0CTober 15

NO. 100764 MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018
PRICE: GH¢2.00
DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
•Prof. Ken Attafuah,
CEO of National
Identification Authority
•Samira Bawumia, Second Lady
• Iain Walker
is the UK High
Commissioner
to Ghana
visit us: @dailyheritagegh dailyheritage facebook.com/daily.heritage.9

02
DAILY QUOTE
Don't forget to tell yourself
positive things daily! You
must love yourself internally
to glow externally.
— Hannah Bronfman
CONTENT
ANNIVERSARIES
Fri. Dec. 7 — Farmer’s Day
Tues. Dec. 25 — Christmas
Wed. Dec. 26 — Boxing Day
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018
Published by: EIB
Network / Heritage
Communications Ltd.
Managing Editor:
William Asiedu:
0208156974
Editor:
Kofi Enchill:
0265653335
ISSN: 0855-52307
VOL 7
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FOREIGN
BUSINESS
Uganda landslide
near Mount Elgon
kills more than 30
PG.04
Ghanaian business
coach leads MTN
world executive
breakfast meeting
PG.10
ARTS
& ENT
SPORTS
Yvonne Nelson
sells caps to support
new mothers
PG.13
Opare Addo lashes
out at 'indisciplined'
Samudeen Ibrahim
PG.15
Freight forwarders
threaten to block
CTN policy
BY ROSEMOND BOATENG ADDAI
Rosemond.adjetey@yahoo.com
THE FREIGHT Forwarders
Association (FFA)
has stated that they will
use every blood within
them to stop the implementation
of the Cargo Tracking Note
(CTN) policy which will take effect
today.
According to the Association, just as
they were able to stop the policy in
2014 under President John Mahama’s
administration due to lack of proper
information, they will do the same
under President Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo’s administration.
He said “we resisted not because we
are afraid but because it is worthless; it
is not adding value to our businesses.”
Mr Kwanbena Ofosu Appiah, president
of the Association, in an interview
with the DAILY HERITAGE, said
the authorities should let the association
know why they are imposing laws
that have not been reviewed by Parliament
on them.
GUTA response
Meanwhile the Ghana Union of
Traders Association (GUTA) has explained
to the DAILY HERITAGE
that the FFA are causing confusion because
they were refused money from
the authorities, hence CTN is a ‘devil’.
Mr Emmanuel Nana Opoku
Acheampong, Deputy General Secretary,
GUTA, said his association would
not allow any other association to tarnish
their image by making them look
scary.
“We are practical, objective and not
stupid. We will not sit down for anyone
to dictate to us. Come Monday, we will
support the policy and whoever does
not agree with us should be behind us,”
he said.
He also disclosed that some of the
associations were causing problems due
to political difference based upon
which only they wanted the downfall of
the policy.
Background
The CTN policy was expected to
start on September 1, 2018 but was
postponed to today to allow more engagements,
but was opposed by the
Freight Forwarders Association.
The freight forwarders embarked on
a strike on August 27, 2018 to protest
against the implementation of the policy
at the ports.
The action was necessitated by what
the businesses described as government’s
failure to heed concerns about
the policy, which impedes trade facilitation.
The business associations that participated
in the action included the
Customs Brokers Association of
Ghana, the Association of Customs
House Agents Ghana, Freight Forwarders
Association of Ghana and the
Importers and Exporters Association
of Ghana.
“We are practical,
objective and not
stupid. We will not
sit down for
anyone to dictate
to us. Come
Monday, we will
support the policy
and whoever does
not agree with us
should be behind
us,” he said.

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018 03
Ghana Card field
officers not paid
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH
muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com.gh
• Since August, registration officers angry
REGISTRATION
OFFICERS, technicians
and operators
engaged by
the National Identification
Authority (NIA) to
pitch camp at key state agencies
and institutions, including
the Jubilee House,
Parliament and the various
security agencies, to register
officials for the Ghana Card
are fuming with anger over
their almost three months’
unpaid allowances.
Information gathered by
the DAILY HERITAGE indicates
that these registration
officers, per their contracts,
are supposed to be paid on
daily basis but since August
2018, not even a pesewa has
been paid to them.
The angry workers are demanding
that management
pays them since the non-payment
is having a toll on their
work, saying “NIA has engaged
us on contract basis for
the piloting of the Ghana
Card but our contract was
supposed to end on September
28, but we are still working.”
“We have not heard anything
from them (NIA) and
they have not paid us our
monies from August, September
and we are now in October,”
one of the angry
officers lamented to the
paper.
According to him, “NIA is
supposed to pay us on daily basis
because we are on the field working
all the time, but nothing so far.
We have not had any clear reasons
but what we gathered is that they
said they are now compiling the
attendance for the work that we
have done and doing. This is the
third month that we are in now,
we are in October.
“Even though our contract
ended in September, we are still
working for them but the second
week just ended. Just imagine,
how do you expect me to work
for the past two months without
pay?”
These registration officers piloting
the Ghana Card in the
Greater Accra Region were engaged
from May, but even though
their May, June and July allowances
have been given to them,
August, September and October
are not the case. The pay ranges
between GH¢50 and GH¢70.
The paper also gathered that
though the contracts signed with
NIA did not mention anything on
tax, “they under-paid us because
they deducted tax from it though in the
contract they didn’t state that, which is not
fair.”
The source lamented that despite the
fact that the official work started from
7a.m. and was supposed to close at 5p.m.,
they ended up closing sometimes at 10p.m.,
yet no overtime allowance is given them.
Efforts to get NIA officials to respond
to the allegation were unsuccessful,
including calls directed to the cell
phone of Prof Ken Attafuah, the Executive
Director of the NIA.
The issuance of a National Identification
ID card is among the few key projects
the government promised to execute to formalise
the country’s economy.
•Prof. Ken Attafuah, CEO of National
Identification Authority
Many Ghanaians have expressed regret
over the seeming delay in the issuance of
the cards after more than three previous
deadlines set by the government to execute
it were not met.
Background
In previous public interactions, Prof.
Attafuah said all the necessary documentation
and legal framework for the registration
and issuance of the National ID card, otherwise
known as the Ghana Card, had been
set up to kick-start the process.
He said key individuals such as the country’s
former Presidents Kufuor, Mahama
and Rawlings, Members of the Ghana Journalists
Association, among others, were to
be issued with the cards first before registration
would be opened to the general
public.
“We will be on the premises of
these institutions and key sectors of
this society, registering them and issuing
the cards to them instantly…We
shall also register maybe a day or two
immediately after we start the Ghana
Journalists Association leadership, the
Ghana Bar Association and particular
sectors of society that we have already
engaged. The roll of our strategy will
be published, and everyone will have
the opportunity to see where they are
registering in their society.”
