid to Ghana then we<br />
have a problem.”<br />
In the interim, Dr Nsiah-Asare<br />
said an urgent meeting will be held<br />
and by Wednesday, <strong>February</strong> 14,<br />
2018, the health facilities would receive<br />
supplies of the food supplement.<br />
credit: myjoyonline
spread_Feb 7 2018.qxp_SHOWBIZ TEMP 2/6/18 7:59 PM Page 1<br />
News<br />
DAILY HERITAGE, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
60 adolescent girls to<br />
receive training to<br />
prevent school drop-out<br />
MORE THAN 60 adolescent girls<br />
and parent peer counselors within the<br />
Kochem, Ngogu and Bogunaayili<br />
communities in the Northern region,<br />
will receive training on community<br />
response and accountability strategies<br />
to reduce the school drop-out rate<br />
among adolescent girls.<br />
This is part of a series of trainings<br />
and support seminars being organised<br />
to empower the girls, parents and<br />
community leaders.<br />
The programme, ‘Investing in<br />
Adolescent Girls Strengthens our<br />
Community,’ will also equip at least 30<br />
local leaders from these communities<br />
(religious and traditional leaders,<br />
school administration, and business<br />
leaders) with similar strategies.<br />
The project is being led by<br />
Danielle Taylor, the founder and<br />
Executive Director of a non-profit<br />
organisation, Òman Baako. It is being<br />
carried out in collaboration with two<br />
local development organizations.<br />
The communities requested the<br />
project be carried out there to reduce<br />
the number of adolescent girls who<br />
drop out of school shortly after<br />
entering Junior High School.<br />
This worrying development is<br />
common in many rural villages of<br />
northern Ghana where girls desert<br />
their communities to hawk along the<br />
streets of Accra.<br />
Speaking at the launch of the<br />
project, Ms Taylor described the<br />
impact of the abandonment of their<br />
education and homes as “immediate<br />
and profound”.<br />
“It reduces their critical thinking<br />
skills, their future earning potential<br />
and their capacity to contribute to<br />
their community’s well-being,” she<br />
lamented.<br />
She further explained that<br />
members of these communities felt<br />
“existing social norms contribute to<br />
gross gender inequity that leaves girls<br />
ill-equipped to seek and take<br />
advantage of opportunities that would<br />
increase their physical, social, and<br />
economic security and welfare”.<br />
The approach being used by Òman<br />
Baako is to work collaboratively with<br />
and through diverse segments of<br />
communities’ members and leaders, to<br />
build a more equitable community<br />
that celebrates and elevates the<br />
contributions and inherent human<br />
rights of its young girls.<br />
By doing so, the community is<br />
better positioned to tackle a variety of<br />
interconnected Sustainable<br />
Development Goals.<br />
Òman Baako translates into “One<br />
Community” in Twi. The name<br />
reflects the organisation’s belief that<br />
in levelling the playing field for<br />
women and girls, all of society<br />
benefits as one.<br />
We’ll start carrying<br />
guns – Apaak<br />
BY MOHAMMED AWAL<br />
THE MEMBER of<br />
Parliament (MP) for<br />
Builsa South, Dr<br />
Clement Apaak, has<br />
served notice that<br />
Minority members of<br />
the House will arm themselves as a<br />
protective measure henceforth.<br />
His comment followed reports that<br />
Parliament recruited a private firm<br />
whose members were alleged to be<br />
drawn from the dreaded vigilante<br />
groups affiliated to the governing<br />
New Patriotic Party (NPP) such as the<br />
Invisible Forces, Delta Forces among<br />
others to provide MPs protection.<br />
“You go and bring Invisible Forces<br />
and when we are saying it, you say<br />
people are talking about rumours. We<br />
shall see. We are all here. We will all<br />
start carrying guns. When we hear gun<br />
fight here we will come,” Dr Apaak,<br />
who is a former presidential staffer,<br />
said.<br />
The acting Public Affairs Director<br />
of Parliament, Kate Addo confirmed<br />
to Starr News last month that<br />
Parliament recruited new security<br />
personnel and were undergoing<br />
training to familiarise with how<br />
Parliament works.<br />
“It is true that Parliament before<br />
we went on recess had augmented the<br />
number of Policemen in Parliament.<br />
But it’s also true that it had employed<br />
new security men who are being<br />
trained about how Parliament works<br />
and who are being familiarized with<br />
the various surroundings of<br />
Parliament,” she stated on Starr Today<br />
on January 29, 2018.<br />
She added: “In the past few weeks<br />
over the weekend these young men<br />
have been coming for various<br />
orientations and physical training<br />
programme in Parliament…now the<br />
Saturday’s training coincided with the<br />
special sitting of the House where the<br />
Rt. Honourable Speaker was sworn in<br />
as acting president of the Republic of<br />
Ghana following the absence from the<br />
jurisdiction of president Akufo-Addo.<br />
“That explained why they were<br />
there [but] as to whether they belong<br />
to a particular political party or not I’d<br />
not be able to speak to that but I do<br />
not know that. But, what I can tell<br />
you is that they have been employed<br />
by parliament.”<br />
•Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa South, Dr Clement Apaak<br />
You don’t need prosecutorial powers<br />
– Financial analyst to AG<br />
Anyaa M/A<br />
Basic School<br />
appeals for<br />
support<br />
MRS JULIANA Opokua<br />
Dapaah, the Head teacher of<br />
Anyaa M/A ‘1’ Basic School<br />
in the Ga Central Municipality<br />
has appealed to<br />
philanthropists and corporate<br />
organisations to support the<br />
school.<br />
She appealed for ceiling<br />
fans, tables and chairs for<br />
teachers and pupils as well as<br />
the construction of a fence<br />
wall around the school.<br />
