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NO. 100698 TUESDAY, MAY <strong>15</strong>, 2018<br />
PRICE: GH¢2.00<br />
DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
•Thatch structure put<br />
up by the community<br />
to serve as classroom<br />
• President Nana Akufo-Akufo has pledged<br />
to revamp the Railways Industry<br />
•Joe<br />
Ghartey,<br />
Railways<br />
Development<br />
Minister<br />
visit us: @dailyheritagegh dailyheritage facebook.com/dailyheritage.com.gh
02<br />
CONTENT<br />
DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, MAY <strong>15</strong>, 2018<br />
DAILY QUOTE<br />
In every day, there are<br />
1,440 minutes. That means<br />
we have 1,440 daily opportunities<br />
to make a positive<br />
impact. — Les Brown<br />
ANNIVERSARIES<br />
Friday June <strong>15</strong> Eid ul-Fitr<br />
Monday July 02 Republic Day<br />
Wed. August 22 Eidul-Adha<br />
Published by: EIB<br />
Network / Heritage<br />
Communications Ltd.<br />
Managing Editor:<br />
William Asiedu:<br />
0208<strong>15</strong>6974<br />
Editor:<br />
Kofi Enchill:<br />
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ISSN: 0855-52307<br />
VOL 7<br />
Location: Meridian<br />
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FOREIGN<br />
HEALTH<br />
Former rebel<br />
leader<br />
goes on trial in<br />
Uganda<br />
PG.04<br />
Let NACOB regulate<br />
Tramadol<br />
imports – Mental<br />
Health Authority<br />
PG.07<br />
ARTS<br />
& ENT<br />
SPORTS<br />
Make somebody’s<br />
child your own<br />
— Gifty Anti<br />
PG.13<br />
It feels great to<br />
score a hat-trick<br />
against Barcelona<br />
— Boateng<br />
PG.<strong>15</strong><br />
GES posts 10 teachers to community<br />
with no sch. building<br />
BY ELIASU TANKO<br />
THE GHANA Education Service<br />
Directorate in the Northern Region<br />
posted 10 teachers to<br />
Kochim, a village in the Kumbungu<br />
District, where there is no<br />
school building.<br />
The teachers have been in the community<br />
for two years now, always riding from their<br />
base in Tamale on motorbikes to sit idle behind<br />
a thatch structure put up by desperate<br />
parents as a learning centre to avoid zero interest<br />
in education among children in the village.<br />
The village of more than 700 residents<br />
has remained isolated from electricity, water,<br />
road and other basic amenities for decades,<br />
leaving the poor farmers in unspeakable suffering.<br />
Schoolchildren in the village attend school<br />
in nearby communities only in dry seasons<br />
and must be between six and 11 years before<br />
being enrolled chiefly due to the absence of<br />
school blocks.<br />
The situation attracted the attention of an<br />
Iranian aid agency, Annur Organisation for<br />
Humanitarian Service, which was constructing<br />
a mosque for the villagers, to build a twostructured<br />
facility near the mosque to serve<br />
as an Arabic learning centre.<br />
The local education directorate, acting on<br />
the advice of the district assembly, went<br />
ahead to post 10 teachers to handle about<br />
<strong>15</strong>0 children after the centre was forcibly<br />
turned into a school building.<br />
The district education director, Hajia<br />
Abiba Saaka, answering questions about the<br />
education service policy of posting teachers,<br />
said her outfit was not in charge of provision<br />
of infrastructure.<br />
“This is a<br />
nationwide<br />
issue; more to<br />
the point, we are<br />
not in charge of<br />
infrastructure;<br />
we are in charge<br />
of supervision,”<br />
she explained.<br />
She said the directorate would cut down<br />
the number of the teachers in the community<br />
during next academic session if the situation<br />
remained unchanged.<br />
“This is beyond me,” Hajia Abiba stated.<br />
“This is a nationwide issue; more to the<br />
point, we are not in charge of infrastructure;<br />
we are in charge of supervision,” she explained.<br />
“So when the problem is resolved, definitely<br />
we will have infrastructure there but for<br />
now, this is what I’m planning to do”, the education<br />
director noted.<br />
Residents are now extending the facility<br />
with an impoverished structure built with<br />
sticks and grass and calling aid agencies to intervene.<br />
Alhassan Issahaku, a teacher who has voluntarily<br />
taught the school for more than three<br />
years, said the children were learning under a<br />
grass shade put up by a Christians in the area<br />
before moving into the mosque built by the<br />
Iranians.<br />
“The government gave us teachers without<br />
a structure so we the community members<br />
decided to have a structure that would<br />
help teachers to have the classes but it is not<br />
enough. We have only two classes and the<br />
children are more than 100. We just want to<br />
manage and do the classes so that it can be<br />
three or four, so I appeal to the government<br />
and non-governmental organisations to come<br />
and help us because children from six years<br />
cannot go to school unless 11-years during<br />
rainy season,” a resident stated.<br />
• Thatch structure put<br />
up by the community to<br />
serve as classroom<br />
Mumuni Yakubu, a member of a committee<br />
in charge of education in the community,<br />
also said parents were worried over the uncertainty<br />
of their children’s future as more<br />
and more generations multiply without formal<br />
education.<br />
He disclosed that the youth, especially female<br />
teenagers, continued to leave the area<br />
for towns and cities in search of improved<br />
conditions. He said most of them eventually<br />
return with pregnancies or serious health<br />
complications, and therefore called for the<br />
immediate construction of a school building<br />
in the community.<br />
According to Mumuni, the district assembly,<br />
which is in charge of providing infrastructure,<br />
said it had no funds to build a<br />
school for the community.
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, MAY <strong>15</strong>, 2018 03<br />
• President Nana Addo<br />
Dankwa Akufo-Akufo<br />
has pledged to revamp<br />
the railways industry<br />
Railways Minister<br />
under fire<br />
• Over Central<br />
Railway Projects<br />
BY FRANCISCA EMEFA ENCHILL<br />
PRESSURE IS piling on<br />
the government to<br />
begin work on the Central<br />
Railway Line,<br />
which is considered to<br />
be one of the most crucial projects<br />
of the New Patriotic Party<br />
(NPP) government as it strives to<br />
revive Ghana’s ailing railway industry.<br />
The government earlier this<br />
year shortlisted some nine firms<br />
which submitted detailed Technical<br />
and Financial proposals for<br />
the development of the Central<br />
Spine Railway Line from Kumasi<br />
to Paga by the end of March, 2018<br />
for further evaluation.<br />
But, according to some stakeholders<br />
in the railway sector, the<br />
project appears to be “gathering<br />
dust and dragging on unduly.<br />
“The NPP government is currently<br />
in its second year and not a<br />
single railway line has been fully<br />
developed, a situation which<br />
many believe will affect the political<br />
fortunes of the party in the<br />
2020 elections,” a staff member of<br />
the Ghana Railways Company<br />
Limited, who did not want to be<br />
named, told the DAILY HER-<br />
ITAGE yesterday.<br />
“The NPP<br />
government is<br />
currently in its<br />
second year and<br />
not a single<br />
railway line has<br />
been fully<br />
developed, a<br />
situation which<br />
many believe will<br />
affect the<br />
political fortunes<br />
of the party in<br />
the 2020<br />
elections.”<br />
•Joe Ghartey, Railways<br />
Development Minister<br />
Background<br />
The Ministry, headed by senior lawyer and<br />
politician, Mr Joe Ghartey, is expected to partner<br />
its implementing agencies to ensure the realisation<br />
of the 595-km Greenfield Project, which<br />
will be running from Kumasi. The project is to<br />
develop a railway corridor between Kumasi and<br />
Paga to improve rail and logistics infrastructure,<br />
as part of an integrated transport network in<br />
Ghana.<br />
The project also seeks to improve rail transport<br />
services for passenger and freight, thereby<br />
reducing the cost of transportation, especially in<br />
trade to and from the the hinterland and the<br />
Northern regions of Ghana, as well as to Burkina<br />
Faso and other Sahelian countries.<br />
The project, which is also known in the<br />
Ghana Railways Master Plan as ‘Central Spine<br />
Expansion’, forms part of the development of<br />
the railway network expansion programme in the<br />
country.<br />
The Minister earlier this year informed Parliament<br />
that the government had already selected a<br />
consortium of firms led by Messrs Vision Consult<br />
Limited of Ghana in partnership with<br />
Messrs Gauff Ingenieure of Germany and<br />
Messrs ILF Consulting Engineers of Germany,<br />
after which a contract was signed in December<br />
2017.<br />
Details from Ministry<br />
Sources at the Ministry confirmed to the<br />
DAILY HERITAGE that the Ministry of<br />
Railway Development had signed a Memorandum<br />
of Understanding with the China Civil Engineering<br />
Construction Corporation to develop<br />
the existing railway and construct new ones on<br />
the basis of engineering, procurement and construction.<br />
But, the concerned staff members told the<br />
paper that they were worried about the seeming<br />
non-action and called on the sector minister to<br />
fast-track the implementation of the projects.<br />
“Joe Ghartey has weeks, if not months, to<br />
demonstrate his efficiency in the execution of<br />
these projects else [he] risks being reshuffled by<br />
the President, who is bent on fulfilling his manifesto<br />
pledges, which include a massive revamping<br />
of the country’s railway sector,” they stated.