He said officers within the banking
and educational sectors would also be
issued with the cards ahead of the mass
regional registration exercise.
Regional movements
Prof Attafuah explained that the
public registration exercise would begin
in the Greater Accra Region, where the
process is expected to last for two to
three months.
The team will move to the Volta Region
from Greater Accra.
From the Volta Region, it will move
to the Northern Region, before the
Upper East and Upper West regions.
The Brong Ahafo Region will be next,
before the Eastern and Ashanti Region.
The last regional public registration will
be in the Central Region.
Under the National Democratic Congress
government in 2008, the NIA began
the process to register and issue the National
ID card to all Ghanaians.
About 11 million people in six regions of
the country were registered as part of the
process from 2008 to 2010.
The cards were, however, ready for collection
later in 2011, although a number of
them could not be accessed.
The card was rendered useless after most
banks and some state institutions began rejecting
them as an unrecognised state ID
card.

Inside 0CT 15, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 10/12/18 9:38 PM Page 3
•CCTV images show Jamal Khashoggi entering the Saudi
consulate in Istanbul on October 2
Turkey has 'shocking' audio and visual evidence of Saudi journalist's killing
TURKISH AUTHORITIES
have audio and visual evidence
that shows journalist Jamal
Khashoggi was killed inside the
Saudi consulate in Istanbul just
over a week ago, a source familiar
with the ongoing investigation
told CNN.
The evidence, which was described
to the source by a Western
intelligence agency, showed
there had been an assault and a
struggle inside the consulate.
There is also evidence of the
moment that Khashoggi was
killed, the source said.
The foreign intelligence
service found the nature of the
evidence, which was provided
in a briefing from Turkish officials,
to be "shocking and disgusting,"
the source told CNN.
Khashoggi, a columnist for
the Washington Post, walked
into the consulate in Istanbul
on October 2 intending to get
paperwork that would allow
him to marry his Turkish fiancée.
He hasn't been seen in
public since. CNN
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
World news in 4 stories
Uganda landslide near Mount
Elgon kills more than 30
Alandslide following
heavy rains in eastern
Uganda has killed
more than 30 people.
It is feared that the
death toll could rise
as a government rescue team
reaches the Mount Elgon area.
A river burst its banks and a torrent
of mud and water swept villages
away. Pictures from the scene
show people retrieving bodies from
the mud and carrying them away.
A landslide in the same region,
Bududa, killed more than 300 people
in 2010.
It is a mountainous place with
volcanic soils that are rich for agriculture,
but it is also densely populated,
which puts a lot of pressure
on arable land, reports the BBC's
Patience Atuhaire in the capital,
Kampala
After previous disasters, people
have been told to move away but
many return because of the fertility
of the land and their attachment to
their ancestral home.
The Uganda Red Cross says that
36 bodies have been recovered, but
•Bududa has fertile soils which draw people to the area despite danger
a local official quoted by the Daily
Monitor newspaper has said 40 bodies
have been found so far.
"When the water flowed down it
brought a number of big stones
with it that destroyed people's
houses," Red Cross spokeswoman
Irene Nakasiita told AFP news
agency.
The prime minister's office has
sent a team to assist with the search
and recovery efforts, which were set
to continue on Friday in the difficult
hilly terrain.
Brazilians vote after
months of presidential
election drama
BRAZILIANS ARE voting
Sunday in a presidential
election seen as the most
polarizing since the country's
return to democracy
three decades ago.
The campaign has been
marked by the rise of a
once-fringe right-wing lawmaker,
the disqualification
of a populist former president
who was campaigning
from jail, and ongoing revelations
from the fouryear-long
‘Car Wash’
anti-graft probe rocking
mainstream political parties
in the country of 200 million
people.
Brazil is also suffering
from a prolonged economic
recession and extreme
violence, with
murder rates reaching a
record high last year.
Former army captain
and congressman Jair Bolsonaro
and ex-Sao Paulo
Mayor Fernando Haddad
are leading the polls in a
field of 13 candidates.
Opinion polls released
before the campaigns
closed this week projected
Bolsonaro could capture as
much as 35% of the vote
Sunday. At least 50% is
necessary to avoid a runoff
on October 28. CNN
The campaign has
been marked by the
rise of a once-fringe
right-wing lawmaker,
the disqualification
of a
populist former
president who was
campaigning from
jail, and ongoing
revelations from the
four-year-long ‘Car
Wash’ anti-graft
probe rocking mainstream
political parties
in the country
of 200 million people.
The Paris Park where Nigerian women are forced into prostitution
A ROW of dirty vans is parked
on a broad, tree-lined avenue in
the outskirts of Paris. In the dark
of night, fluttering candles light
up the faces of the women in the
front seats. None of them wear
more than their underwear.
Others, wearing miniskirts,
stand outside underneath street
lamps, facing out onto the empty
road.
Nadège was one of these
women before she managed to
escape.
She is softly spoken. "Even
now I don't have hope for myself,"
she says. "My past already
destroyed my future."
The Bois de Vincennes, a
sprawling park on the outskirts of
eastern Paris, is home to horse
riding schools and a zoo. It has
also been part-commandeered by
human traffickers.
The park's central road is yet
another point on the map of a
massive cross-continental trafficking
network that has channeled
tens of thousands of
Nigerian women and children
throughout Europe and as far
as Malaysia.
The Bois de Vincennes,
a sprawling
park on the outskirts
of eastern Paris, is
home to horse riding
schools and a zoo. It
has also been partcommandeered
by
human traffickers.
• By night, prostitutes work from vans parked at the roadside in the park

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018
05
Editorial
The Works and Housing Minister must be serious
THE MINISTER for Works and
Housing, Mr Samuel Atta-Akyea, is
complaining about a 1,500-housing
unit project which was inaugurated
during the erstwhile John Mahama
administration, instead of fixing
problems in the housing sector.
According to the Minister, the
1,500 housing units built under the
Saglemi Housing project at Tsopoli
in the Ningo-Prampram District in
the Greater Accra Region, have now
become a “white elephant.”
The $180m project, the first phase
of which was inaugurated in 2016,
for 1,500 units out of 5,000, has
been without life almost two years
after being inaugurated.
Mr Atta-Akyea is also reported by
the media as saying that “the Seglemi
structure that we see over there is a
huge trouble. If we should go into
why it has not been inhabited, we
will go into crisis.
“I can assure you there is a
challenge in terms of how the
monies were faithfully applied to the
project, matters that the Attorney-
General would have to look at and
EOCO to investigate.
“They do not have the requisite
infrastructure and amenities for
people to go and inhabit the place.
They do not have water facilities and
decent drainage systems and
therefore the money intended for
the project has been spirited away
with this kind of white elephant we
are seeing.