Mrs Dapaah, who made<br />
the appeal during a Parent-<br />
Teacher Association (PTA)<br />
meeting last Friday, said the<br />
school building also need to<br />
be rehabilitated.<br />
She said although the<br />
members of the PTA had<br />
made efforts in improving the<br />
conditions of the school, it<br />
needed the assistance of<br />
other corporate organisations<br />
to uplift its image and boost<br />
the morale of teachers and<br />
students.<br />
She advised parents to<br />
ensure that children did their<br />
homework, instead of<br />
watching television, since that<br />
affects their performance in<br />
examination.<br />
The Head teacher<br />
encouraged parents to pay<br />
regular visits to the school<br />
and interact with teachers on<br />
their children’s academic<br />
performance and also to<br />
discipline their wards.<br />
Mrs Dapaah urged the<br />
parents to ensure that their<br />
children are properly dressed<br />
before leaving for school,<br />
adding that, “this speaks well<br />
of parents as their children<br />
appear neat in public.”<br />
The parents were<br />
unanimous in the decision to<br />
repeat students in ‘Form 3’<br />
with poor academic<br />
performance.<br />
The parents also agreed<br />
that though canning in<br />
schools had been banned, the<br />
school authorities should not<br />
hesitate to discipline pupils,<br />
who would go wayward.<br />
GNA<br />
•Sixty girls are expected to benefit from the training<br />
•Daniel Domelevo, Auditor-General<br />
BY KWAME ACHEAMPONG<br />
A FINANCIAL analyst, Mr Benedict<br />
Gibson has challenged claims by the<br />
Auditor General (AG), Mr Daniel<br />
Domelevo that he needs prosecutorial<br />
powers to be able to effectively fight<br />
financial abuse in the public sector.<br />
Mr Domelevo at a press briefing<br />
Monday listed various actions the<br />
Auditor General’s Department is<br />
taking to deal with persons who<br />
continue to abuse the public purse.<br />
“We are not going to finish our<br />
audit and wait for the TV show at<br />
Public Accounts [Committee]<br />
anymore. When we finish our audit,<br />
we raise observations against you and<br />
you decide to ignore it we will disallow<br />
the expenditure and surcharge you and<br />
I told my colleagues that beginning<br />
this year we must have to apply the<br />
law.<br />
“Under the section 29 subsection 2<br />
it says that ‘anyone who does not even<br />
meet the 30 days deadline…we should<br />
stop his salary’. It is in the law that<br />
once we have raised an observation<br />
after 30 days you decide not to<br />
respond, you should not be paid and<br />
we have to start that now. We have to<br />
block people’s salaries. And even after<br />
blocking your salaries if you don’t<br />
come we will now disallow the<br />
expenditure and surcharge you,” he<br />
said.<br />
Commenting on the claims by the<br />
AG, Mr Gibson told Francis Abban on<br />
the Morning Starr Tuesday that the<br />
status quo where the Attorney General<br />
does the prosecution of defaulting<br />
public servants on behalf of the<br />
department must remain.<br />
“The Auditor General should<br />
follow the due process. Whatever<br />
recommendation he comes up with<br />
should be given to the right institution<br />
to take it up from there. If the Auditor<br />
General is given the power to<br />
prosecute institutions, what then is<br />
going to be the role of the Attorney<br />
General and the Special Prosecutor?<br />
Auditors are supposed to give an<br />
opinion about a particular situation or<br />
event within a certain period of time.<br />
When this is done, their work is<br />
almost done,” he said.<br />
“We are not going to<br />
finish our audit and wait<br />
for the TV show at Public<br />
Accounts [Committee]<br />
anymore. When we<br />
finish our audit, we raise<br />
observations against<br />
you and you decide to<br />
ignore it we will disallow<br />
the expenditure and<br />
surcharge you and I told<br />
my colleagues that<br />
beginning this year we<br />
must have to apply the<br />
law.<br />
•Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, Minister of Education
Inside <strong>February</strong> 7, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/6/18 7:58 PM Page 7<br />
6TH<br />
FEBRUARY<br />
2018<br />
TUESDAY<br />
CURRENCY PARIS CODE BUYING SELLING<br />
US Dollar USDGHS 4.4000 4.5600<br />
RATES Pound Sterling GBPGHS<br />
6.2200<br />
6.4000<br />
Euro<br />
GBPGHS<br />
5.4000<br />
5.5700<br />
10<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
ECG staff assured of job security<br />
BY ROSEMOND BOATENG ADDAI<br />
Rosemond.adjetey@yahoo.com<br />
MR SAMUEL<br />
Boakye -Appiah,<br />
Managing<br />
Director (MD)<br />
of the Electricity<br />
Company of<br />
Ghana (ECG) has assured its<br />
workers and stakeholders that<br />
ECG has not been sold contrary<br />
to what others believe.<br />
The MD, speaking at the company's<br />
Golden Jubilee celebration<br />
in Accra, emphasised that with<br />
the introduction of a concessionaire<br />
to invest in, manage and operate<br />
its distribution assets, ECG<br />
will continue to exist albeit with a<br />
different focus.<br />
"The new ECG will be an active<br />
and responsible asset owner,<br />
will engage in bulk energy trading,<br />
provide knowledge and skills to<br />
support other utilities through<br />
consultancy services and upgrade<br />
the training school," he said.<br />
He added that the new ECG<br />
will also embrace the introduction<br />
of renewable energy into Ghana's<br />
energy mix to improve reliability<br />
of supply to its customers.<br />
Challenges and<br />
achievements<br />
Mr Boakye- Appiah, who highlighted<br />
on the theme ‘50 Years Of<br />
Powering The Socio-Economic<br />
Growth and Development of<br />
Ghana,’ said the company though<br />
had chalked major successes also<br />
had some various challenges.<br />
He said “by far, the worst challenge<br />
in recent memory is the<br />
protracted power crisis of 2012-<br />
2016. During the crisis, ECG's<br />