<strong>Inside</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>15</strong>, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 5/14/18 7:14 PM Page 3<br />
• Police aim their weapons at a man who was being searched<br />
by other police officers following an explosion at nearby<br />
police headquarters in Surabaya<br />
Militant family uses child in suicide bomb attack on Indonesian police<br />
A FAMILY of Islamist militants<br />
in Indonesia carried an eightyear-old<br />
into a suicide bomb attack<br />
against police in Surabaya on<br />
Monday, a day after another militant<br />
family killed 13 people in suicide<br />
attacks on three churches in<br />
the same city.<br />
The suicide bombers rode<br />
two motorbikes up to a checkpoint<br />
outside a police station and<br />
blew themselves up, Tito Karnavian,<br />
the police chief in Indonesia’s<br />
second-largest city, told a<br />
news conference.<br />
He said the child survived the<br />
explosion, and CCTV footage<br />
showed a child stumbling around<br />
in the aftermath.<br />
Four officers and six civilians<br />
were wounded in the attack, East<br />
Java police spokesman Frans<br />
Barung Mangera said.<br />
President Joko Widodo<br />
branded the attacks in Surabaya<br />
the “act of cowards”, and<br />
pledged to push through a new<br />
anti-terrorism bill to combat Islamist<br />
militant networks.After<br />
some major successes tackling Islamist<br />
militancy since 2001, there<br />
has been a resurgence in recent<br />
years, including in January 2016<br />
when four suicide bombers and<br />
gunmen attacked a shopping area<br />
in central Jakarta. Reuters<br />
DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, MAY <strong>15</strong>, 2018<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
World news in 4 stories<br />
Former rebel leader<br />
goes on trial in Uganda<br />
Court proceedings<br />
have begun in the<br />
Ugandan capital<br />
Kampala today<br />
against the former<br />
rebel leader Jamil<br />
Mukulu, who is charged with rebellion<br />
and aiding terrorism.<br />
He led the Allied Democratic<br />
Front (ADF) forces, which operated<br />
in the west of the country in the<br />
90s and later pledged allegiance to<br />
al-Qaeda<br />
The charges against Mr Mukulu,<br />
•Ugandan Allied Democratic Front (ADF) rebel leader Jamil Mukulu pictured in 20<strong>15</strong><br />
together with 34 others, range from<br />
launching a rebellion against the<br />
Ugandan government, several<br />
counts of terrorism, crimes against<br />
humanity, aiding and abetting terrorism,<br />
and murder.<br />
In the 1990s and early 2000s his<br />
ADF rebel forces conducted<br />
many attacks on villages<br />
and were responsible<br />
for a violent incident at<br />
Kichwamba Technical College<br />
in 1998, where 80 students<br />
were burnt alive.<br />
Government military<br />
pressure forced them to<br />
flee into eastern DR Congo,<br />
where they joined up with<br />
local militia and renamed<br />
themselves ADF-NALU.<br />
Remnants of his forces<br />
have more recently been accused<br />
of being involved in<br />
a string of murders of<br />
Muslim clerics in various<br />
parts of Uganda between<br />
2013 and 20<strong>15</strong>, who the police<br />
said had been killed for<br />
daring to oppose his movement.<br />
Mr Mukula was arrested<br />
in Tanzania in early 20<strong>15</strong><br />
and extradited to Uganda.<br />
• People stand outside the mosque after being asked to evacuate<br />
on Sunday evening<br />
Suspected bomb<br />
found in attacked<br />
SA mosque<br />
SOUTH AFRICA'S elite police<br />
squad are investigating a<br />
possible explosive device left<br />
in a mosque attacked by three<br />
men last week.<br />
Hawks spokesman Simphiwe<br />
Mhlongo told Reuters<br />
news agency the bomb squad<br />
had been sent into the Imam<br />
Hussain Mosque in Verulam,<br />
a town north of Durban, on<br />
Sunday evening.<br />
The unit has not yet confirmed<br />
whether or not it was<br />
an explosive device.<br />
However, Mr Mhlongo<br />
did say the area had been<br />
searched on Friday, with<br />
nothing suspicious found.<br />
The Hawks have been investigating<br />
Thursday's fatal<br />
attack at the mosque, which<br />
left one man dead and two<br />
with serious injures.<br />
Several rooms were also<br />
set alight during the attack.<br />
There have been no arrests<br />
so far, and the motive is<br />
not clear, but Mr Mhlongo<br />
told news agency AFP the attack<br />
had "elements of extremism”.<br />
BBC<br />
One killed in Paris knife attack by man shouting 'Allahu akbar’<br />
AN ASSAILANT shouting “Allahu<br />
akbar” killed a passer-by<br />
in a knife attack that also<br />
wounded four others in the<br />
heart of Paris late on Saturday<br />
before he was shot dead by police,<br />
French authorities said.<br />
The country has been on<br />
high alert amid a series of attacks,<br />
commissioned or inspired<br />
by the Islamic State<br />
militant group, that has killed<br />
more than 240 people since<br />
20<strong>15</strong>.<br />
France “will not yield an<br />
inch to the enemies of freedom,”<br />
President Emmanuel<br />
Macron said after the attack,<br />
praising officers for “neutralizing<br />
the terrorist.”<br />
The first call to police was<br />
placed at 8:47 p.m. local time<br />
(1847 GMT), officers were on<br />
the scene within five minutes,<br />
and the attacker was “neutralized”<br />
within nine minutes of<br />
that first call, Prime Minister<br />
Edouard Philippe told reporters.<br />
Police union representative<br />
Rocco Contento told Reuters<br />
that the assailant, after attacking<br />
bystanders with a knife,<br />
rushed at police shouting “I<br />
will kill you, I will kill you!”<br />
He was then shot by the officers.<br />
The attack took place in the<br />
heart of the French capital in a<br />
district popular with tourists for<br />
its many restaurants and cafes,<br />
landmark retail stores, and the<br />
Paris opera. reuters •Personnel are seen at the scene of a knife attack in Paris, France <strong>May</strong> 12, 2018<br />
in this still image obtained from a video
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, MAY <strong>15</strong>, 2018<br />
05<br />
Editorial<br />
Tramadol must be criminalised<br />
AS THE abuse of Tramadol, a<br />
known pain killer for extreme pain,<br />
continues to destroy the youth,<br />
there are increasing calls for drastic<br />
measures to arrest the situation.<br />
Latest is the call by the Mental<br />
Health Authority and other stakeholders<br />
in the health sector on Parliament<br />
to urgently amend the<br />
Narcotic Drug Law to make Tramadol<br />
an illicit drug.<br />
Dr Akwasi Osei, Chief Executive<br />
Officer of the Authority, said<br />
the law should also be amended to<br />
impose stiffer punishment on importers<br />
of the drug.<br />
“It is important that as a society,<br />
we pay particular attention to<br />
young people because those who<br />
indulge in these substances become<br />
a threat to society.<br />
“The relationship between<br />
drugs and crime is well known and<br />
it will not be surprising that armed<br />
robbers will put themselves on<br />
such drugs as Tramadol,” Dr Osei<br />
noted in a statement released yesterday.<br />
Tramadol, sold under the brand<br />
name Ultram among others, is an<br />
opioid pain medication used to<br />
treat moderate to moderately severe<br />
pain. When taken by mouth<br />
in an immediate-release formulation,<br />
the onset of pain relief usually<br />
occurs within an hour.<br />
When abused it acts like heroin,<br />
a psychoactive substance with a<br />
major effect on the mind. This is<br />
the reason why the youth abuse it<br />
for sexual and super-energy purposes.<br />
But, the abuse can affect the<br />
heart and cause heart failure as<br />
well as difficulty in breathing and<br />
eventually death.<br />
In an interview on Joy FM recently,<br />
a psychiatrist specialist, Dr<br />
Yao Mfodwo, called on the Narcotics<br />
Control Board (NACOB) to<br />
curb the widespread abuse of the<br />
drug.<br />
“This is a narcotic…stop following<br />
cannabis…stop wasting<br />
our time…this is the real deal…<br />
please NACOB, wake up,” he<br />
stated.<br />
Since desperate situations require<br />
desperate measures, it is also<br />
the considered view of the<br />
DAILY HERITAGE that<br />
criminalising Tramadol is the<br />
surest way to put the reckless<br />
abuse under control.<br />
When people are arrested, prosecuted<br />
and jailed, it would send a<br />
strong signal to the rest of society.<br />
Parliament should, thus, act to<br />
save the youth who are messing<br />
themselves up through Tramadol<br />
abuse.<br />
NDC unveils ‘Asamankese<br />
Forces’ vigilante group<br />
BY KOJO ANSAH<br />
THE FORMATION of vigilante<br />
groups seems to be<br />
growing across the country,<br />
especially among the two<br />
major political parties - the<br />
ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the<br />
opposition National Democratic Congress<br />
(NDC), despite concerns raised by the National<br />
Peace Council, the clergy and civil<br />
society groups over existence of such<br />
groups.<br />
Disapproval of vigilante groups became<br />
a topical issue following acts of lawlessness<br />
and vandalism unleashed on state institutions<br />
and individuals by Invisible Forces<br />
and Khandahar Boys attached to the NPP<br />
after the party won power in 2016.<br />
But, failure to disband the vigilante<br />
groups gave impetus to the formation of<br />
more of such groups.<br />
The latest constituency to unveil a vigilante<br />
group is the NDC branch in the<br />
Lower West Akim constituency in the<br />
Eastern Region.<br />
The dreaded group, ‘Asamankese NDC<br />
Forces,’ the DAILY HERITAGE has<br />
“It is important<br />
that as a<br />
society, we pay<br />
particular<br />
attention to<br />
young people<br />
because those<br />
who indulge in<br />
these<br />
substances<br />
become a<br />
threat to the<br />
society.”<br />
• Johnson Kwadwo Asiedu Nketiah, NDC General Secretary<br />
gathered, is believed to possess magical<br />
powers that shield members from gunshots<br />
and knife attacks.<br />
The group was first spotted during the<br />
party's ‘Unity Walk’ in Somanya.<br />
Speaking to the DAILY HERITAGE<br />
at a press briefing to declare his intention<br />
to contest the<br />
Lower West<br />
Akyem Constituency<br />
organiser<br />
position,<br />
Aminu Issah,<br />
alias ‘organiser<br />
general’ said the<br />
group is not to<br />
foment trouble<br />
like the Invisible<br />
Forces but to<br />
provide sense of<br />
security to the<br />
party and its supporters.<br />
According to<br />
him, most supporters<br />
of the<br />
party in the settler<br />
communities were<br />
intimidated by the<br />
NPP with threats of<br />
driving them away should they vote for<br />
NDC, which prevented them from voting<br />
in the 2016 election, therefore, the group<br />
has been formed to provide a sense of security<br />
for such people to enable them to<br />
take part in the 2020 elections.