“We need to bring the
proceedings to a close, get credible
people to complete the structures
and when we have the amenities like
water, electricity and sewerage
systems people could go over and
inhabit it.”
The DAILY HERITAGE is
disappointed in the Minister for the
needless recap of problems instead
of taking responsibility for failing to
put to use the facilities almost two
long years after they were
inaugurated.
It is worthy of note that
continuity is a hallmark of
development. Therefore we need to
stop the petty politics. The 1,500
housing units can do a whole lot for
thousands of Ghanaians.
The Minister should, thus,
continue from where the previous
regime left off and fix whatever is
needed to be done for Ghanaians to
enjoy the facilities.
Amidu must deliver –
British High C’ssioner
BY KWAME ACHEAMPONG
THE BRITISH High
Commissioner to
Ghana, Iain Walker,
has said the United
Kingdom (UK) is
looking forward to the Office of
the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to
deliver on its mandate to help
the fight against graft in Ghana.
According to him, the UK is
closely monitoring attempts by
the Ghana government to fight
corruption and is hopeful that
the citizenry will play its part in
achieving the objective.
Speaking to Francis Abban
on the ‘Morning Starr’ last Friday,
Mr Walker said the UK was
following the conversation regarding
the office of the OSP
and was hopeful that the Right
to Information Bill, when
passed, would contribute immensely
in the corruption fight.
“Fighting corruption is key in
the development agenda and
that is why in the UK the right
to Information bill was passed
because we believe accountability
and transparency on the side
of public officials is key.
“Issues of corruption are
very important to us in the UK
and in our relationship with
Ghana and that is why we will
want to see the SP, in particular,
to deliver now that he is in office,”
he said.
The diplomat also called on
Ghanaians to play their individual
roles in order to see the
change they want in the country.
“Ghana is welcoming and has
goodwill; let’s us translate the
goodwill into what Ghana wants
to be in the next 60 years and
what it wants its relationship
with the UK to be. If Ghana is
welcoming, then it should be
welcoming to investors and all
that comes along [with it]. Let’s
take individual responsibilities to
ensure that we get the change we
all desire. All of us must play
our role in achieving that together,”
he noted.
• Iain Walker is the UK High Commissioner
to Ghana
“Fighting
corruption is key in
the development
agenda and that is
why in the UK the
right to Information
bill was passed
because we
believe
accountability and
transparency on
the side of public
officials is key.”

Inside 0CT 15, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 10/12/18 9:38 PM Page 5
06
BY NANA BRAM OKAE II
IT’S NOW a cyclical affair--
-when New Patriotic Party
(NPP) is in opposition it
does the chasing, hounding
National Democratic Congress
(NDC) appointees all
over the place with allegations of
corruption, incompetence, thievery,
malfeasance and what-haveyou
to get them out.
Year 2000
And truly speaking, it worked.
The NPP got the NDC out in
2000 and 2016 by that strategy.
They kept on pumping allegations
and allegations on appointees
of NDC and finally
succeeded in removing them out
of office.
The NPP is now in office and
the NDC is paying them back in
their own coin. The NDC has a
tall list of allegations of incompetence
and corruption and they
are relentless in bringing them
out one after the other like it’s
nobody’s business.
Of course they (NDC) did
this in 2008 and that brought
victory to them culminating in
the swearing-in of Prof Mills as
the President but this time
around they are doing this very
fiercely like wounded lions; and
wounded lions they are, indeed.
Magnitude of loss
The magnitude of their loss
at the 2016 general election is a
big wake-up call to them and
they are not going to allow
things lying low.
Look at how massive they lost
in the Central region at a time
when they had the most seats;
look at how they also lost in the
western region and other key
areas where they were sure they
would maintain the status quo
but they couldn’t.
And then, to cap it all, the
former President lost by as many
as over one million votes—unprecedented
in the voting history
of this country.
Wounded lion
So, the NDC is a wounded
lion and everything or anything
they can do to claw back territory,
I’m sure, they will do that
and nobody will begrudge them
that particularly if you are a keen
observer.
Only last week, the NDC held
a press conference at Goaso,
soon after the NPP government
had announced the producer
price of cocoa for the
2018/2019 crop year.
Views DAILY
The NPP did a similar thing
at Sewhi Wiawso when the NDC
was in power. Immediately the
NDC announced the producer
price in 2016 the NPP organized
a press conference and castigated
the then government for not
paying the farmers what was due
them, among several other
charges.
It’s not surprising therefore
that the NDC is paying them
back in their own coin. It’s tit for
tat, that’s all.
At that press conference at
Goaso, the NDC accused the
government of cheating the
farmers and paying them less
HERITAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018
NDC chases NPP appointees with allegations
of incompetence and corruption
•Johnson Asiedu Nketia, general secretary, NDC
than they were entitled to. They
also accused the COCOBOD of
diverting funds to other areas
when those funds could have
been used in cushioning the
price for farmers.
For instance, they said expenditure
at COCOBOD head office
had gone up by more than
60% when in fact this should be
the reverse if you say you have
come to do things better.
The salary of the CEO was
also as high as could be contrary
to the castigations meted out to
the former CEO, Dr Opuni.
Also, there is an allegation
that GHc1 million is being spent
The NPP did a similar thing
at Sewhi Wiawso when the
NDC was in power. Immediately
the NDC announced
the producer price in 2016
the NPP organized a press
conference and castigated
the then government for not
paying the farmers what was
due them, among several
other charges.
to renovate a bungalow for the
sector minister at the expense of
the poor cocoa farmers.
Government response to
these allegations is not exactly
convincing and we need to get
better and further particulars on
these.
NDC moles
Government appointees
should have known by now that
there are NDC moles all over the
ministries, agencies and departments
and that they cannot do
anything without the public getting
to know it.
Thanks to technology it’s now
easy to use mobile phones to
capture documents and sell them
to the opposition for money.
This practice of ‘intercepting’
documents (apologies to Kweku
Baako) has been with us since
Kofi Koomson’s time when he
founded and edited The Chronicle
newspaper during the PNDC
regime.
You may recall that Kofi
Koomson was able to get any
hot news immediately it happened
at the Castle even under
the military rule and that made
his paper a hot cake.
Well, that practice is still here
with us. NDC is paying moles to
get information for them from
all angles, no doubt about that.
It’s only the naïve who will deny
this.
Asiedu Nketia
You may have noticed that
when Asiedu Nketia speaks, he
says with authority: ‘From our
credible source…’. He knows
what he is talking about. The
credible source may be the chief
director you met there who will
do everything to please you but
at the same time divulging information
to the opposition.
The credible source may also
be the cleaner who you will never
suspect of causing any harm because
he tells you he belongs to
your party or the cleaner who
looks very innocent but you met
him there.