image fell to an all -time low and<br />
our distribution network was<br />
weakened as a result of frequent<br />
switching for load shedding.<br />
“Our finances suffered because<br />
customers reacted to the<br />
crisis by not paying their bills.<br />
With the necessary political, financial<br />
and technical interventions<br />
the crisis was resolved last<br />
year and ECG is back on its feet.”<br />
He said.<br />
According to the MD, ECG is<br />
yet to receive the Regulatory<br />
Benchmarks for system losses and<br />
network reliability.<br />
He explained that achieving<br />
cost reflective tariffs that are affordable<br />
for its customers remains<br />
a major challenge.<br />
“A significant achievement is<br />
the fact that we are concerned<br />
and have survived all the turbulence<br />
that had plagued many<br />
state-owned enterprises in the history<br />
of our country.<br />
We have achieved significant<br />
laurels locally and internationally.<br />
We have brought smiles to many<br />
homes and communities who turn<br />
the lights on for the first time in<br />
their lifetime,” he added.<br />
Modernisation<br />
Mr Boakye –Appiah hinted<br />
that ECG is automating and digitising<br />
its networks and business<br />
processes using the latest technologies<br />
in the industry.<br />
He explained that the company’s<br />
networks operations are<br />
partially automated at the medium<br />
voltage level; at the primary level,<br />
the Supervisory Control and Data<br />
Acquisition System (SCADA)<br />
covers four out of the six administrative<br />
regions and the secondary<br />
SCADA has been extended to<br />
17 district control centres<br />
throughout its operational regions.<br />
Mr William Owuraku Aidoo,<br />
Deputy Minister of Energy said<br />
the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu<br />
Bawumia went to Washington to<br />
meet with the World Bank and<br />
managed to renegotiate the key<br />
aspects of the contract namely<br />
the non-loss of jobs by ECG<br />
workers, and 20% participation<br />
of Ghanaians.<br />
He explained that Ghanaians<br />
should be confident in what the<br />
government says, that no staff in<br />
ECG will lose his/her job and<br />
that is exactly what is pertaining.<br />
Ghana Beyond Aid achieved yet?<br />
ONE OF the key priorities of the<br />
New Patriotic Party administration<br />
is to move ‘Ghana beyond Aid’.<br />
The government has been<br />
tough on working to reduce the<br />
over-dependency on donor support<br />
for development.<br />
In the build up to President<br />
Nana Akufo-Addo’s State of the<br />
Nation Address on Thursday, <strong>February</strong><br />
8, 2018, Citi Business<br />
News has taken a look at how far<br />
government has come in reaching<br />
this goal.<br />
Indications, however, suggest<br />
that more needs to be done to attain<br />
this feat.<br />
Prez Akufo-Addo<br />
leads agenda<br />
President Akufo-Addo has<br />
been leading the charge of building<br />
a ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ and is<br />
convinced that the abundant mineral<br />
resources shouldn’t permit<br />
Ghana to seek support from<br />
donors to implement key policies.<br />
Speaking in an address with the<br />
French President Emmanuel<br />
Macron in Ivory Coast as<br />
well as delivering a speech<br />
as part of the Royal<br />
African Society’s leadership<br />
series in London, the President<br />
stressed the need to<br />
add value to traditional exports.<br />
“This is not right; we<br />
need to change the statistics.<br />
If we simply grind and<br />
sell the cocoa in paste<br />
form, instead of selling the<br />
cocoa beans, we double<br />
our earnings. In much the<br />
same way we will double<br />
our earnings from gold if<br />
sold refined than in the<br />
raw state. We are determined<br />
to process these<br />
products,” he stated.<br />
These thoughts have<br />
been reiterated across several platforms<br />
by the Vice President, Dr<br />
Mahamudu Bawumia.<br />
Govt works to grow<br />
Ghana Beyond Aid<br />
The recent one constituted the<br />
•President Nana Akufo-Addo<br />
theme for the third Aliu Mahama<br />
Memorial Lectures presented by<br />
Finance Minister, Mr Ken Ofori-<br />
Atta.<br />
For Mr Ofori-Atta, working to<br />
improve critical sectors like the financial,<br />
oil and gas, rail and road<br />
infrastructure,<br />
among others<br />
should propel the<br />
plans to attain a<br />
Ghana Beyond<br />
Aid.<br />
For instance,<br />
the Minister highlighted<br />
the need<br />
to attract investors<br />
to revamp operations<br />
at the Tema<br />
Oil Refinery<br />
(TOR).<br />
But this might<br />
have to be triggered<br />
as TOR has<br />
been compelled to<br />
suspend its operations<br />
few weeks<br />
into this year due<br />
to operational<br />
challenges.<br />
Also, the estimated 21 billion<br />
dollar investments into the railway<br />
sector is yet to be completed to<br />
fast track the carting of agricultural<br />
goods such as cocoa from<br />
producing centers to market centers.<br />
The European Union Ambassador<br />
to Ghana, William Hanna<br />
admits that donor support has reduced<br />
hence the need for Ghana<br />
to improve her trade with other<br />
countries.<br />
Although government is saddled<br />
with huge records of revenue<br />
leakages estimated at 10 billion<br />
Cedis, Mr Ofori-Atta is confident<br />
of reversing the trend.<br />
Economist at the University of<br />
Ghana, Dr Ebo Turkson however<br />
suggests that the government<br />
would need to be tough on addressing<br />
corruption if it is to<br />
reach this goal as expected.<br />
“If we fight corruption, we can<br />
do a lot of public sector savings<br />
because a huge amount of public<br />
sector resources get fizzled out<br />
due to corruption. If we are able<br />
to fight corruption, these are huge<br />
amounts of monies that we can<br />
save and that would be an alternative<br />
to aid and those monies can<br />
be channeled into other productive<br />
sectors.”