<strong>Inside</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>15</strong>, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 5/14/18 7:14 PM Page 5<br />
06<br />
View DAILY<br />
HERITAGE TUESDAY, MAY <strong>15</strong>, 2018<br />
‘Mothers are characterised<br />
by some attributes’<br />
BY DERBIE RAPHAEL<br />
MY SHARP pen<br />
has gone into<br />
hiding for some<br />
time now because<br />
of the activation<br />
of<br />
examination mood in me as a student.<br />
I, on that note owe my cherish<br />
readers an apology for such a<br />
long silence.<br />
It is factually accurate and incontestable<br />
that every human was<br />
born of a woman. Again, there is<br />
no denying the fact that not all<br />
women are mothers. Mothers are<br />
characterised by some attributes<br />
that no amount of words lace together<br />
can exhaustively describe.<br />
These attributes are not found in<br />
every woman.<br />
As a young man who has an insatiable<br />
penchant to succeed, I<br />
constantly remind myself of the<br />
saying that he who fails to appreciate<br />
will depreciate. It is in this regard<br />
that I succinctly wove<br />
together these words to add my<br />
melodious voice to the numerous<br />
titillating voices eulogising mothers<br />
across the length and breadth<br />
of this country and beyond in celebrating<br />
their milestone.<br />
This is a special day that my<br />
prolific pen cannot remain hidden<br />
and silent. It is a day that has all<br />
the forces to smoke my pen out of<br />
its resting place. The force is irresistible<br />
hence the flow of my ink<br />
on this day.<br />
Mothers' day is a day set aside<br />
like any other special day in the<br />
year, to celebrate mothers in acknowledgement<br />
of their invaluable<br />
contributions to children's<br />
lives. Mothers are indeed valuable<br />
assets. Without them, the world<br />
would be completely incomplete<br />
and without form.<br />
It is a fact beyond contest that<br />
all mothers are women but not all<br />
women are mothers. True mothers<br />
are invariably distinguished by<br />
their virtues which are rare in nonmothers.<br />
Mothers have an unending and<br />
unbounded love for children<br />
whether biological or not. Ask<br />
yourself whether you have this attribute<br />
of a mother.<br />
God has made mothers in a<br />
special way. They have patience<br />
that is uncommon in the lives of<br />
•Every human was born of a woman<br />
non-mothers. This is a verifiable<br />
fact. They have the capacity to endure<br />
all kinds of hardships in their<br />
insatiable quest to performing<br />
their motherly roles.<br />
They show uncommon love to<br />
children even if they (mothers) are<br />
not shown love. They show unconditional<br />
care to children in<br />
general. They are not discriminatory<br />
no matter the circumstances<br />
surrounding them. This is unfathomable.<br />
Mothers are God fearing,<br />
humble, sober and charitable in<br />
their lives.<br />
From where I am coming, the<br />
Upper West Region of Ghana,<br />
mothers do everything possible<br />
within their means to keep children<br />
and their families happy. In<br />
fact, they don't allow anything to<br />
cloud this attribute of theirs. They<br />
go every length to make children,<br />
their husbands and society comfortable.<br />
Mothers are so much committed<br />
and dedicated in pursuing the<br />
welfare of children in general.<br />
Motherliness reflects in your<br />
way of love, care, respect, patience<br />
and humility towards<br />
children, husbands, family<br />
members and the society as a<br />
whole. Your way of dressing as<br />
well as your ability to unite and<br />
maintain peace and happiness<br />
in your family and society<br />
makes you a mother. The definition<br />
of a mother cannot be<br />
complete without the mentioning<br />
of your ability to forgive<br />
and forget those who offend<br />
you.<br />
They become happy and excited in<br />
the growth and successes of children<br />
and their families.<br />
I can vividly recall how my late<br />
mother, may her soul rest in perfect<br />
peace, used to treat me and<br />
my friends. Indeed, she was a<br />
mother, a mother for all children.<br />
Hmmm, I missed your motherly<br />
care and love mum.<br />
The definition of mother transcends<br />
women who have biological<br />
children. A mother is not the<br />
one who gives birth to children.<br />
No! Rather, a mother is a woman<br />
of substance not in terms of<br />
riches but in accordance with our<br />
cherished and enviable traditional<br />
values and customs which are<br />
characterized by love.<br />
Motherliness reflects in your<br />
way of love, care, respect, patience<br />
and humility towards children,<br />
husbands, family members and the<br />
society as a whole. Your way of<br />
dressing as well as your ability to<br />
unite and maintain peace and happiness<br />
in your family and society<br />
makes you a mother. The definition<br />
of a mother cannot be complete<br />
without the mentioning of<br />
your ability to forgive and forget<br />
those who offend you.<br />
Let me use this opportunity to<br />
admonish all mothers to inculcate<br />
their motherly care and love in all<br />
children by seriously guarding<br />
against the profanity that characterizes<br />
the contemporary ways of<br />
dressing, and disrespect among<br />
most ladies and some gentlemen.<br />
In all sincerity, we are fast losing<br />
our most cherished,<br />
beautiful and enviable<br />
societal values and culture<br />
to that of the western<br />
cultures. Mothers<br />
must therefore champion<br />
the crusade of the<br />
fast losing motherly<br />
qualities among the potential<br />
mothers. Most of<br />
the potential mothers<br />
have become "social<br />
workers" and others take<br />
delight in drinking and<br />
smoking. It is so worrying<br />
the alarming rate at<br />
which our potential<br />
mothers are messing up<br />
all in the name of<br />
modernity.<br />
I want to conclude by<br />
suggesting that mothers<br />
use this special day of<br />
theirs to educate, mentor<br />
and sensitise, on the<br />
need to be true mothers.<br />
I mean mothers of substance.<br />
This should be<br />
manifested in their dressing, conversation,<br />
relationship and behaviour<br />
in their families, societies,<br />
villages, towns and cities.<br />
Mothers' day is a<br />
day set aside like<br />
any other special<br />
day in the year, to<br />
celebrate mothers<br />
in acknowledgement<br />
of their invaluable<br />
contributions<br />
to children's lives.<br />
Mothers are indeed<br />
valuable assets.<br />
Without them, the<br />
world would be<br />
completely incomplete<br />
and without<br />
form.
<strong>Inside</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>15</strong>, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 5/14/18 7:14 PM Page 6<br />
Four steps in avoiding breast cancer<br />
Limit alcohol<br />
THE MORE alcohol you drink,<br />
the greater your risk of developing<br />
breast cancer. The general recommendation<br />
based on research on<br />
the effect of alcohol on breast cancer<br />
risk is to limit yourself to less<br />
than 1 drink per day as even small<br />
amounts increase risk.<br />
Don't smoke<br />
Accumulating evidence suggests<br />
a link between smoking and<br />
breast cancer risk, particularly in<br />
premenopausal women. In addition,<br />
not smoking is one of the<br />
best things you can do for your<br />
overall health.<br />
Control your weight<br />
Being overweight or obese increases<br />
the risk of breast cancer.<br />
This is especially true if obesity occurs<br />
later in life, particularly after<br />
menopause.<br />
Breast-feed<br />
Breast-feeding might play a role<br />
in breast cancer prevention. The<br />
longer you breast-feed, the greater<br />
the protective effect.<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, MAY <strong>15</strong>, 2018<br />
&Env.<br />
Let NACOB regulate Tramadol<br />
imports – Mental Health Authority<br />
THE MENTAL Health<br />
Authority (MHA) wants<br />
the Narcotics Control<br />
Board (NACOB) to be allowed<br />
to regulate the importation<br />
of Tramadol<br />
into Ghana.<br />
According to the Authority, the Narcotic<br />
Drugs Law must be amended by<br />
Parliament to allow NACOB to play a<br />
supervisory role of the drug.<br />
“Tramadol is a prescription drug and<br />
therefore licit, but the dosages we are<br />
seeing and hearing of must make tramadol<br />
necessarily come under the regulation<br />
of NACOB in terms of what can be<br />
allowed in the system.<br />
“The Narcotic Drugs Law in Parliament<br />
should be amended to include Tramadol<br />
among the list of drugs to be<br />
controlled by NACOB and to give stiffer<br />
punishment to importers of illicit or unapproved<br />
drugs, for in the long run, such<br />
importers are killers,” the Authority said<br />
in a statement signed by its Chief Executive,<br />
Dr. Akwasi Osei and dated <strong>May</strong> 13,<br />
2018.<br />
The statement was issued after a<br />
stakeholders’ meeting organised recently.<br />
Tramadol is a pain relief drug, which,<br />
according to medical experts, functions<br />
like heroin and can cause psychotic problems<br />
as well as damage vital organs in the<br />