The remedy to all these is to
do the right thing but you are not
and this is the problem.
Asiedu Nketia says, from his
‘credible source’ over $600 million
American dollars has been
spent on audits at places which
have already been audited and
you haven’t given a satisfactory
answer.
You are rather asking Asiedu
Nketia to prove his allegation but
you should know he got the information
from your own ‘cloth’,
so to speak.
What about the allegation that
Kelni GVG is a rip-off and also
StarTimes deal is also a sell-out?
NPP appointees
You see, NPP appointees will
not allow others to talk. They do
the talking and the answering at
the same time and this does not
augur well for Nana Akufo-
Addo.
I wish to state emphatically as
I have always been doing that no
appointee of Nana Addo should
think for one moment that it’s
impossible to wipe out the
1,500.000 votes garnered by him
in the 2016 election for which
reason they can mess about and
expect the people to vote for
them again overwhelmingly as
they did in 2016.
Performance
It will not happen that way;
it’s your performance collectively
as a government that will send
you back into government and
not slogans. After all, it’s the
same Ghanaian voters who decided
in 2012 for Mahama, who
also decided for Akufo-Addo in
2016 and who will again decide
in 2020. And if your performance
is not appreciated by them
they will not vote for you.
The grapevine has it that inflating
of prices of goods and
services in government offices
and agencies, is as vibrant as during
the time of the NDC and
that the so-called leakages in that
front are still there.
This is because these appointees
are of the mistaken belief
that victory for the NPP in
the 2020 general election is a
fore-gone conclusion for which
reason they can take things for
granted.
I tell such people that they are
wrong; terribly wrong for holding
such views. They must rather
sit up and work for the satisfaction
of the Ghanaian voter, particularly
the self-employed and
shed the lackadaisical approach
to work.
Frankly speaking, I have not
been enthused about the performance
of the generality of
the appointees of the NPP government.
See where the price of fuel is
at the moment. Too high! Will
that evoke happiness in the people?
You know prices of fuel affect
every aspect of our lives for
which reason you must keep
them down at all times and give
no excuses whatsoever for raising
them. Never!
Please, don’t let your supporters
down.

Inside 0CT 15, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 10/12/18 9:38 PM Page 6
Four things you can do to prevent stroke
Lower blood pressure
High blood pressure is a huge factor,
doubling or even quadrupling your
stroke risk if it is not controlled. High
blood pressure is the biggest contributor
to the risk of stroke in both men
and women.
Lose weight
Obesity, as well as the complications
linked to it raises your odds of
having a stroke. If you're overweight,
losing as little as 10 pounds can have a
real impact on your stroke risk.
Exercise more
Exercise contributes to losing
weight and lowering blood pressure,
but it also stands on its own as an independent
stroke reducer. Take a walk
around your neighborhood every
morning after breakfast.
Drink in moderation
Drinking can make you less likely
to have a stroke up to a point. Studies
have shown that if you have about one
drink per day, your risk may be lower.
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018
&Env.
Bridging access to quality
healthcare: Ghana needs to do more
GHANA HAS signed
up to the United Nations
Sustainable Development
Goals
(SDGs), with the
SDG 3.8 aiming at
‘achieving universal health coverage,
including financial risk protection, access
to quality essential healthcare
services and access to safe, effective,
quality and affordable essential medicines
and vaccines for all.’
However, spending on health in
Ghana is less progressive, with only
one-third of the government’s expenditure.
The 2018 budget allocation to
the Ministry of Health marginally increased
from GH¢4.23 billion in 2017
to GH¢4.42 billion in 2018. This translates
to 4.64% increment on year-onyear
allocations to the sector.
The increment reflects the government’s
intentions to increase the number
of healthcare professionals by
15,000, to improve the coverage of
vaccines and antiretroviral drugs distributed
throughout the country, and
also to continue the construction of
health infrastructural facilities to enhance
healthcare delivery.
However, for Ghana to move towards
universal coverage, the nation
needed to find more money to replace
out-of-pocket payments and the regressive,
administratively costly and
unworkable voluntary health insurance
model for those that fall outside the
formal economy.
NHIS
The National Health Insurance
Scheme (NHIS) was introduced in
2003 by President John Agyekum Kufuor’s
government, explicitly as a propoor
measure, in recognition of the
detrimental impact of the country’s
notoriously high user fees, otherwise
known as ‘cash and carry’ payment
system.
However, despite universal population
coverage and equity being the
stated policy goal of the NHIS, after
more than a decade of implementation,
Ghana continues to struggle with
how to attain universal coverage for
her citizens.
Recent annual reports and the Holistic
Assessment Report of the Health
Ministry showed that after a decadeand-half
of implementation of the
NHIS, only about four out of 10 individuals
are covered by the NHIS, with
the rural-poor being the most likely to
be excluded.
Large numbers of poor-rural
Ghanaians either cannot afford or cannot
prioritise the NHIS registration
and annual premium payment, as they
continued to face high out-of-pocket
spending in Ghana’s ‘cash and carry’
payment system.
Long distances to health facilities
and registration centres as well as the
conditional renewal of frequently unaffordable
NHIS premiums on annual
basis have kept many of the poorest
people excluded, especially in the rural
areas.
Reports by civil society
groups
The 2018 Inequality Report jointly
authored by Oxfam, SEND-Ghana
and Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition,
titled ‘Building a More Equal Ghana,’
says aside strengthening financing and
financial protection, it is vital to expand
access to healthcare services and
to raise the quality of care, while addressing
the inequitable distribution of
human resources, infrastructure and
equipment within the NHIS.
It says primary healthcare services
can deliver effective care close to
where poor people live and work, but
many rural areas suffer from a lack of
skilled staff, equipment and supplies.
It is disheartening that remote
areas, especially, the three regions of
the north are facing serious shortages
of health workforce, particularly
Physicians. Though several policies
and schemes have been implemented
in the past to improve recruitment and
retention of health workforce to rural
areas in Ghana, the uptake of health
workers is still low in rural communities.
The Department of Community
Health and Family Medicine, University
for Development Studies, survey
in 2013 on Distribution of Physicians,
showed that, the three northern regions;
Northern, Upper East and
Upper West, constituted 17% of the
country’s population and about 45%
of the total land surface of Ghana, yet
only 7.4% (193) of the nation’s 2,606
•Pregnant women require good healthcare
physicians served in that zone in the
year 2011.
On the contrary, the Ashanti and
Greater regions, which constituted
35% of the population, had about
70% of the country’s physicians in
2011.
Even among the three northern regions,
there are large disparities in the
distribution of Physicians; Northern
Region alone had 135 physicians, with
33 physicians at post in Upper East
and 25 in the Upper West in 2011.