Inside <strong>February</strong> 7, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/6/18 7:58 PM Page 8<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018 11<br />
Politics<br />
Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced,<br />
where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is<br />
made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to<br />
oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor<br />
property will be safe — Frederick Douglass<br />
Minority can’t hold Parliament<br />
to ransom – Mensah-Bonsu<br />
BY KOBINA WELSING<br />
THE MAJORITY<br />
Leader in Parliament,<br />
Mr Osei Kyei<br />
Mensah-Bonsu has<br />
slammed the Minority<br />
for attempting to<br />
scuttle the cash-for-seat report before<br />
Parliament.<br />
According to him, some Minority<br />
members are still hallucinating<br />
and yet to recover from the<br />
2016 election defeat.<br />
The Minority in Parliament on<br />
Tuesday stormed out of Parliament<br />
to avoid being part of the<br />
debate to approve and adopt the<br />
report of the committee which<br />
probed extortion claims against<br />
the Ministry of Trade and Industry.<br />
The five-member ad hoc committee<br />
of Parliament in its report<br />
cleared the Trade Minister Minister<br />
Alan Kyerematen of any<br />
wrongdoing over claims that they<br />
charged expatriates $100, 000 to<br />
secure seats close to President<br />
Akufo-Addo at an awards ceremony.<br />
Ahead of the boycott, the Minority<br />
Leader Haruna Iddrisu told<br />
the House there was no need to<br />
rush the report since Members of<br />
Parliament (MPs) are yet to study<br />
it.<br />
“I got a copy of my report<br />
only this morning and it’s only fair<br />
and proper…why the rush and<br />
why are you in a hurry? 146-page<br />
report in the interest of transparency<br />
and accountability, this<br />
matter cannot be railroaded<br />
through Parliament.<br />
“I need to read like any other<br />
member to satisfy myself…You<br />
can proceed but the Minority is<br />
unable to participate in the debate,”<br />
the Tamale South lawmaker<br />
declared before marching his<br />
members out of the Chamber.<br />
But, addressing Parliament, the<br />
Majority Leader and Minister of<br />
Parliamentary Affairs said the debate<br />
on the report will proceed<br />
with or without the minority.<br />
According to him, National<br />
Democratic Congress MPs have<br />
been pampered for too long and<br />
continue to be dishonest to the<br />
House.<br />
“This House will not be held<br />
to ransom by a single individual<br />
who decides to be very dishonest.<br />
Mr. Speaker this House will not<br />
pander to pedestrianism…clearly<br />
they want to hold this House to<br />
ransom.<br />
“People are still hallucinating<br />
and people are still yet to come<br />
out of where they found themselves<br />
after the elections,” the<br />
Suame MP said.<br />
•Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader in Parliament<br />
Statement: NPP’s silence on attacks on journalists dangerous<br />
•Jonh Boadu, acting general secetary, NPP and Freddie Blay, acting<br />
chairman, NPP<br />
WITHIN THE last two months,<br />
some five journalists have been attacked<br />
or threatened by activists<br />
of the ruling New Patriotic Party<br />
(NPP). As if these acts are endorsed<br />
or supported by the NPP,<br />
the leadership of the party has remained<br />
silent on the attacks despite<br />
calls for the party to<br />
condemn such acts to deter further<br />
perpetration of similar acts<br />
by party activists.<br />
The first incident, which took<br />
place at the party’s national headquarters<br />
involved four journalists;<br />
Godfred Tanam, Prince Afum,<br />
Ebenezer Ackah and Marie-Franz<br />
Fordjoe of TV3, Ghanaweb and<br />
Citi FM respectively. In the said<br />
incident that took place on December<br />
21, 2017, the journalists,<br />
who were covering a protest at the<br />
premises of the NPP headquarters,<br />
were brutalized by heavilybuilt<br />
security officials.<br />
The security persons slapped<br />
and kicked the journalists just for<br />
covering a protest at the premises<br />
of the headquarters.<br />
Following the incident, several<br />
public figures and organisations<br />
called on the leadership of the<br />
NPP to address the issue by condemning<br />
the assault and punishing<br />
the perpetrators.<br />
On January 23, 2018, the<br />
MFWA followed earlier appeals<br />
with a petition to the Acting<br />
Chairman of the party, Mr Freddie<br />
Blay. Till date, the NPP has<br />
neither acknowledged receipt of<br />
the petition nor acted on it.<br />
This complicit attitude of the<br />
NPP leadership has the potential<br />
of fostering a culture of impunity<br />
among party foot soldiers and activists<br />
with journalists bearing the<br />
brunt of their wanton aggression.<br />
Indeed, the recent death threat<br />
issued against journalist Kwakye<br />
Afreh-Nuamah of TV3 by known<br />
party activists and the silence of<br />
the party leadership can only be<br />
seen as evidence of the consequence<br />
of the culture of impunity<br />
that is being nurtured by the party.<br />
As if to call the bluff of the journalist,<br />
another known member of<br />
the party called the journalist and<br />
also threatened him for reporting<br />
the matter to the police.<br />
It is regrettable that the NPP,<br />
which prides itself as a tolerant,<br />
law-abiding and media-friendly<br />
party, has failed to publicly condemn<br />
these acts by its activists.<br />
Instead, some leaders of the party<br />
and government officials have reportedly<br />
rather appealed to the<br />
threatened journalist to withdraw<br />
the case from the police.<br />
The MFWA finds the NPP<br />
leadership’s silence over its supporters’<br />
attacks on journalists<br />
rather baffling. This is because the<br />
party’s general secretary recently<br />
condemned a similar vigilante attack<br />
on Kwame Baffoe, popularly<br />
known as Abronye DC, a member<br />
of the party. It therefore appears<br />
that attacks on journalists do not<br />
really matter to the leadership of<br />
the party.<br />
Failure to punish perpetrators<br />
of violence against journalists<br />
only goes to encourage others to<br />
abuse journalists. An entrenched<br />
impunity constitutes a major<br />
threat to the safety of journalists.<br />
In 2016, Ghana’s press freedom<br />
rankings dropped from “Free” to<br />
“Partly Free” following a number<br />
of similar press freedom violations,<br />
which were not addressed.<br />
The MFWA is concerned<br />
about the continued silence of the<br />
leadership of the NPP on recent<br />
attacks by its activists on journalists<br />
and is therefore urging the<br />
leadership of the NPP to, as a<br />
matter of urgency, act to address<br />
the growing culture of impunity<br />
for crimes against journalists.<br />
We urge the party to call its<br />
members to order and punish perpetrators<br />
of violations against<br />
journalists to serve as deterrent to<br />
others. The party cannot look on<br />
as journalists are abused.<br />
The safety of Ghanaian journalists<br />
is at stake and an urgent action<br />
by the party will help assure<br />
journalists that press freedom will<br />
be promoted and protected under<br />
the government of the New Patriotic<br />
Party.