human body if abused.<br />
Recent surveys have shown that the<br />
drug is being abused by some youths as<br />
well as some market women, drivers and<br />
in some cases, students.<br />
The MHA, in the statement, further<br />
called for stiffer punishment for persons<br />
who import such drugs into the country<br />
since, to the Authority, “those who indulge<br />
in these substances become a<br />
threat to the society.<br />
“The relationship between drugs and<br />
crime is well known and it will not be<br />
surprising that armed robbers will put<br />
themselves on such drugs as Tramadol.”<br />
The Food and Drugs Authority had<br />
said it had tightened surveillance at the<br />
country’s borders and also boosted public<br />
education.<br />
Below is the full statement from the<br />
MHA:<br />
Statement from a Stakeholders’<br />
Meeting Organised by the Mental Health<br />
Authority (MHA) on the Tramadol Menace<br />
in Ghana<br />
• Dr Akwasi Osei, Chief Executive of Mental Health Authority<br />
Stakeholders at a meeting on the Tramadol<br />
menace have observed with great<br />
concern the disturbing news of Tramadol<br />
abuse that has hit the country in<br />
the last couple of months. As reported<br />
in the media, this is an issue of the youth<br />
and young men who are mostly affected.<br />
Tramadol, or tramol, as some people<br />
know it, is a prescription drug for treatment<br />
purposes but its abuse can have serious<br />
effects on the brain, the mind, the<br />
heart, the respiratory or breathing system<br />
and can even lead to coma and death.<br />
The frequent reports led to the MHA<br />
to organise a stakeholder meeting on<br />
Thursday, <strong>May</strong> 10, 2018 aimed at arresting<br />
this developing canker.<br />
Tramadol is a synthetic opioid which<br />
acts very much like heroin, a psychoactive<br />
substance, with a major effect on the<br />
mind.<br />
The youth abuse it for sexual and energy<br />
purposes and often it is added to<br />
some drinks or beverages to give a<br />
heightened ‘feeling high’ sensation and<br />
pleasure. As the drug is used the brain<br />
tells the user that he needs more and<br />
then without it one cannot perform his<br />
normal functions, then he is addicted or<br />
dependent.<br />
Dangers of addiction include overdose<br />
and coma or death. It also affects<br />
the heart and can give heart failure, likewise<br />
affecting the respiratory system to<br />
create breathing problems and eventually<br />
death.<br />
Unscrupulous importers<br />
Unscrupulous importers import<br />
those tablets of unauthorised high doses,<br />
sometimes five times the normal dose<br />
and therein lies the danger.<br />
It is important that as a society, we<br />
pay particular attention to young people<br />
because those who indulge in these substances<br />
become a threat to the society.<br />
The relationship between drugs and<br />
crime is well known and it will not be<br />
surprising that armed robbers will put<br />
themselves on such drugs as tramadol.<br />
At the stakeholder meeting it became<br />
obvious that we need to tackle the issue<br />
of opioid abuse holistically as a national<br />
agenda. The stakeholders noted and recommended<br />
where necessary, that:<br />
The role of regulatory bodies like to<br />
Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and<br />
Pharmacy Council cannot be over-emphasized<br />
in regulating the availability and<br />
sale of such substances. These institutions<br />
must be adequately resourced to<br />
carry out this regulatory function.<br />
Narcotics Control Board is the statutory<br />
body to regulate the availability of<br />
illicit narcotic drugs. Tramadol is a prescription<br />
drug and therefore licit, but the<br />
dosages we are seeing and hearing of<br />
must make Tramadol necessarily come<br />
under the regulation of NACOB in<br />
terms of what can be allowed in the system.<br />
It is hereby recommended that<br />
NACOB continues its vigilance to seize<br />
such drugs with strengths more than approved<br />
for treatment purposes.<br />
Institutions with the mandate to control<br />
the importation of these drugs, particularly<br />
at the borders, should be<br />
strengthened and their mandates well enforced.<br />
In this regard, FDA, NACOB<br />
and Pharmacy Council must have full access<br />
to the containers that carry these<br />
drugs at the ports for them to be sure<br />
that the drugs are within prescription<br />
levels and this can only be with the cooperation<br />
of the Customs at the borders.<br />
Narcotic Drug Law<br />
The Narcotic Drug Law in Parliament<br />
should be amended to include tramadol<br />
among the list of drugs to be<br />
controlled by NACOB and to give stiffer<br />
punishment to importers of illicit or unapproved<br />
drugs, for in the long run such<br />
importers are killers.<br />
There is the need for scientific data<br />
base to establish the magnitude of the<br />
problem, in terms of the drug use and its<br />
effects. It is recommended that all health<br />
facilities should include an enquiry on<br />
the use of tramadol in the battery of<br />
questions to their patients, especially the<br />
youth, by which we can establish the size<br />
of the problem, among other approaches.<br />
There should be more public education<br />
and media sensitisation on the dangers<br />
of drugs generally, and opioids in<br />
particular, to stem the tide of drug<br />
abuse. Institutions responsible for this<br />
education, like the Mental Health Authority,<br />
School Health Programmes, Demand<br />
Reduction Department of<br />
NACOB, should be adequately resourced<br />
to embark on this mandate of theirs.<br />
Abuse of, and addiction to, some<br />
prescription opioids like pentazocine is<br />
often by health personnel and is often iatrogenic,<br />
that is, induced in the course of<br />
treatment. It is therefore strongly recommended<br />
that doctors and nurses should<br />
not be in a hurry to ‘kill’ the least pain in<br />
their clients.<br />
One should always judge the merits<br />
of treating the pain against the risk of<br />
addiction to the painkiller, and in that<br />
case many instances of pethidine and<br />
sosegun abuse would be reduced, especially<br />
in surgical cases.<br />
Controlled and not<br />
controlled medicine<br />
For now FDA classifies medicines<br />
into Controlled and not Controlled. It is<br />
recommended that we go further to use<br />
the full scheduling system where drugs<br />
are in Schedules I-VI. For instance,<br />
Schedule VI could be Over The Counter<br />
Drug (OTC), where one does not require<br />
prescription to buy because there is no<br />
risk of abuse and dependence; Schedule<br />
V would be where a prescription, not<br />
necessarily from a doctor, is required, because<br />
of a little danger of abuse; Schedule<br />
IV where a doctor’s prescription is<br />
required for obvious reasons of abuse<br />
and some low addiction potential; Schedule<br />
III where a doctor’s prescription is<br />
needed and there is a moderate potential<br />
for abuse and addiction; Schedule II<br />
where there is a high potential of abuse<br />
and addiction and one requires specially<br />
trained doctors, that is not any doctor at<br />
all; and Schedule I where there is the<br />
greatest potential of abuse and addiction<br />
and there is no medicinal or treatment<br />
value for the drug, for example Heroin,<br />
LSD and Marijuana.<br />
Of course with the scheduling there<br />
must be a mechanism to enforce, and<br />
not the situation where one can virtually<br />
buy every medicine in the open.<br />
There is the need to set up treatment<br />
and rehabilitation centres for persons<br />
who are dependent on drugs, and train<br />
all doctors to be able to handle initial<br />
phases of drug abuse even before referral.<br />
That also means the agencies responsible<br />
for this training, the Mental Health<br />
Authority and NACOB, must be adequately<br />
resourced.<br />
Researchers are invited to enter the<br />
area of researching on epidemiology of<br />
substance use, particularly opioids. Currently<br />
there is very little research in this<br />
area. Policy makers need data to inform<br />
decisions.<br />
The government must give adequate<br />
attention to drug abuse. In the US the<br />
government has recognised opioid crisis<br />
as a national public health emergency.<br />
We certainly would not want to wait till<br />
we get there and we have the choice now.<br />
Agencies mentioned with any roles to<br />
play must be adequately resourced and<br />
strengthened. The Boards of the<br />
NACOB and the Mental Health Authority<br />
must be constituted at the minimum<br />
for them to support or approve major<br />
policy decisions of their agencies.<br />
Implementation of these action<br />
points requires a well-coordinated, multiagency<br />
approach to tackle the issue of<br />
tramadol and opioid abuse among the<br />
youth.<br />
Stakeholders present at the meeting<br />
included; Mental Health Authority, Food<br />
and Drugs Authority, Narcotics Control<br />
Board, Ministry of Health and Ghana<br />
Health Services.<br />
Others are Private Mental Health<br />
Practitioners, Mental Health Consultants,<br />
Ghana Education Service, NGOs and<br />
the Media.<br />
Thank you.