The Tamale Teaching Hospital had
more physicians than the Upper East
and Upper West regions combined.
Increase in funds
The 2018 Inequality Report recommended
increased in funds through
improved progressive taxation, spending
more on public health and prevention,
while focusing on neglected
districts and making at least primary
healthcare entirely fee-free, with no requirements
for NHIS registration or
premium payments in the shorter
term,
But a number of Ghanaians are
wondering how this would be possible,
considering the fact that, the NHIS
was indebted to its service providers
for the past four years. The Akufo-
Addo-led Government in 2017 said it
inherited a debt of GH¢1.2 billion
from the erstwhile
John Mahama-led
administration.
On April 21,
2018, President
Akufo-Addo declared
at the London
School of
Economics’ Africa
Summit that, his
government had
paid one billion
Ghana cedis of the
NHIS debts to the
service providers, to
enable the scheme
to provide healthcare
services to the
people, particularly
the vulnerable and
breathe new life
into its operations.
Change of
policy
The Inequality
Report says despite
the government’s good intention to
address equity and the needs of the
poor in the country, there is the need
for significant change of policy direction
on how the scheme should be
funded.
The report says the Government of
Ghana should work to achieve universal
health coverage and improve the
progressivity of health spending.
“It should also make significant
changes to the way that the NHIS is financed
and designed to make it fairly
funded, efficiently and transparently
administered, and accessible to all citizens,”
it stated.
It says in spite of the government’s
admirable commitments on free health
services for certain vulnerable groups,
like children under five, people over 70
years and pregnant women and immunization
services provided free of
charge, however, in some public health
facilities fees are charged for services
that are supposed to be free.
For instance, free healthcare for
pregnant women does not include
some costly emergency services, and
there have been concerns of cases of
some women, who are too poor to pay
and being detained in health facilities
for days or weeks.
A 23-year-old pregnant woman,
Ama Kwasima, a petty trader, at
Gbawe in the Ga South Municipality
of the Greater Accra Region, expressed
her frustrations that, she was
charged for services covered under the
NHIS, which were meant to be free.
She said previously, pregnant
women were not required to pay for
scan and laboratory services like blood
and urine test, but authorities at some
public health facilities now charge between
GH¢40.00 and GH¢50 for scanning
and GH¢10.00 for urine and
blood test.
“I sell fried plantains along the
Kasoa/Mallam road and averagely, I
sell GH¢30.00 a day, and I use the proceeds
to pay my two children’s school
fees and other household expenses.
“My husband left me when I conceived
my third child, and now I find it
difficult attending antenatal care because
I can’t pay the laboratory services
and other tests carried out by the
hospital,” she lamented.
There are many other Ghanaians
with similar narrations like Ama
Kwansima, who could not pay antennal
services because of financial constraints.
It is high time government improves
on its monitoring and supervision
of public health facilities to check
such illegal fees being charged by some
health personnel.
The government should ensure
free NHIS cards to all pregnant
women to give them automatic and
free entitlement to ensure a comprehensive
package of primary healthcare
services, including all maternal and
child-related health care.
Government should endeavour to
increase health spending to a minimum
of 15 per cent of the budget as
recommended by the 2018 Inequality
Report to ensure the realization of
universal health coverage.
It should also further increase
spending on healthcare by looking to
progressive taxation and improved
public financial management, and ensure
that the poor and the less privileged
do not pay premiums and fees.
GNA

spread_Oct 15, 2018.qxp_SHOWBIZ TEMP 10/12/18 9:39 PM Page 1
CONCERNED CITIZENS of Akyem
Oda in the Eastern Region Friday poured
onto the streets of the town to register
their spleen over lack of infrastructural
development.
The group, a month earlier, warned of
its intention to demonstrate against the
News
DAILY
Akyem Oda residents
demonstrate over collapsing
bridge, poor road
BY KOJO ANSAH
government for neglecting the town’s
collapsing bridge as well as general poor
road networks.
Hundreds of residents including local
Journalists, drivers and traders took part in
the demonstration to draw the
government’s attention to their
predicament. Some top government
officials including the Senior Minister,
Yaw Osafo Maafo hail from the area.
According to the protesting residents,
the erstwhile John Mahama administration
initiated moves to fix the roads,
reconstructing the Jubilee Bridge but was
not completed before the government left
office in 2016, and since then the project
has been abandoned.
Part of the bridge caved in a few weeks
ago when a heavy truck drove over it. A
call to the government to fix the
collapsing bridge was ignored, the
residents said, necessitating them to hit
the streets.
The demonstrators are expected to
present a petition to the President through
the Municipal Chief Executive for the
•Some of the
placards
area and subsequently address the media
on the way forward.
Gilbert Kwasi Frimpong, spokesperson
for the Association, told Starr News
Akyem Oda and the Birim Central
Municipality at large is retrogressing in
development.
He said apart from the bad road
networks, the Municipality lacks many
basic social amenities depriving residents
of a dignified standard of living in
contravention of the sustainable
development goals.
•A section of the demonstrators
THE EXECUTIVE
Secretary of the Volta
River Authority (VRA)
Trust Fund, Mr
Richard Koranteng
Twum-Barimah is
calling for upward review of VRA
annual allocation of $500,000 into the
Trust Fund established to take care of
the welfare of residents in the 52
resettlement communities.
He says since the establishment of
the Trust Fund in 1996, the $500,000
yearly allocation has never been
reviewed despite exponential
population growth associated with
increase socio-economic demands of
the resettlement communities.
"Our money is scarce the $500,000
which was approved in 1996 is the
same amount we are using in 2018.
What $500,000 can do in 1996 cannot
do in 2018 so what we want to do is
to appeal to VRA to increase the
amount," he noted.
The construction of the
Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam and
the creation of the Volta Lake among
others, led to the flooding of about
730 villages with a total population of
about 80,000 people at parts of
Brong Ahafo, Northern, Volta and
Eastern Regions.
Some 52 of the the worst affected
communities were resettled by then
Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah's
government and as part of
resettlement package the
Resettlement Trust Fund was
established in 1996 with annual
commitment of $500,000 to be paid
into the fund by VRA to provide
basic socio-economic amenities for
HERITAGE, MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Zonta e-Club of West Africa Chartered in Ghana
THE ZONTA e-Club of West Africa,
the latest addition to the Zonta
International family has been given
official charter in advancing the status of
women and making Zonta International
visible in the communities.
The Zonta e-Club of West Africa is
the first of its kind on the African
continent and it conducts business mainly
electronically, and targets executives or
professionals in a recognised business,
institution, or profession.
Mrs Yvonne Kouloufoua, Zonta
International District 18 Governor (2018-
2020) after a visit to Ghana to fraternize
with club members of the five (5) Ghana
clubs, chartered Zonta e-Club of West
Africa.