Inside <strong>February</strong> 7, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/6/18 7:58 PM Page 9<br />
12<br />
DAILY<br />
Politics<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018<br />
Use appropriate quarters for<br />
redress— Chair aspirant begs<br />
BY EDWARD ADETI<br />
AREGIONAL<br />
chairman aspirant<br />
of the New<br />
Patriotic Party<br />
(NPP) in the<br />
Upper East Region,<br />
Mr Filson Awankua, has<br />
consoled NPP candidates who<br />
were let down in the recent race<br />
for executive positions at the<br />
polling station level and entreated<br />
them to use “the appropriate<br />
quarters” to make amends.<br />
The electoral exercise, held<br />
nationwide in the last week of<br />
January, this year, at polling stations<br />
and electoral areas, saw<br />
sour turn of events as clashes<br />
erupted in the Upper West and<br />
Eastern Regions over alleged<br />
sidestepping of electoral rules by<br />
some big shots.<br />
Although complaints<br />
emerged strongly in the Upper<br />
East Region after the conduct of<br />
the elections, with some fallen<br />
old executives claiming they were<br />
“unfairly” and “illegally” toppled<br />
to favour new entrants, that outbreak<br />
of anger did not sink into<br />
chaos.<br />
Mr Awankua, who likewise is<br />
in a tough race for the regional<br />
chairmanship title with four<br />
other titans of the party, appealed<br />
for calm in a statement he<br />
issued to the press.<br />
“I would like to congratulate<br />
all those who emerged victorious<br />
out of the contest and to appeal<br />
to the unsuccessful contestants<br />
to continue to support the party<br />
in diverse ways as the party<br />
needs them now more than before.<br />
I was not surprised the entire<br />
process was peaceful with<br />
much co-operation and understanding<br />
because I know my<br />
people very well and they do not<br />
disappoint when it comes to issues<br />
like this,” he said.<br />
He added: “However, I would<br />
like to plead with those who in<br />
one way or the other are not satisfied<br />
with the conduct of the<br />
elections to use the appropriate<br />
quarters as prescribed by the<br />
party for redress. Let us remember<br />
that we belong to a political<br />
party with very high credentials<br />
when it comes to democracy.<br />
Therefore, we should not engage<br />
in acts that will bring the name<br />
of the party into disrepute.”<br />
Thousands of candidates<br />
took part in the elections at<br />
1,227 polling stations and 353<br />
electoral areas in the region. The<br />
constituency, regional and national<br />
executive elections are<br />
slated for the last weeks in <strong>February</strong>,<br />
April and June, this year,<br />
respectively.<br />
• Filson Awankua<br />
Mr Awankua, according to his<br />
communications team, intends<br />
to reorganise the NPP in the region,<br />
from the polling station<br />
level to the regional office, into a<br />
party that “adheres to a disciplined<br />
chain of command”.<br />
“Every regional office of the<br />
NPP is to have a Finance Committee<br />
chaired by the Financial<br />
Secretary. This is, unfortunately,<br />
not the case in the Upper East<br />
Region. The effect is that financial<br />
checks and balances are<br />
compromised. Awankua is determined<br />
to ensure cohesive party<br />
structures from the polling to<br />
the regional office that adheres<br />
to a disciplined chain of command,”<br />
the communication team<br />
said in a statement made available<br />
to the media.<br />
“I would like to congratulate all those who emerged victorious out<br />
of the contest and to appeal to the unsuccessful contestants to<br />
continue to support the party in diverse ways as the party needs<br />
them now more than before. I was not surprised the entire<br />
process was peaceful with much co-operation and understanding<br />
because I know my people very well and they do not disappoint<br />
when it comes to issues like this,” he said.<br />
The team also paints a picture<br />
of an NPP critically divided in<br />
the region over personal interests—<br />
a worrying tide members<br />
of the team say would take only<br />
a “unifier and messiah” in the<br />
person of Awankua to turn in<br />
the interest of the party ahead of<br />
the 2020 general elections.<br />
“It does appear that the party<br />
hierarchy is not driven by a unity<br />
of purpose. In some constituencies<br />
and at the regional level,<br />
party leadership is at loggerheads<br />
with appointees and among<br />
themselves. The leadership,<br />
rather than solve issues of disunity,<br />
appear to be interested in<br />
personal goals and aggrandizement.<br />
“A few conflict situations are<br />
illustrative: Bongo, factionalism<br />
within the constituency executive<br />
since 2004; Chiana-Paga, DCE<br />
versus Constituency Chairman;<br />
Regional Minister versus Regional<br />
Executive/Chairman; Regional<br />
Executive, Chairman<br />
versus Financial Secretary. Mr.<br />
Awankua is an engineer. Call him<br />
constructor. The engineering<br />
profession requires that the professional<br />
builds from scratch or<br />
repairs what is broken. He intends<br />
to do just that as leader of<br />
the party in the region— construct<br />
bridges of unity where<br />
these are absent and repair broken<br />
bridges of unity,” the statement<br />
said.<br />
Hopeful Awankua targets<br />
more seats for NPP<br />
Mr. Awankua, a native of<br />
Zuarungu in the Bolgatanga East<br />
Constituency and product of<br />
Takoradi Technical University<br />
and Cape Coast Technical University,<br />
says he intends to win<br />
more parliamentary seats than<br />
the three the party captured in<br />
the Upper East region— a<br />
stronghold of the opposition<br />
National Democratic Congress<br />
(NDC)— at the 2016 general<br />
polls.<br />
The aspirant, who holds a<br />
B.Sc. Degree in Engineering<br />