spread_MAY <strong>15</strong> 2018.qxp_SHOWBIZ TEMP 5/14/18 7:14 PM Page 1<br />
ews<br />
News<br />
DAILY HERITAGE, MONDAY, MAY <strong>15</strong>, 2018 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
Nkawkaw: hunter<br />
kills snail searcher<br />
BY KOJO ANSAH<br />
THE POLICE at Nkawkaw in the<br />
Eastern Region have begun<br />
investigations into the circumstances<br />
surrounding the death of a 23-year-old<br />
who was allegedly shot dead by a hunter.<br />
Kofi Samson was last seen at his<br />
Tenkyemso residence, near Akoasi after<br />
he went in search for snails on<br />
Wednesday, <strong>May</strong> 9, 2018.<br />
Residents after a search spotted the<br />
deceased laying dead with gunshot<br />
wounds on his chest the following day.<br />
Police reports suggest that an empty<br />
BB cartridge was found at the crime<br />
scene.<br />
Meanwhile, police have detained a 45-<br />
year-old man identified as Richard<br />
Adjatey who turned himself in as the<br />
one who shot the victim.<br />
The lifeless body of the deceased has<br />
since been deposited at the Holy Family<br />
Hospital for autopsy.<br />
Graduates without certificate<br />
unable to apply for NaBCo<br />
BY KWAKU BAAH ACHEAMFOUR<br />
THE REGISTRAR of Cape Coast<br />
Technical University (CCTU), Mr Magnus<br />
Bentil is appealing to students who have<br />
graduated from the institution but are yet<br />
to receive their certificates to exercise a bit<br />
more restraint as plans are far advanced to<br />
get them ready.<br />
The registrar revealed the delay in the<br />
issuance of the certificate was not from<br />
the CCTU but the certificate awarding<br />
body, National Board of Business and<br />
Technical.<br />
This assurance by the registrar follows<br />
concerns raised by some graduates of the<br />
CCTU who are not able to register for the<br />
government’s NaBCo programme due to<br />
failure to provide their certificates to<br />
validate the registration process.<br />
The graduates say they fear losing the<br />
opportunity to register for the NaBCo<br />
programme due to uncertainties that<br />
hover around the actual time their<br />
certificates would be ready.<br />
Speaking to Starr News, Mr Bentil said<br />
there was no justification to blame the<br />
CCTU for the delay in issuing the<br />
certificates.<br />
Mr Bentil explained that there are<br />
alternative documents available for<br />
graduates who wish to apply for the<br />
NaBCo programme which can equally<br />
serve the purpose of their certificates and<br />
therefore urged the graduates to access<br />
these documents from the school for any<br />
transaction that may so require their<br />
certificates.<br />
Over 50% of pupils<br />
can’t read – UNICEF<br />
BY MIRIAM HAYFORD<br />
THE UNITED Nations<br />
Children Education<br />
Fund (UNICEF) has<br />
painted a gloomy picture<br />
of the country’s basic<br />
educational sub-sector.<br />
According to the organisation, just<br />
about 40% of basic school pupils are<br />
able to read and understand as well as<br />
solve basic numeracy problems.<br />
Speaking to Starr News, Social<br />
Policy Specialist with UNICEF, Mr<br />
Charles Dzradosi attributed the<br />
problem to the lack of needed<br />
investments in basic education.<br />
According to him, government’s<br />
Free SHS policy will fail if the<br />
foundation continues to deteriorate.<br />
“About 123,000 kids are right now<br />
known to be out of school,” Mr<br />
•Pupils sitting on the floor<br />
Dzradosi said.<br />
“They are not in school at all and<br />
those that are in school a huge chunk<br />
of them are not learning well enough<br />
either through poor teaching, learning<br />
materials because of that they are<br />
missing out on the actual outcomes<br />
for why they are in school. So if we<br />
do not address the fundamental or<br />
that basic, children will grow up into<br />
basic and Senior High School (SHS)<br />
without even knowing how to do<br />
proper calculation in Maths or write<br />
English.<br />
“The recent education assessment<br />
report for basic schools indicated only<br />
about 40% of pupils are able to do<br />
their Maths and English well. So if we<br />
have such statistics what kind of<br />
people are you pushing into free<br />
SHS,” Mr Dzradosi lamented.<br />
He further called on the<br />
government to pay urgent attention to<br />
quality at the basic education level.<br />
I’ve divine bond of<br />
friendship with<br />
Mahama –<br />
Amissah-Arthur<br />
BY MAXWELL<br />
OKAMAFO ADDO<br />
THE IMMEDIATE past<br />
Vice President of the<br />
Republic of Ghana, Kwesi<br />
Bekoe Amissah-Arthur<br />
Arthur has sharply denied<br />
stories making the rounds<br />
to the effect that former<br />
President Mahama<br />
rendered him ‘useless’.<br />
According to him, this<br />
can only be a figment of<br />
someone’s imagination and<br />
should be treated with the<br />
contempt it deserves.”<br />
In reacting to the fake<br />
story, he said, “I have never<br />
had a telephone (or any)<br />
conversation remotely<br />
resembling what has been<br />
written,” noting that there<br />
is a divine bond of<br />
friendship and<br />
understanding between<br />
themselves.<br />
The story which was<br />
carried by Otec Fm has<br />
been widely circulated on<br />
social and traditional media<br />
in an unfair attempt to<br />
impugn the credibility of<br />
the respectable former<br />
Vice and to create a wedge<br />
between him and his<br />
former boss.<br />
According to the story,<br />
Mr Amissah-Arthur is on<br />
record to have said that<br />
Mahama rendered him<br />
ineffective and that his role<br />
was not defined and that<br />
someone else was virtually<br />
made the Veep.<br />
The story went further<br />
to suggest that he was<br />
relegated to the<br />
background and was made<br />
redundant.<br />
As far as Mr Amissah –<br />
Arthur is concerned they<br />
have a harmonious<br />
working relationship till<br />
date and they are best of<br />
friends. And have a divine<br />
bond of friendship and<br />
understanding between<br />
themselves and the NDC.<br />
He said “John Mahama<br />
saw a tested and loyal Vice<br />
President, and maintained<br />
him as his running mate<br />
for the presidential election<br />
in 2016. Someone he trusts<br />
absolutely, completely.”<br />
The story which<br />
was carried by Otec<br />
Fm has been widely<br />
circulated on social<br />
and traditional<br />
media in an unfair<br />
attempt to impugn<br />
the credibility of the<br />
respectable former<br />
Vice and to create a<br />
wedge between him<br />
and his former boss.<br />
•The ford vehicle which mangled in the accident<br />
12 killed on ‘Ebony’s’ road<br />
•The entrance of the Cape Coast Technical University<br />
BY KWAME ACHEAMPONG<br />
AT LEAST 12 people have been<br />
confirmed dead in an accident<br />
at Akwatiakrom on the Kumasi-<br />
Sunyani highway in the Ashanti<br />
Region.<br />
The midnight incident happened<br />
few kilometers from the spot where<br />
dancehall artist Ebony lost her life.<br />
The accident occurred between a<br />
ford minibus registered AS 7257-<strong>15</strong><br />
and a Benz cargo truck with<br />
registration number GR 2624-14<br />
heading to Dormaa Ahenkro from<br />
Kumasi.<br />
The two vehicles had a head-on<br />
collision leading to the death of the<br />
passengers mostly in the ford vehicle.<br />
The driver of the ford also died in the<br />
crash.<br />
Police in the Ashanti Region have<br />
confirmed the incident and begun<br />
investigations.<br />
•Kwesi Amissah-Arthur and John Dramani<br />
Mahama
<strong>Inside</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>15</strong>, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 5/14/18 7:14 PM Page 7<br />
14TH<br />
MAY<br />
2018<br />
MONDAY<br />
CURRENCY PARIS CODE BUYING SELLING<br />
US Dollar USDGHS 4.4101 4.4145<br />
RATES Pound Sterling GBPGHS<br />
5.9757<br />
5.9830<br />
Euro<br />
GBPGHS<br />
5.2696<br />
5.2751<br />
10<br />
DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, MAY <strong>15</strong>, 2018 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
Start-ups to enjoy a 3-year<br />
tax holiday – Awal Mohammed<br />
PATRICIA AMA BONSU<br />
START-UPS and entrepreneurs<br />
operating in the country<br />
will soon breathe a sigh<br />
of relief with the coming in<br />
of a three-year tax holiday.<br />
This initiative, according to the<br />
Business Development Minister, Awal<br />
Mohammed, forms part of the government’s<br />
agenda, to support entrepreneurs<br />
create jobs to help reduce the<br />
unemployment rate.<br />
Challenges that continue to plague<br />
entrepreneurs include lack of access to<br />
credits, access to markets, and the<br />
stressful bureaucratic business registration<br />
processes among others.<br />
Speaking with Ultimate Business<br />
after meeting with entrepreneurs in<br />
Kumasi, the Minister explained that<br />
with the tax holiday, entrepreneurs<br />
“can plough back their profits to expand”.<br />
“We think that start-ups need some<br />
space to grow. The essence of all these<br />
is to create jobs for our people and improve<br />
livelihoods. We want to encourage<br />
that when start-ups take off, for<br />
the first three years, they need not pay<br />
taxes.<br />
“They will plough back their profits,<br />
they expand their business and they<br />
can employ people. We’ll also help<br />
them with markets because there’s no<br />
point having a business that you cannot<br />
sell,” he said.<br />
He continued that “another policy<br />
that we want to look at is that 10 per<br />
cent of public-funded projects or businesses<br />
should go to start-ups and that<br />
already give them the market to grow.<br />
It is not yet a policy but something that<br />
we’re pursuing.”<br />
The Business Development Minister<br />
also said that government would<br />
from July this year begin disbursing<br />
some $10 million to some young entrepreneurs<br />
who have undergone training<br />
to create businesses.<br />
He further made special mention of<br />
the contribution of women and persons<br />
living with disability to the business<br />
community, thus equally<br />
•Awal Mohammed, Business Development Minister<br />
supporting their businesses to grow<br />
faster.<br />
“We’ve trained close to 10,000<br />
young people across the country and<br />
out of them we are going to select 700<br />
and give them money. The President<br />
has already ceded $10 million and that<br />
money will go to support young people<br />
in various professions. In July/August<br />
we will start disbursing this money.”<br />
“Women constitute 52 per cent of<br />
this country and are very good business<br />
people. You cannot grow an economy<br />
without women participation and<br />
so this year we’re going to support at<br />
least 1,000 women; we’ll train them<br />
and fund them to do business.”<br />
“When we do that, they can expand,<br />
employ and improve the lives of<br />
people. The President wants to make<br />
sure that Ghana grows inclusively to<br />
make Ghana a business environment<br />
for Africa.”<br />
The Kumasi Entrepreneurs Meet-<br />
Up was organized by the Kumasi Hive<br />
in collaboration with the Konrad Adenaeur<br />
Stiftung, the Ministry of Business<br />
Development and the Delegation<br />
of German Industry and Commerce in<br />
Ghana.<br />
It was held on the theme: ‘Enhancing<br />
Ghana’s Entrepreneurs and Startups;<br />
Elements of a Future<br />
Strategy/Policy by the Ghanaian Government’.<br />
In attendance were start-ups who<br />
are in technology, food and agriculture,<br />
energy, health, clothing, communication,<br />
and education among others.<br />
Trade Ministry inaugurates 12-member c’ttee to vet seized textiles<br />
A TWELVE-MEMBER vetting<br />
committee has been inaugurated<br />
by the Trade and Industry Ministry<br />
to facilitate the work of the<br />
Anti-Textile Piracy Taskforce.<br />
The committee, among other<br />
things, is expected to determine<br />
whether all textiles confiscated by<br />
the taskforce are pirated or not.<br />
The move comes barely a<br />
month after the textile workers<br />
union hit the streets to demonstrate<br />
against the influx of fake<br />
textiles unto the market.<br />
The textile industry, which<br />
used to employ about 27,000<br />
workers in the 70’s, now employs<br />
less than 3,000 as a result of the<br />
collapse of textile firms.<br />
The Deputy Trade Minister,<br />
Carlos Ahenkorah, told ‘Starr<br />
•Textile products<br />
Business’ on<br />
Starr 103.5<br />
FM that the<br />
vetting committee<br />
was<br />
critical to the<br />
fight against<br />
pirated textiles<br />
on the<br />
market.<br />
“When<br />
the taskforce<br />
arrests the<br />
textile material,<br />
a committee<br />
needs<br />
to identify<br />
whether the<br />
materials are<br />
pirated,<br />
counterfeited<br />
or uncustomed,” he stated.<br />
“So what we did with this new<br />
task force that was formed…<br />
we gave them a term of reference<br />
that included issuing or issuance<br />
of detention receipt when they<br />
seize anything.”<br />
He explained that within 14<br />
days the owner of the cloth that<br />
was seized would be expected to<br />
appear before the vetting committee<br />
with the detention receipt to<br />
determine whether the seizure was<br />
right or wrong.<br />
“We don’t want to do things to<br />
disenfranchise anybody because<br />
we are all Ghanaians and we all<br />
have a right to live, right to trade<br />
and a right to [do] business,” he<br />
stated.