According to her, Zonta International
is a leading global organization of
professionals committed to empowering
women worldwide through service and
advocacy and its first club was established
in Buffalo, New York, in November 1919
and membership today stands at
approximately 30,000 Zontians in 66
countries.
Joyce Dzide-Tei, Club President in his
acceptance speech “Our vision for the
Allocation into VRA Trust Fund must
be reviewed - Executive Secretary
BY KOJO ANSAH
•Zonta International family
2018-2020 biennium is to empower
women and we intend to focus on
advocacy.”
“From the 25th of November, the
International Day for the Elimination of
Violence against Women, the e-club will
start Zonta’s 16-days of activism Against
Gender-Based Violence and end on
the10th of December, the Human
Rights Day.
“We also plan on working with young
people in some second-cycle and tertiary
•Officials breaking grounds
institutions in Ghana and partnering with
like-minded organizations and the UN
offices in Ghana on programs that
improve the wellbeing and status of
women and girls in society.
“As charter president, I am excited to
lead the challenges and opportunities the
club will be presented with, and look
forward to the feats we will achieve in
advancing the status of women and
making Zonta International visible in our
communities,” Dzide-Tei stated.
the residents.
However, many decades after the
fund was established, residents in
Anyaboni, New Senchi, Adjena and
New Somanya and many other
resettlement communities are not
happy with their current state of
development creating agitations for
better compensation package.
Speaking to the DAILY
HERITAGE, the Executive
Background
The Zonta International Foundation
is a not-for-profit charitable organisation,
which supports an extensive international
service program through the
contributions of Zonta clubs, individual
Zontians and friends.
It provides more flexibility in terms of
geographic location, time and greater use
of social media. Online meetings are
extremely convenient for our busy
members who find it difficult to attend
Director of the Trust Fund,
Koranteng Twum Barima refuted
claims that the fund has shirked its
responsibility.
He explained that many
developmental projects including
provision of education and health
infrastructure, water, market sheds,
among others have been but are
unable to meet the high insatiable
demands due to inadequate funding
meetings in person due to long
commutes, family responsibilities, and
busy personal and professional lives.
Members live as close as Accra, as far as
Sunyani and New York, and are willing to
support the objects of Zonta by advancing
the status of women and girls worldwide.
We welcome both men and women to
support this cause.
The club seeks to engage in local service
and advocacy projects that empower
women, initiate programs that eliminate
violence against women and bring an end to
child marriage.
Like all Zonta clubs, it will also
participate in Zonta International
Foundation’s scholarship and award
programs, and provide learning and
leadership opportunities for its members.
Zonta is fully committed to the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goal
Number 5 – gender equality and envisions a
world in which women’s rights
are recognized as human rights and every
woman is able to achieve her full potential.
In such a world, women have access to all
resources and are represented in decisionmaking
positions on an equal basis
with men. In such a world, no woman
lives in fear of violence.
hence believe the upward review of
the allocation will help accelerate the
development in the communities but
he said for the meantime the Trust
Fund is speaking to some Non-
Governmental Organisations for
support.
He said “in the 52 communities,
there is no community that you
wouldn't have VRA Trust Fund
Project, probably because over the
years we did not have a Board that
might have delayed some of the
projects.”
On Tuesday October 9, 2018, the
members of the newly
constituted Board of the Fund toured
some of the resettlement
communities in the Eastern region.
Encroachment of land, poor road
networks, portable water supply
challenges, rehabilitation and
expansion of education and health
infrastructure were top complaints by
residents.
Board Chairman of the fund, His
Honour (Rtd) Emmanuel Nana
Antwi-Barima told the DAILY
HERITAGE after the tour that the
Board would ensure the fund is put to
better use in fixing the challenges
identified according to the pressing
needs of the communities.
The entourage cuts sod for
construction of a Canteen for New
Senchi Methodist School.
UTAG Slams Gov’t
Over 65yrs Payroll
Directive
THE UNIVERSITY
Teachers Association
(UTAG) is calling on
government to rescind its
decision of taking off
academic staff above the age
of 65years from the
government pay roll.
The said academic staff
engaged on contracts by the
public institutions after the
expiration of their
mandatory age in the service
must be paid through
Internally Generated Funds,
according to the
government.
In a letter by the Public
Service Commission written
to the universities and
UTAG through the National
Council for Tertiary
Education on the 4th of
October, 2018, government
indicated that the policy
takes effect on 31st October,
2018, in line with the Public
Services Commission
statutes.
Speaking on the matter at
a UTAG forum at Elmina
on the educational delivery
in the country, the President
of UTAG, Dr Eric Opoku
Mensah called on
government to put a halt on
the new directive as it would
deprive the public
universities of critical staff
especially those in the
Professorial rank.
He added that the public
universities do not have
enough funds to pay such
key staff.
According to Dr Mensah,
graduate work and research
will also be negatively
affected as those key staff
are those who mentor and
supervise the teaching and
research works of such
graduate.
The UTAG President
opined that those
academicians must be kept
longer at the public
institutions as not only do
the institutions lack adequate
staff to make up for the
numbers but again they
possess rich experiences that
could still help in the
teaching, learning and
research process.
Speaking on the
matter at a UTAG
forum at Elmina
on the
educational
delivery in the
country, the
President of UTAG,
Dr Eric Opoku
Mensah called on
government to put
a halt on the new
directive as it
would deprive the
public universities
of critical staff
especially those in
the Professorial
rank.
•Dr Mathew Opoku-Prempeh, Minister of Education

Inside 0CT 15, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 10/12/18 9:38 PM Page 7
12TH
SEPTEMBER
2018
FRIDAY
CURRENCY PARIS CODE BUYING SELLING
US Dollar USDGHS 4.7163 4.7209
RATES Pound Sterling GBPGHS
6.0628
6.0706
Euro
GBPGHS
5.4798
5.4843
10
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Ghanaian business coach leads MTN
world executive breakfast meeting
MTN GHANA
and Business
World Magazine
are set to host
the 24th MTN
Business World
Executive Breakfast Meeting with
Mac Attram, an International
Business Coach, leading the discussion
on the theme ‘Leading
teams to greater results through
authentic communication’.
The Business Breakfast meeting
is scheduled to take place tomorrow
at the Kempinski Hotel in
Accra, and the event will bring together
top business executives and
entrepreneurs across all sectors of
the Ghanaian economy.
Mr Attram is a number one international
best-selling author and
one of the most sought-after business
coach and trainer of entrepreneurs
and business owners.
He is famous for helping business
owners to rapidly increase
their sales revenues within a range
of 20% - 200% in just a few
months, and as well implement
better processes, and build winning
business teams so that they
can have more time off to enjoy
their lives.