from KAAF University, Cape<br />
Coast— an affiliate of the Engineering<br />
College of Birmingham,<br />
United Kingdom— seeks to<br />
elbow out incumbent Mohammed<br />
Murtala Ibrahim at the<br />
April showdown. The other<br />
heavyweights said to be rigorously<br />
pulling up their socks to<br />
occupy that position include<br />
Lawyer Anthony Namoo, Joseph<br />
Agongo and Abdalla Otito<br />
Werseh Achuliwor.<br />
“I am also very hopeful and<br />
optimistic that the peace, co-operation<br />
and understanding that<br />
characterised the entire process<br />
of these elections will be replicated<br />
in the upcoming constituency<br />
and regional executive<br />
elections.<br />
Let us conduct ourselves before,<br />
during and after the constituency<br />
and regional executive<br />
elections as we did during the<br />
just-ended polling stations and<br />
electoral area elections.<br />
“We need to remain united<br />
after all this process to form a<br />
formidable force to win more<br />
seats for our party. I believe in<br />
unity in diversity. I believe you<br />
will agree with me that we deserve<br />
more seats than the only<br />
three we have in the region and<br />
it will be tedious if not impossible<br />
to win more with a divided<br />
front. Finally, let’s ensure there is<br />
peace and unity among us after<br />
the entire processes to make the<br />
NPP attractive for 2020,” Mr<br />
Awankua stressed in his press release.<br />
“It does appear<br />
that the party hierarchy<br />
is not driven<br />
by a unity of purpose.<br />
In some constituencies<br />
and at<br />
the regional level,<br />
party leadership is<br />
at loggerheads<br />
with appointees<br />
and among themselves.<br />
The leadership,<br />
rather than<br />
solve issues of disunity,<br />
appear to be<br />
interested in personal<br />
goals and<br />
aggrandisement.”
13<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018<br />
BY ABIGAIL ASARE<br />
De Danzin<br />
Proph3t drops<br />
‘JahJah Dey’<br />
•Shatta Wale on set<br />
BY ERICA ARTHUR<br />
EMMANUEL ELI Agbemor,<br />
known in the music<br />
circle as De Danzin<br />
Proph3t, has released his<br />
second single dubbed<br />
‘JahJah Dey’ featuring<br />
LilZig.<br />
According to the young Urban<br />
Gospel Minister who is from Central<br />
Assemblies of God Church<br />
Ashaiman, he started as a Dance<br />
Minister/ evangelist and also Chief<br />
Servant of Christ Crew Inc (a Dance<br />
Poetry and Drama Ministry), and has<br />
grown to develop another gift inspired<br />
by the Holy Spirit, which is<br />
music.<br />
Speaking to The DAILY HER-<br />
ITAGE, Eli said “after successfully<br />
premiering my debut single, ‘DABB<br />
(Dance And Be Blessed)’ which I<br />
featured Clemento Suarez and was<br />
supported by Rev. Azigiza Jnr, Fifi<br />
Forson of Sunny FM and Footprint<br />
TV among other Great Ministers of<br />
God, I have come out with another<br />
single title ‘JahJah Dey’ unlike<br />
‘DABB’ which was a Francophone<br />
Gospel, ‘JahJah Dey’ is an Afro Pop<br />
song and seeks to motivate and inspire<br />
the youth going through the<br />
struggles of life and feeling like giving<br />
up.”<br />
The singer said ‘JahJah Dey’ talks<br />
about the need to hold on to faith in<br />
‘Jah’ and not give up. On why he<br />
chose ‘Jah’, he said it was due to his<br />
target audience of the song. Jah or<br />
Yah (Hebrew: Yah) is a short form<br />
of Yahweh.<br />
He said the song would be a<br />
blessing to mostly the lost, that they<br />
may understand there's hope in God.<br />
•De Danzin<br />
Proph3t, artiste<br />
Shatta Wale<br />
stars in Kejetia<br />
Vs Makola movie<br />
DANCEHALL ARTISTE, Shatta<br />
Wale will feature in a new movie titled<br />
‘Trial of Shatta Wale’.<br />
The movie scheduled for release<br />
later this year sees the the Zylofon<br />
Music artiste act alongside known<br />
faces of the Liezer Legacy production:<br />
Lawyer Ntim (Richmond<br />
Xavier Amoakoh) and Judge Louis<br />
Lamis among others.<br />
‘Kejetia Vs Makola – The Trial<br />
of Shatta Wale’ is a movie produced<br />
by Liezer-Legacy Productions, producers<br />
of award winning TV series<br />
Kejetia Vs Makola.<br />
I am not a celebrity— Medikal<br />
BY ERICA ARTHUR<br />
RAPPER, MEDIKAL has said he is<br />
not a celebrity but an entertainer who is<br />
being himself with his music.<br />
The rapper told Jason El-A the host<br />
of ‘Young, Wild and Free’ on Live FM<br />
last week Saturday, <strong>February</strong> 3, 2018<br />
that the trolling and hatred from some<br />
followers on social media and some<br />
bloggers inspires him, “am not bothered<br />
at all am not a celebrity but an entertainer<br />
and a normal guy, if<br />
you throw jabs at me on<br />
social media, I will<br />
come back for<br />
you. I don’t feel<br />
comfortable<br />
when I don’t<br />
see people<br />
jabbing on<br />
me on Social<br />
media.”<br />
According<br />
to the Sowutuom<br />
based<br />
Rapper, he was<br />
disappointed for<br />
•Medikal<br />
not winning an award at the 2017<br />
Vodafone Ghana Music Awards in spite<br />
of the nominations he got.<br />
He said “I am human and I got disappointed,<br />
it is life and it is normal. It<br />
hasn’t affected my music am still producing<br />
new songs.”<br />
Medikal also said, he does not brag<br />
or insult anyone in his songs but only<br />
talk about his real life experiences.Asking<br />
about his top five artistes he said<br />
“big ups to myself I’m currently the<br />
only artiste singing and rapping since a<br />
lot have switched to singing. My top<br />
five artistes is myself.”<br />
The Rapper has currently<br />
released a new single<br />
which he featured Bisa<br />
K ’Dei titled‘For You.’<br />
Young, Wild and<br />
Free is Live 91.9 FM‘s<br />
Campus-themed<br />
show. It is hosted by<br />
Jason El-A with support<br />
from DJ Mingle<br />
and produced by Salty<br />
Nation on Saturday and<br />
Sundays between 2 and 5<br />
pm.