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DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, MAY <strong>15</strong>, 2018 11<br />
Politics<br />
Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about<br />
anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for<br />
yourself —Henry James<br />
We will create assets<br />
from oil revenue – Prez<br />
BY JONATHAN ADJEI<br />
THE PRESIDENT<br />
of the Republic,<br />
Nana Addo Dankwa<br />
Akufo-Addo, says<br />
his government will<br />
use oil revenues to<br />
create assets for the country, and<br />
not waste it on consumption.<br />
According to President Akufo-<br />
Addo, as a relatively new entrant<br />
in the league of oil-producing<br />
countries, Ghana is not going to<br />
treat her oil like she had done with<br />
gold, and allow it to be exported<br />
in its raw material form as crude.<br />
Ghana’s oil, President Akufo-<br />
Addo explained, presents the<br />
country with the perfect opportunity<br />
to transform the structure of<br />
Ghanaian economy through industrialisation<br />
and value-added<br />
commercial activities.<br />
“Our oilfields provide us with<br />
the perfect opportunity to create a<br />
petrochemical industry in Ghana.<br />
We have begun the processes leading<br />
to the setting up of a gas feedstock<br />
industrial estate in the<br />
Western Region of the country,”<br />
he said.<br />
The President indicated further<br />
that “we intend to convert our<br />
petrochemicals into hundreds of<br />
industrial and consumer products<br />
produced in Ghana, including<br />
plastics, paints, rubber, fertilisers,<br />
detergents, dyes, textiles, solvents<br />
and, hopefully, bitumen for road<br />
construction.”<br />
President Akufo-Addo was<br />
convinced that from the petroleum,<br />
the country could get the<br />
preservatives to can food produced<br />
in Ghana, with the synthetic<br />
by-product from petroleum<br />
serving as raw material for the<br />
manufacturing of different types<br />
of garments and footwear.<br />
The President made this<br />
known on Saturday, <strong>May</strong> 12, 2018,<br />
when he delivered a speech at the<br />
London Business School’s Africa<br />
Summit, on the theme ‘Scaling for<br />
Impact – the Important Role of<br />
Industrialisation.’<br />
In his remarks, the President<br />
indicated that unless Ghana industrialises<br />
with the goal of adding<br />
value to her primary products, the<br />
country could not create the necessary<br />
numbers of good-paying<br />
jobs that will enhance the living<br />
• President Nana Akufo-Addo speaks at LBS<br />
standards of the mass of the<br />
Ghanaian people.<br />
“Raw material producing<br />
economies do not create prosperity<br />
for the masses. The way to that<br />
goal, the goal of ensuring access<br />
to prosperity, is value addition activities<br />
in a transformed and a diversified<br />
modern economy, with a<br />
modernised agriculture. In other<br />
words, the industrial development<br />
of our economy, which takes on<br />
board the aid of digital technology,”<br />
he added.<br />
Importance of<br />
Education<br />
Industrialisation, the President<br />
said, can only be successful with a<br />
workforce that is equipped and<br />
skilled, and can compete effectively<br />
on the global market.<br />
Any country that aims to transform<br />
itself into a modern productive<br />
player in the global<br />
marketplace must get its educational<br />
policies right, adding that<br />
the countries that have made rapid<br />
progress around the world put education<br />
at the heart of their development.<br />
Citing the example of the<br />
United States of America’s transitioning<br />
to publicly funded high<br />
school education in the mid-19th<br />
century, President Akufo-Addo<br />
stated that the experiment paid<br />
off, and America set herself up<br />
for 20th century success, creating<br />
a workforce fit for rapid economic<br />
development, which has inspired<br />
the emergence of the most powerful<br />
economy so far known to<br />
human history.<br />
“Indeed, other nations, who<br />
began their lives as independent<br />
states at the same time as we did,<br />
like Singapore, Malaysia and<br />
Korea, have emulated a similar<br />
model, and have also achieved<br />
great economic success. In fact, in<br />
their case, they followed Japan’s<br />
excellent example,” he said.<br />
Through the policy of Free<br />
Senior High School education introduced<br />
in September 2017, President<br />
Akufo-Addo told the<br />
gathering that 90,000 more students<br />
gained access to Senior<br />
High School in 2017, than they<br />
did in 2016.<br />
“We are of the firm conviction<br />
also, that we shall be able to transform<br />
Ghana’s economy and reduce<br />
unemployment, when we pay<br />
attention to technical and vocational<br />
training. That is where the<br />
skills needed for the modern<br />
economy can be developed,” the<br />
President added.<br />
Ghana, President Akufo-Addo<br />
stated, has the opportunity to become<br />
a regional centre for light<br />
manufacturing for a market of<br />
some 350 million people in the<br />
ECOWAS Community, projected<br />
to reach 500 million by 2030, “by<br />
weaving together our numerous<br />
natural resources, like food produce,<br />
bauxite, iron ore, oil and gas,<br />
with our talents and energy, to<br />
turn our nation into an economic<br />
powerhouse in West Africa, generating<br />
full employment for our<br />
teeming youth.”<br />
My wife is competent for First Lady job – Alabi<br />
BY KWAME ACHEAMPONG<br />
NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC<br />
Congress (NDC) Presidential<br />
hopeful, Prof Joshua Alabi has<br />
praised his wife’s competencies<br />
which he believes makes her an eligible<br />
First Lady of Ghana.<br />
According to him, Prof. Mrs<br />
Goski Alabi has very impressive academic<br />
and other experiences<br />
which will make her a good partner<br />
if he assumes the presidency.<br />
• Prof. Goski Alabi is the wife of<br />
professor Joshua Alabi<br />
“My wife is also a university<br />
professor, very learned<br />
and experienced. She has<br />
given addresses on various<br />
platforms both on the local<br />
and international levels. I<br />
think my wife has what it<br />
takes to be a First Lady,” the<br />
First Vice Chancellor of the<br />
University of Professional<br />
Studies (UPSA) told Francis<br />
Abban on the Morning Starr<br />
Monday.<br />
Professor Alabi also extolled<br />
his moral virtues saying he<br />
has never cheated on his wife<br />
whom he has been married for 20<br />
years.<br />
“I have been married for the<br />
past 20 years. I have two kids. I am<br />
a very loving father and my wife<br />
and children tell me that all the<br />
time. I will not like to cheat on my<br />
wife and she knows I will not cheat<br />
on her,” he stated.<br />
The former Greater Accra regional<br />
minister who is likely to face<br />
competition from former President<br />
John Mahama and former Trades<br />
Minister, Mr Spio Garbrah for the<br />
NDC ticket said he is not going to<br />
use money to induce delegates of<br />
the NDC.<br />
“When you talk of blueprints,<br />
you are talking about a detailed<br />
plan. It will be worked out between<br />
myself and the NDC party. I have<br />
a general plan which will work. My<br />
team and I do not buy votes. When<br />
you buy votes, you won’t be able to<br />
sustain it.”