Mr Samuel Koranteng, Corporate
Services Executive, MTN,
said, “At MTN Ghana, we recognise
the critical role in sharing
good business practices which
promote economic growth. Holding
such events helps in inculcating
an enterprising spirit in
business owners and aspirants in
today’s challenging business environment.”
•Mr Mac Attram, author and International Business Coach
The MTN Business World
Executive Breakfast Meeting,
currently in its 7th year, is a
major thought leadership and
networking platform for top
business executives and entrepreneurs,
attracting over 800
executives annually.
The first MTN Business
World Breakfast series was
held in August 2012 and has
brought along leading local
and international speakers, including
Lisa Opoku, Yaw
Nsarkoh, Brian Tracy, Robin
Banks, Chinedu Echeruo, and
Siya Xuxa .
The last one, which was
held in July 2018, was on the
theme “Blockchain Technology
- A Force for Business
Growth In Ghana.”
SSNIT spends over GH¢300k on value-for-money OBS contract audit
THE SOCIAL Security and National
Insurance Trust (SSNIT)
has engaged the services of auditing
firm KPMG to do a valuefor-money
audit on the
controversial $72million Operational
Business Suite (OBS) contract
at a staggering cost of
¢337,685.
The value for money audit
contract was signed on February
2, 2018 between SSNIT and
KPMG after restricted tendering
process. The job was expected to
have been completed on September
17, 2018.
Some four former officials of
SSNIT, including the Director-
General, Ernest Thompson, are
currently facing charges of wilfully
causing financial loss to the
state in the procurement of the
OBS at $72million to digitize the
Trust’s operations — but the
software reportedly was not fully
functional.
•Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang - SSNIT boss
It was discovered
last year following
the change of government
that the
Trust settled for the
procurement of the
OBS software at
$72million although
it received tenders to
undertake the project
at much cheaper
prices, including $4
million and $9.8 million.
A document on
the deal indicates
that the eventual
winner of the contract
bid, Perfect
Business Systems
and Silverlake Consortium,
produced a
tender price of
$27,610,792 but that
was reviewed to $34,
011,914.21 after the
General Services Manager of
SSNIT identified arithmetic errors
in the tender of Perfect Business
Systems and Silverlake
Consortium.
Perfect Business Systems and
Silverlake Consortium was chosen
out of the total of 10 companies
and the tender was responded to
by the October 19, 2011 deadline.
Perfect Business System’s
$34million was almost nine times
the amount presented by Persol
Systems, about $4million.
Sambus Company Limited
presented the second least bid
price of $9.8 million.
After the deal between SSNIT
and Perfect Business Systems and
Silverlake Consortium was sealed
in 2012, the cost of the project
increased by about $32million.
The increase was attributed to
the procurement of additional
equipment, including servers and
flash drivers and headsets.

Inside 0CT 15, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 10/12/18 9:38 PM Page 8
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018 11
Politics
Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about
anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for
yourself —Henry James
Ghana intimately linked to
francophone world – Prez Akufo-Addo
•The Heads of State at the 17th La Francophonie Summit
THE PRESIDENT
of the Republic,
Nana Addo
Dankwa Akufo-
Addo, says the lives
of the Ghanaians
are intimately linked with the francophone
world, and Ghana’s
membership of La Francophonie
should serve as a big boost to addressing
some of the country’s
mutual concerns.
With French set to become one
of the world's most commonly
spoken languages, and with
French speakers rising to over 700
million, of which 80% will be in
Africa, President Akufo-Addo
noted that the lives of Ghanaians,
therefore, are intimately linked
with the Francophone world.
“As a country bordered to the
north, east and west by French
speaking countries, and to the
south by the Gulf of Guinea,
Ghana recognises the strategic importance
of her immediate neighbours,
to whom we are bound
byprofound ties of blood, geography
and history, and, indeed, of all
French speaking countries, to the
development of our country,” he
said.
President Akufo-Addo made
this known on Friday, 12th October,
2018, when he delivered a
speech at the 17th La Francophonie
Summit, being held in Erevan,
Armenia.
Addressing the Summit in
French, the President noted that
during his time as Minister for
Foreign Affairs in the government
of His Excellency John Agyekum
Kufuor, he was privileged, on
28thSeptember, 2006, to lead the
Ghanaian delegationto the
11thFrancophonie Summit in
Bucharest, which resulted in
Ghana becoming an Associate
Member of La Francophonie,
without first having to be made an
Observer Member.
“Ghana, an anglophone nation,
is only one of a handful of countries
that enjoy membership of
both the Commonwealth and La
Francophonie, and we value this
situation very much,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo continued,
“That is why we are determined
to strengthen the bonds of
friendship and co-operation with
la Francophonie, by transitioning
from an Associate Member to a
Full Member.”
Ghana, a strong, functioning
democracy, the President stressed,
shares the aims and values of La
Francophonie, adding that Ghana
looks forward to playing a significant
role in the realization of
these values.
“Our goal is to live, one day, in
a bilingual Ghana, i.e. English and
French, together with our own indigenous
languages. We have already
begun to work towards this.
On 15th May, 2018, I authorized
the signature of a language pact
with La Francophonie, towards
helping to make this a reality,” he
said.
Additionally, President Akufo-
Addo indicated that his government
has introduced a bilingual
classroom project at the basic education
level, where certain subjects
are taught in both English and
French, and the study of French is
being made compulsory at the
“Our goal is to live, one day, in a bilingual Ghana, i.e. English
and French, together with our own indigenous languages.
We have already begun to work towards this. On
15th May, 2018, I authorized the signature of a language
pact with La Francophonie, towards helping to make this a
reality,” he said.
basic level of Ghana’s educational
system.
With 84 members making up
La Francophonie, the President
noted that an increase in trade and
investment co-operation amongst
member countries should be
deeply promoted and encouraged.
“History tells us that this is the
best route to general progress and
prosperity. With the help of digital
technology, we can then accelerate
economic growth, create the
much-needed jobs for our youth,
and take advantage of the vast potential
of Africa’s young population,”
he added.
The 21st century, with the aid
of science and technology, President
Akufo-Addo said, offers humankind,
despite the greed of a
few, the prospects, for the first
time in human history, of building
a world civilisation of prosperity
in freedom for all the peoples of
the world, where all citizens live in
dignity and security.
“I am an unrepentant optimist,
and I am confident that we can
work together to build such a new
world, with member states of La
Francophonie taking the lead,” the
President said.

Inside 0CT 15, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 10/12/18 9:38 PM Page 9
12
DAILY
Politics
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
HERITAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018
Private solutions for public problems:
the case of Dzorwulu and Abelenkpe roads
The Urban Roads Department and
the newly created Ayawaso West Municipal
Assembly seem to be looking
unconcerned while the roads and gutters
in Dzorwulu and surrounding
arears deteriorate from pot holes into
the proverbial manholes.