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018<br />
My mum is my<br />
role model<br />
– Joselyn Dumas<br />
ACTRESS AND TV host<br />
Joselyn Dumas has said her<br />
mother is her inspiration<br />
and she is lucky to have her.<br />
According to Joselyn,<br />
her mum stood by her<br />
through everything and that<br />
has left a strong impression<br />
on her and built her into the<br />
accomplished woman she is<br />
today.<br />
Speaking on her weekly<br />
episodic chat show ‘Keeping<br />
it Real with Joselyn<br />
Dumas’, the TV show host<br />
revealed that her mum is<br />
her role model, her ‘rock’,<br />
and that she tries to emulate<br />
her in her relationships with<br />
friends and family.<br />
Joselyn who was chatting<br />
with Stephanie Benson and<br />
Claudia Lumor on the latest<br />
aired edition of the show,<br />
speaking about role models,<br />
said Oprah was one she admired<br />
from afar but her real<br />
one is her mum.<br />
She said “Someone like<br />
Oprah Winfrey she sort of<br />
inspires me…I also gather<br />
my inspiration from different<br />
people but I’ve always<br />
admired my mum for her<br />
strength… we’ve come a<br />
long way, my mum and I. So<br />
through it all, this woman is<br />
still like a rock and she’s my<br />
rock and that is what I want<br />
to be for my daughter and<br />
for my friends.<br />
“I think that sometimes<br />
we use the word role model<br />
loosely without even realizing<br />
the work we have to put<br />
in.” she added.<br />
Singer Stephanie Benson<br />
also revealed that her mum<br />
has been her role model<br />
throughout her life, especially<br />
after she was diagnosed<br />
with cancer.<br />
“My role model would<br />
be my mum too, because<br />
my mum was amazing. She<br />
died at 48 of cancer…and it<br />
was really hard but I see her<br />
strength and for that reason<br />
I wanted to be her,” she<br />
said.<br />
The trio also delved into<br />
other issues on the topic<br />
‘The Extended Woman’,<br />
and each had unique life<br />
stories to share, with Benson<br />
revealing why she<br />
started wearing heels at the<br />
age of three.<br />
Dumas and a host of<br />
panelists sit down every<br />
weekend on GhOne TV to<br />
discuss such issues which<br />
are critical to women.<br />
•Joselyn Dumas<br />
Agya Koo is more<br />
popular than<br />
Dumelo – Creative<br />
Arts Minister<br />
CATHERINE<br />
AFEKU, Minister<br />
for<br />
Tourism, Culture<br />
and Creative<br />
Arts claims Agya Koo<br />
is more popular than John<br />
Dumelo.<br />
Her statement comes<br />
after she was severely criticised<br />
by stakeholders in the<br />
entertainment industry regarding<br />
her decision to start<br />
Agya Koo and Daddy<br />
Lumba TV.<br />
“Agya Koo is more popular,<br />
when you go to my<br />
constituency, the people in<br />
the rural areas know Agya<br />
Koo but when you mention<br />
John Dumelo, they don’t<br />
know him.” explained Afeku<br />
during the launch of Agya<br />
Koo TV at the Accra Mall<br />
on Sunday, <strong>February</strong> 4,<br />
2018.<br />
She also added that online<br />
and sampling in a research<br />
methodology verifies<br />
that Agya Koo is more popular<br />
than Dumelo.<br />
She told the press at the<br />
launch that there are apps in<br />
the works for the likes of<br />
Daddy Lumba, Kojo Antwi,<br />
Jackie Appiah, Lil Win and<br />
• Agya Koo<br />
others. The decision to start<br />
with Agya Koo is because<br />
he has the biggest brand<br />
content wise.<br />
Earlier report about<br />
Agya Koo and Daddy<br />
Lumba TV<br />
As a way of resourcing<br />
Ghanaian artistes towards<br />
their upkeep, a mobile application<br />
has been developed<br />
to air programmes of the<br />
various artistes that would<br />
be enrolled onto the project,<br />
the Minister<br />
revealed.<br />
The first of the project,<br />
which is titled ‘Agya Koo<br />
TV, will be premiered at the<br />
Accra Shopping Mall on<br />
Sunday, <strong>February</strong> 4, 2018.<br />
The next in line of the<br />
TV series titled ‘Daddy<br />
Lumba TV,’ she noted, will<br />
be ready in a month’s time.<br />
This will be followed by<br />
other artists who will sign<br />
onto the project, she added.<br />
“This is an initiative that is<br />
going to put a lot of money<br />
• Catherine Afeku,<br />
Minister of Tourism<br />
•John Dumelo<br />
in the pickets of our artists.<br />
They need our support and<br />
we must help them by patronising<br />
the app,” she noted.<br />
Hon. Afeku revealed this<br />
when she took her turn at<br />
the Meet the Press series,<br />
Monday, to brief journalists<br />
about the achievements of<br />
her ministry in 2017 and<br />
what it intends doing in<br />
2018.<br />
The project is a publicprivate<br />
partnership aimed at<br />
supporting the upkeep of<br />
Ghanaian artists.
DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
Sports<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018<br />
• L-R-Victor Baiden, President of WABBA,<br />
Michael Ahorlu, Vice President of WABBA<br />
and a body builder<br />
Elite Bodybuilding<br />
Open set for March<br />
BY ANNETTE S. YEBOAH<br />
THE WORLD Amateur<br />
Bodybuilding Association<br />
(WABBA),<br />
Ghana Chapter will<br />
from Friday, March<br />
23, 2018 through to<br />
Sunday, March 25, 2018 organise<br />
Elite Bodybuilding Championship<br />
at Oyarifa, a suburb in Accra.<br />
The three-day event will see<br />
both female and male bodybuilders<br />
from the various weight categories<br />
in the country compete for a spot in<br />
the national event set for later in the<br />
year.<br />
The event will open with a seminar<br />
on weight training, judging and<br />
fitness awareness for bodybuilding<br />
athletes, gymnasium and climaxed<br />
with the Elite Bodybuilding Championship.<br />
The president of WABBA, Mr<br />
Victor Baiden told the DAILY<br />
HERITAGE in Accra yesterday<br />
that the competition is opened to all<br />
bodybuilders in the country and it<br />
would serve as a qualification platform<br />
for the athletes to participate<br />
in the national competition later in<br />
the year.<br />
“The head of judging at<br />
WABBA, Mr Prevor Chang from<br />
the United Kingdom will be the one<br />
to take the potential judges in<br />
Ghana through tutorials of the<br />
game and would also score the athletes,”<br />
he said.<br />
He said registration form could<br />
be acquired at their offices or on<br />
www.facebook.com/wabbagh.<br />
In a related development, Mr<br />
Michael Ahorlu who is the vice<br />
president of the association and<br />
also the head of branding and<br />
strategic marketing for WABBA,<br />
Ghana chapter said on Saturday,<br />
<strong>February</strong> 17, 2018 that the executives<br />
of the association would engage<br />
the bodybuilders to know and<br />
understand their grievances in the<br />
sport.<br />
He said the meeting would take<br />
place at Bond Gymnasium at Adentan<br />
Barrier in Accra where they<br />
would also reveal their progressive<br />
plans to the athletes who would be<br />
attending.<br />
“We want to understand their<br />
grievances, listen to them and also<br />
tell them of our expectations and<br />
the plans we have for them.<br />
“We want the bodybuilders in<br />
Ghana to grow from one level to<br />
another internationally. They should<br />
not only compete in Ghana but<br />
transcend their art to other parts of<br />
the world,” he said.<br />
He added that the executives<br />
would soon organise a community<br />
audition in the Greater Accra,<br />
Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Western<br />
Regions in the coming months.<br />
Mr Ahorlu called for corporate<br />
bodies and individuals in the country<br />
to support WABBA Ghana Federation<br />
by donating monies to<br />
MTN mobile money number<br />
0240760124.<br />
He also said corporate bodies<br />
could advertise their products and<br />
services and individuals in the<br />
country to take advantage of bodybuilding.<br />
Aduana Stars<br />
Announce<br />
Squad for CAF<br />
Champions League<br />
GHANA PREMIER<br />
League champions,<br />
2016/17, Aduana Stars have<br />
named an 18-man squad for<br />
their forthcoming CAF<br />
Champions League match<br />
against Libyan side Al<br />
Tahadi in the first leg of<br />
the preliminary round in<br />
Egypt due to the unstable<br />
political situation in Libya.<br />
The Fire Boys will commence<br />
their CAF Champions<br />
League campaign this<br />
weekend as they set to lock<br />
horns with their Libyan<br />
counterparts.<br />
Head coach of Aduana<br />
Stars, Yusif Abubakar has<br />
named a strong squad for<br />
their trip as they poised to<br />
achieve positive results in<br />
the first leg.<br />
Aduana Stars will face<br />
the winner of the tie between<br />
ES Setif of Algeria<br />
and Olympique de Bangui<br />
of Central African Republic<br />
if they beat Tahaddy.<br />
Below are the<br />
names of players:<br />
Tijani Ahmed<br />
Joseph Addo<br />
Akuoko Emma.<br />
Farouk Adams<br />
Caleb Amankwaa<br />
Paul Aidoo<br />
Justice A<br />
Abdul Rashid<br />
Anokye Badu<br />
Emmanuel Boateng<br />
Sam Adams<br />
Gockel Ahortoh<br />
Elvis Opoku<br />
Noah Martey<br />
Zakaria Mumuni<br />
Nat. Asamoah<br />
Bright Agyei<br />
Derick Sasraku.<br />
Black Bombers B in Hungary for boxing tournament<br />
SPORTS DESK<br />
SIX BOXERS and four officials<br />
of the junior national boxing<br />
team, Black Bombers B, are in<br />
Debrecen, Hungary to participate<br />
in the Bocskai Istvan Memorial<br />
International Boxing tournament.<br />
The Ghanaian team, which includes<br />
Shakul Samed, kid brother<br />
of the Samir brothers, joins the<br />
tournament which began on<br />
Tuesday, <strong>February</strong> 6, 2018 and<br />
will end on Sunday, <strong>February</strong> 11,<br />
2018. It is under the auspices of<br />
the Hungary Boxing Association.<br />
The junior Black Bombers<br />
were led by Abdul Samadu Mohammed,<br />
Vice-President of the<br />
Ghana Boxing Federation (GBF)<br />
and Coach Charles Quartey.<br />
The competition intends to enable<br />
the young boxers get the<br />
needed exposure to help hone<br />
their budding skills to take over<br />
from the regular Black Bombers<br />
team who are currently camping<br />
in Cape Coast ahead of the 2018<br />
Commonwealth Games in Australia<br />
in April this year.<br />
The GBF Vice-President said<br />
the tournament had come at the<br />
right time for the young boxers to<br />
gain the needed international exposure,<br />
to train and also fight<br />
with better facilities.<br />
“We know how good they are,<br />
we believe they will win gold<br />
medals to make Ghana proud and<br />
also get us invited to more such<br />
competitions in future,” he said.<br />
He thanked the Hungarian<br />
Embassy in Ghana for their assistance.<br />
• The Black Bombers B team