<strong>Inside</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>15</strong>, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 5/14/18 7:29 PM Page 9<br />
12<br />
DAILY<br />
Politics<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
HERITAGE TUESDAY, MAY <strong>15</strong>, 2018<br />
Too many Akans vying for NPP<br />
positions – Nana Akomea<br />
UR<br />
BY MIRIAM HAYFORD<br />
FORMER COMMU-<br />
NICATIONS Director<br />
of the New<br />
Patriotic Party (NPP)<br />
and Managing Director<br />
of the State Transport<br />
Company (STC), Nana<br />
Akomea has said his refusal to<br />
pick nomination forms to contest<br />
for the Vice Chairmanship position<br />
in the party is because of<br />
what he terms as the undiversified<br />
nature of the national leadership<br />
race.<br />
In a Facebook post, he expressed<br />
fears that the party could<br />
end up electing only Akans as national<br />
executives to the neglect of<br />
other ethnic groups.<br />
The party in time past has<br />
been tagged as an Akan party despite<br />
efforts made by its leadership<br />
to dissociate itself from the<br />
tag.<br />
Nana Akomea, who was<br />
tipped to run for one of the national<br />
positions, let down his supporters<br />
after he failed to pick his<br />
nomination forms, instead calling<br />
for diversification in the party.<br />
Below is the full statement<br />
from Nana Akomea:<br />
“In the last couple of months<br />
leading up to the NPP national<br />
executive elections, I have been<br />
accosted by various groups in the<br />
NPP to urge me and pledge support<br />
for me to contest for for one<br />
or the other national executive<br />
positions. Delegations have come<br />
from Ashanti, Eastern and Western<br />
regions had come to my office<br />
to urge me on. Several<br />
WhatsApp groups have been<br />
formed by like-minded individuals<br />
to promote my contest.<br />
• Nana Akomea, Managing Director, STC<br />
Several individuals and key<br />
party leaders have also spoken to<br />
me about offering myself for a<br />
national position. Research conducted<br />
by the Danquah Institute<br />
found l was the clear overwhelming<br />
favourite for one of the key<br />
executive positions.<br />
When nominations opened<br />
last week, I declined to pick<br />
forms. What is emerging is that<br />
this particular election may present<br />
the NPP with the most undiversified<br />
national leadership, as almost<br />
all the elected positions may<br />
be filled from the Akan subgroup.<br />
Every effort must be made to<br />
ensure that some of these positions<br />
have elected members from<br />
outside the Akan sub-group.<br />
It is to be part of this effort<br />
that l have declined to contest for<br />
the Vice Chairmanship position.<br />
It is my great hope that the three<br />
Vice Chairmanship positions will<br />
afford the election of other members<br />
from outside the Akan sub<br />
group.<br />
I remain thankful to all the<br />
groups and individuals who have<br />
looked forward to my contest and<br />
who will be disappointed now. I<br />
assure them it is for the greater<br />
good of the party.<br />
The NPP remains the best political<br />
party to take this country to<br />
the “promised land”.<br />
God bless us all.<br />
When nominations<br />
opened last week, I<br />
declined to pick<br />
forms. What is emerging<br />
is that this particular<br />
election may<br />
present the NPP with<br />
the most undiversified<br />
national leadership,<br />
as almost all the<br />
elected positions may<br />
be filled from the<br />
Akan sub-group.<br />
1D1F: I doubt if Akufo-Addo can put up 200 factories – Jinapor<br />
BY STEPHEN ODOI LARBI<br />
A SENIOR lecturer at the University<br />
of Education, Winneba<br />
(UEW), Dr Ahmed Jinapor, says<br />
he will find it extremely difficult to<br />
believe if the President Akufo-<br />
Addo-led administration will<br />
achieve its set targets for the One-<br />
District-One-Factory flagship project<br />
by the year 2020.<br />
He is of the firm belief that the<br />
government would not be able to<br />
even build 200 factories by the<br />
close of the year 2020.<br />
“I don’t want to sound cynical<br />
but I doubt if this administration<br />
will be able to put up 200 factories<br />
by 2020 by the definition of a factory,”<br />
he noted.<br />
The government under the<br />
leadership of President Nana<br />
Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo intends<br />
to set up a factory in each of<br />
the 216 districts of the country.<br />
But since assuming office in<br />
January 2017, not a single factory<br />
has been put up, making the government’s<br />
dream of realising 54<br />
factories each year within the fouryear<br />
mandate impossible.<br />
In August 2017, President<br />
Akufo-Addo at the launch of the<br />
Ekumfi Fruits and Juices Limited<br />
in the Central Region, unequivocally,<br />
stated that 21 factories will be<br />
ready for take-off by end of 2017.<br />
But that target was ignored with<br />
the National Coordinator of the<br />
One-District-One-Factory Program,<br />
Gifty Ohene Konadu, stating<br />
that they prefer to pursue<br />
quality instead of quantity.<br />
Interacting with TV 3, Saturday,<br />
<strong>May</strong> 12, 2018, over the US$ 400<br />
million Chinese facility which was<br />
announced by the Vice-President<br />
• Dr Ahmed Jinapor, senior lecturer,<br />
University of Education, Winneba<br />
to have been secured by<br />
the country to kick start<br />
22 factories, Mr Jinapor<br />
said the slow pace at the<br />
which government had<br />
started executing the<br />
One-District-One-Factory<br />
agenda makes it very<br />
difficult to achieve the<br />
target it has set for itself<br />
by the close of 2020.<br />
The project, he noted,<br />
is one of the major<br />
headaches of the President<br />
considering the resources<br />
involved in<br />
making it a reality.<br />
Nevertheless, he<br />
urged the government<br />
not to bother itself to<br />
build more factories<br />
some of which will not<br />
be economically viable to<br />
repay the loan facility it<br />
was used to set up.<br />
“You don’t need 200 factories<br />
at all costs. We cannot put up a<br />
factory that cannot work.<br />
Komenda Sugar Factory should be<br />
an example to guide them [Government].<br />
Where are the raw materials?<br />
How competitive are these<br />
factories going to be? What are<br />
they going to produce and how<br />
much does it cost to import oil<br />
from China?<br />
“What is the cost benefit analysis<br />
of this agenda? So, it is not just<br />
that. Where are the businesses that<br />
we started under the Presidential<br />
Special Initiative under President<br />
Kufuor? So, we got to do it well. If<br />
Ghana has even five factories that<br />
are very viable that will take us<br />
away from the importation of oil,<br />
rice sugar among others, I think it<br />
is something that is worth pursuing,”<br />
he stressed.
13<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, MAY <strong>15</strong>, 2018<br />
Some artistes are too established for<br />
regional awards – Kofi Kinaata<br />
FORMER HIGH Grade Family artiste,<br />
Kofi Kinaata’ says some Ghanaian<br />
artistes are above nominations in Regional<br />
Award schemes.<br />
The ‘Play’ hit maker, who won the<br />
‘Artiste of the Year’ award at the justended<br />
Western Regional Awards, called<br />
on organizers of such award scheme to<br />
focus their nominations on upcoming<br />
musicians within the jurisdiction of the<br />
scheme.<br />
“Some of us have already made it,<br />
hence we do not need to be nominated<br />
for such schemes. Established artistes<br />
should be honoured and not awarded<br />
alongside upcoming artistes,” he said.<br />
The acclaimed Fante rap king says it<br />
is unfair for up-and-coming artistes to<br />
be nominated in the same category as<br />
renowned artistes, since they stand a little<br />
or no chance of winning against such<br />
doyens.<br />
According to Kinata, he will definitely<br />
win all awards for which he is nominated<br />
in the Western Region Awards.<br />
He added that though he appreciates<br />
the nomination as well as the award, he<br />
is encouraging organizers to exclude<br />
him, in order to pave the way for upand-coming<br />
artistes.<br />
•Kofi<br />
Kinaata<br />
Make somebody’s<br />
child your own<br />
— Gifty Anti<br />
•Gifty Anti<br />
with her<br />
baby girl<br />
BY ABIGAIL ASARE<br />
OHENEYER<br />
E ANTI,<br />
broadcaster,<br />
with her<br />
daughter,<br />
Nyame Animuonyam Afia<br />
Asaa Afrakoma Sintim-Misa<br />
ACE BROADCASTER,<br />
presenter and women’s advocate,<br />
Oheneyere Gifty Naana<br />
Afia Dansoa Anti (Awo<br />
Dansoa), has advised her fellow<br />
women who are praying<br />
for the fruit of the womb<br />
not to give up but to reach<br />
out for an adoption if the<br />
need arises.<br />
Awo Dansoa recounted<br />
her ordeal due to her inability<br />
to conceive because she<br />
had gone through a fibroid<br />
surgery.<br />
Speaking to Kafui Dey<br />
on ‘GH Today’ aired on<br />
GHone TV, she said, “I<br />
didn’t think it will happen. I<br />
had always wanted a child, I<br />
had tried before, it didn’t<br />
happen, so for me, it is well<br />
with my soul, I had accepted.”<br />
According to the proud<br />
mother of one, she would<br />
have adopted a child, if she<br />
could not have given birth.<br />
“My husband and I had a<br />
long conversation about the<br />
possibility of pregnancy before<br />
we married and he was<br />
content with the fact that we<br />
may never have children. I<br />
guess it was not that difficult<br />
for him because he has other<br />
children.<br />
“If you don’t have your<br />
biological child, it is not the<br />
end of the world. Make<br />
somebody’s child your own.<br />
Give and when you least expect,<br />
the reward would come<br />
in such a way that you would<br />
be blown away,” the affable<br />
presenter said.<br />
Oheneyere Gifty got<br />
married on October <strong>15</strong>, 20<strong>15</strong><br />
at age 45 to Nana Ansah<br />
Kwao IV, Chief of Adumasa<br />
in the Eastern Region, and<br />
gave birth to daughter<br />
Nyame Animuonyam on Friday,<br />
August 11, 2017.<br />
She is the Chief Executive<br />
Officer of GDA Concepts<br />
Ltd (producers of ‘The<br />
Standpoint’ TV programme)<br />
by default ; host of her own<br />
show, ‘The Standpoint’ TV<br />
programme by choice; and<br />
president and founder of the<br />
Girl in Need Foundation<br />
(GiNF) by calling.<br />
Worlasi out with<br />
‘Booze High’ video<br />
RAPPER WORLASI is out<br />
with an animated video for his<br />
new song ‘Booze High’ off his<br />
‘Outlane’ EP.<br />
On this EP, Worlasi challenges<br />
himself even more by<br />
stepping out of his comfort<br />
zone to experiment with different<br />
music forms by collaborating<br />
with multiple producers,<br />
something he has kept to the<br />
very minimum.<br />
He held a preview session<br />
on Saturday, <strong>May</strong> 12, to unveil<br />
the video to media personnel.<br />
During the listening session,<br />
Worlasi explained the concept<br />
for ‘Booze High’.<br />
The animated video depicts<br />
various physical, spiritual, and<br />
emotional challenges that humans<br />
are faced with on daily<br />
basis and empowers one to defy<br />
the odds by<br />
taking a<br />
breather from<br />
life even in<br />
critical moments.<br />
The animation<br />
was done<br />
by Peter Poka<br />
and the song<br />
sung by Juls.<br />
Worlasi has<br />
worked with<br />
top Ghanaian<br />
artistes such as<br />
Sarkodie and<br />
M.anifest, to<br />
mention just<br />
the two.<br />
His versatility<br />
enables him<br />
to switch from<br />
singing to rapping<br />
in English,<br />
Ewe, Fante, Ga and Pidgin.<br />
His songs are famous for their<br />
refreshing and inspiring lyrics –<br />
a mixture of soul and hip-hop<br />
blended with African flavour.<br />
He is also a figure-painting<br />
artist. Some of his greatest hits<br />
include ‘Too Naughty’, ‘Nuse’,<br />
‘One Life’, ‘Nukata’ and ‘You<br />
Saw Me’.<br />
Worlasi’s musical career can<br />
be traced back to his first breakthrough<br />
single, ‘Ay3 Adz3’,<br />
which saw him rise to fame.<br />
The eccentric Worlasi represented<br />
Ghana at Coke Studio<br />
Africa in 2017. He is currently<br />
under the management of MK<br />
Content, a talent management<br />
company with focus on talent<br />
representation as well as film<br />
and television package development.<br />
•Worlasi
14<br />
DAILY<br />
HERITAGE TUESDAY, MAY <strong>15</strong>, 2018<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
•John Dumelo,<br />
has tied the<br />
knot with his<br />
girlfriend, Gifty<br />
Mawunya<br />
Nkornua<br />
Dumelo weds<br />
Mawunya<br />
GHANAIAN<br />
ACTOR and<br />
politician,<br />
John<br />
Dumelo, tied<br />
the knot with his girlfriend,<br />
Gifty Mawunya Nkornua, a<br />
graduate of the University<br />
of Ghana, at a private ceremony<br />
last Saturday, <strong>May</strong><br />
13.<br />
The event, which was<br />
limited to a few friends and<br />
family of the couple, was<br />
held at Spintex in Accra.<br />
The two kept their relationship<br />
secret before the<br />
wedding.<br />
Some celebrities seen at<br />
the wedding were Nollywood<br />
actor Ramsey<br />
Nouah, Prince David Osei,<br />
Fiifi Coleman and Yvonne<br />
Nelson. Other stars included<br />
Edem, Nadia Buari,<br />
Jackie Appiah, and Coded<br />
of 4×4 fame.<br />
Mawunya is a relative of<br />
actress Selassie Ibrahim<br />
and a close friend to actress<br />
Nadia Buari, who is<br />
suspected to have been the<br />
link person between the<br />
two love birds.<br />
• Jewel Ackah<br />
Jewel Ackah to be buried August 4<br />
LATE GHANAIAN musician, Jewel<br />
Ackah, will be buried on August 4,<br />
2018, the family announced at the<br />
one week observance.<br />
According to the family, a wake<br />
and thanksgiving service will be held<br />
on August 3 and 5 respectively.<br />
Many sympathisers, friends and<br />
family converged at the Sakasaka<br />
Park near the Community Two Police<br />
Station to show their respects to<br />
the legend.<br />
Former President John Mahama<br />
on Saturday joined the family and<br />
MUSIGA at the traditional one week<br />
observance of the death of the musician<br />
in Tema. He donated an<br />
amount of GHC12,000 to the family<br />
in support of the funeral..<br />
Also in attendance were political<br />
figures mostly from the National<br />
Democratic Congress (NDC).<br />
Among them were the party’s<br />
Greater Accra Regional Chairman,<br />
Mr Joseph Ade Coker, Yaw<br />
Boateng-Djan, a former National<br />
Organiser, Anita De Sosoo and Emmanuel<br />
Armah Kofi Buah, MP for<br />
Ellembele constituency.<br />
Ackah, who composed the National<br />
Democratic Congress (NDC)<br />
anthem, died Friday, April 27, at his<br />
home.<br />
He was known to have been battling<br />
stroke and other sicknesses for<br />
about a decade.
DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
Sports<br />
DAILY HERITAGE<br />
TUESDAY, MAY <strong>15</strong>, 2018<br />
<strong>15</strong><br />
It feels great to<br />
score a hat-trick<br />
against Barcelona<br />
— Boateng<br />
Ghana’s<br />
Duke Micah<br />
to fight on<br />
June 9<br />
GHANAIAN FOR-<br />
WARD Emmanuel<br />
Boateng is ecstatic<br />
to be the first<br />
Ghanaian to score a<br />
hat-trick against Spanish giants<br />
Barcelona.<br />
The 21-year-old scored his first<br />
career hat-trick for Levante as they<br />
ended Barcelona's unbeaten run in<br />
the La Liga. Boateng stole the<br />
headlines with his performance<br />
and by so doing he also becomes<br />
the first Ghanaian to score against<br />
Real Madrid and the Catalans in<br />
the same season.<br />
"Preparations for this match<br />
was very good because we had won<br />
four games in a row and with such<br />
form, we knew we could win even<br />
though Barcelona is a big club," he<br />
told Oyerepa FM.<br />
"As a striker what matters is to<br />
score and that was my prayer before<br />
the game but I never thought<br />
of scoring 3 so all the glory to God,<br />
I was very happy."<br />
"It feels very great<br />
to be the first<br />
Ghanaian to score<br />
a hat-trick against<br />
Barcelona, a<br />
privilege I thank<br />
God for and<br />
Ghanaians for the<br />
support."<br />
"I didn't know what to do after<br />
realizing I had scored 3 against<br />
Barcelona, I felt ecstatic and so<br />
happy, as young as I am and<br />
this is my first hat-trick in professional<br />
football. "<br />
"It feels very great to be the<br />
first Ghanaian to score a hattrick<br />
against Barcelona, a privilege<br />
I thank God for and<br />
Ghanaians for the support."<br />
"My secret is prayers and<br />
hard work. Coutinho told me<br />
in Portuguese that I should<br />
continue with what I am doing<br />
and that will take me to places.<br />
He asked me to believe in myself."<br />
"I am looking forward to<br />
perform better than this in the<br />
national team, I have received<br />
an invitation for the two<br />
friendlies, it's an honour to<br />
wear the national colours and<br />
so I will do my possible best<br />
for Ghana".<br />
Boateng has been invited to<br />
the senior national team and will be<br />
expected to make his debut against<br />
Japan and Iceland.<br />
GHANA’S DUKE Micah will return to<br />
the ring on June 9 in Brooklyn against<br />
yet to be named opponent in the coming<br />
days.<br />
The former Olympian was billed to<br />
fight last month against former World<br />
title contender Yoann Boyeaux but was<br />
called off after the latter failed to make<br />
the weight.<br />
The bout will become Micah’s second<br />
defense of his WBC international<br />
super bantamweight title.<br />
The 26-year-old pugilist, won majority<br />
decision against Jose Santos Gonzalez<br />
in the first defense of his belt last<br />
November.<br />
He won the belt in March 2017 when<br />
he stopped Mexico’s Jonathan Aguilar in<br />
round five at the Bukom Boxing Arena<br />
in Accra, Ghana.<br />
• Emmanuel Boateng<br />
against Barcelona
Sports<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
<strong>15</strong>/05/2018<br />
TUESDAY. DAILY HERITAGE<br />
Email: info@dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
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Twitter:#heritage_daily<br />
Williams<br />
can win<br />
French Open<br />
• Says coach Mouratoglou<br />
SERENA<br />
WILLIAMS can<br />
win the French<br />
Open even though<br />
she "came back<br />
too early" after giving birth,<br />
says her coach Patrick<br />
Mouratoglou.<br />
The 23-time Grand Slam<br />
champion has not played a<br />
match on clay since reaching<br />
the final at Roland Garros in<br />
2016.<br />
Williams, 36, withdrew<br />
from tournaments in Madrid<br />
and Rome this month,<br />
casting doubt over her<br />
participation at the French<br />
Open, which begins on 27<br />
<strong>May</strong>.<br />
"She is working extremely<br />
hard; she is improving in all<br />
the areas fast. I am very<br />
satisfied and confident that<br />
she will be ready for Roland<br />
Garros."<br />
Williams returned to the<br />
WTA Tour in March, six<br />
months after giving birth, but<br />
has struggled to find top<br />
form.<br />
She reached the third<br />
round at Indian Wells, where<br />
she was beaten by sister<br />
Venus, before falling in the<br />
first round of the Miami<br />
Open to Japan's Naomi<br />
Osaka.<br />
Mouratoglou says the goal<br />
is for Williams to get "even<br />
stronger than before",<br />
although he admits she was<br />
"far from being 100%" on<br />
her comeback.<br />
"Serena clearly came back<br />
too early," he said. "She was<br />
not ready yet but needed to<br />
feel the competition, so she<br />
decided to play.<br />
"It was a good experience<br />
as she realised all the work<br />
that needed to be done in<br />
order for her to be really<br />
ready."<br />
• Serena<br />
Williams<br />
I’m staying at Juventus — Allegri<br />
• Allegri has won the Italian league and Cup double in<br />
each of his four seasons in charge of Juventus<br />
"It's not an issue of<br />
decisions on the<br />
future, it's about<br />
planning what the<br />
future of Juventus will<br />
be, because once<br />
we've finished<br />
celebrating, we have<br />
to sit around a table<br />
with clear heads,"<br />
added Allegri.<br />
JUVENTUS MANAGER<br />
Massimiliano Allegri has played down<br />
reports that he is to leave the Italian<br />
club.<br />
The Italian has been repeatedly<br />
linked with replacing Arsenal boss<br />
Arsene Wenger, who is leaving the<br />
Gunners after almost 22 years in<br />
charge.<br />
"If they don't fire me, then I think<br />
I'm staying at Juventus next year too,"<br />
said Allegri.<br />
The 50-year-old was speaking after<br />
a 0-0 draw against Roma sealed a<br />
seventh successive league title for<br />
Juve.<br />
Allegri, who also achieved his<br />
fourth league and Cup double in as<br />
many seasons with the club, has also<br />
been touted as a possible replacement<br />
for compatriot Antonio Conte at<br />
Chelsea.<br />
However, Chelsea and Arsenal<br />
finished fifth and sixth respectively in<br />
the Premier League and failed to<br />
qualify for the Champions League.<br />
"It's not an issue of decisions on<br />
the future, it's about planning what<br />
the future of Juventus will be,<br />
because once we've finished<br />
celebrating, we have to sit around a<br />
table with clear heads," added Allegri.<br />
"When the next season begins, we<br />
all start from zero points and must<br />
continue proving we are competitive."