For the past five years the affected
roads have not seen any maintenance.
When Joy News covered the “Dzorwulu
Bad Roads” on the “AM Show”
last, week it became obvious that the
roads had been left to deteriorate beyond
the regular filling of potholes
and resurfacing. They have to be constructed
all over again.
Costs to residents:
Residents and business operators
in the community have had to bear
the brunt of the devastating effects of
the bad roads as result of the failure
of the Urban Roads Department and
the Assembly to provide a solution.
High costs of vehicle maintenance,
increased accidents in the course of
dodging potholes,chest infections
from inhaling dust and loss of revenue
to business operators constitute
some of the obvious costs to people
living and working in the affected
areas.
To the tax payer, the state, Urban
Roads and the Assembly, the high
costs of rebuilding the roads could
have been avoided had the routine
maintenance schedule been kept.
Worst still is the fact that no one
seems to know when the authorities
responsible would take action on
these public problems in well-planned
residential areas like Dzorwulu and
Abelenkpe. Who is to blame?
Gaping potholes
Private solutions:
Last year, a private developer provided
a lasting solution to a 30-year
old problem on the last quarter of the
stretch between the Dzorwulu Special
School and the Abelenkpe traffic
lights. About 100 metres of that part
of the road was always under water
even in the dry season. It needed to
be dug out deeper to reach hard soil
level, filled and compacted before surfacing.
The Engineers and soil experts at
the Urban Roads Department and
Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA)
knew the problem but never solved it.
It is interesting to recall how resident
motorists detoured to avoid that
stretch for 30years but are happy to
use it now, because it has been fixed.
Thanks to DEVTRACO, the private
developer.
In the last decade or so, the phenomenon
of finding private solutions
to public problems has become pronounced
in Ghana. When the state
could not provide security to life and
property, individuals had to settle for
private security. People resorted to
standby generators when the Electricity
Company of Ghana (ECG) could
sustain the supply of power. Water
tankers came in to save the situation
when the taps would not flow for
many years. In their desperation to
have the roads fixed, some residents
in Dzorwulu and Abelenkpe have
been contemplating private solutions
to the public problems. Is that the
way to go? What happens to the taxes
and rates?
•Gaping potholes
Public institutions:
Ghana does not lack when it
comes to setting up state or public institutions
to ostensibly solve public
problems. In fact successive governments
have been in a hurry to set up
“duplicate” institutions for political
expediency when what is required is
for the existing ones with the same
mandate to be provided with the resources
needed to deliver efficient
public services to the people.
In the case of Dzorwulu and Abelenkpe
roads, we have the Urban
Roads Department and the Ayawaso
West Sub-Metro responsible for fixing
them. They prepare annual budgets,
they benefit from taxes residents of
Dzorwulu and Abelempke pay, and
yet they are not sure when the roads
under their jurisdiction in the affected
areas would be fixed.
People’s power:
Ghana operates an electoral
democracy, where we go to the polls
to elect our leaders every four years.
The leaders we elect are supposed to
lead and or supervise the public institutions
responsible for solving public
problems. But we are often left on
our own to find private solutions to
the public problems.
In a democracy, one’s vote is supposed
to be his or her power. That
power enables us to choose who leads
us at the national and local government
levels. As a multi-party representative
democracy, Ghanaians also
have the power to determine who
represents them in the legislature so
that we are not left out in the laws
that are made to govern us.
Residents of Dzorwulu and Abelenkpe
have elected Assembly members
to represent their interests. How
are the representatives exercising the
powers we gave them to have these
public problems solved?
Samira Bawumia’s delegation to
WHO Conference 6 not 20
BY KENT MENSAH
THE SECOND
Lady, Samira Bawumia,
is leading a
six-member delegation
to the first
World Health Organisation
(WHO) Global Conference
on Air Pollution and
Health and not a 20-man team as
being speculated.
Starrfmonline.com has secured
official documents from
the Embassy of Switzerland in
Accra detailing the full list of
those travelling with the Second
Lady on October 28, to November
2, 2018.
A letter from Ghana’s Foreign
Affairs Ministry dated October 8,
2018 to the Embassy said: The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Regional Integration of the Republic
of Ghana presents its
compliments to the Embassy of
Switzerland in Accra, and at the
instance of the Office of the
Second Lady has the honour to
•Samira Bawumia, Second Lady
request the issuance of appropriate
entry visas in favour of Her
Excellency Hajia Samira Ramadan
Bawumia and the undernamed
members of her delegation,
who are scheduled to participate
in the first World Health
Organisation (WHO) Global
Conference on Air Pollution and
Health at the WHO Headquarters
in Geneva, Switzerland, from
28th October to 2nd November,
2018:
Emmanuel Kwame Twum
Asiamah, Esq – Projects Coordinator
Zelia Amsat Osman – Aide
Kwame Ofori-Danso – Press
Secretary
A few days ago, Mrs Bawumia
came under heavy public backlash
when documents surfaced
that she was sending a 20-member
team to the Geneva conference.
The spokesperson of the
vice president, Dr Gideon Boako
described the documents as
“fake”.
Also, another document in
possession
of Starrfmonline.com from State
Protocol to the Foreign Minister
seeking for Visa arrangement,
stressed on the number, saying:
“Her Excellency Hajia Samira
Ramadan Bawumia will lead a
six-member delegation to attend
the event in this connection, it
would be appreciated if arrangements
could be made to obtain
the appropriate Schengen entry
visas for the members of Her
Excellency’s delegation who do
not have valid Schengen Entry
visas.
“Her Excellency Hajia Samira
Ramadan Bawumia and her delegation
will depart Accra on Sunday
28th October, 2018. Kindly
find attached the copy of her invitation
and the list of her Excellency’s
delegation.”
The Global Conference on
Air Pollution and Health, 30 October
– November 1, 2018 will
be organized at WHO headquarters
in Geneva, in collaboration
with United Nations (UN) Environment,
World Meteorological
Organization, the Secretariat of
the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change, the Climate
and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce
Short-Lived Climate Pollutants
the United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe,
and the World Bank.

13
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018
•Reggie
Rockstone
Yvonne Nelson sells
caps to support new
mothers
I’m now ageless —
Reggie Rockstone
FATHER OF Hiplife, Reggie
Rockstone, has said that
he no more celebrates
birthdays because he is now
ageless.
According to him, each
day is a birthday for him
and so there is no reason
for him to set aside a specific
day to celebrate himself.
He indicated that he is
grateful to God for his life
and the fact that he has
been able to impact his
generation and the ones
after him.
Rockstone, who is a
force to reckon with in
music in Ghana, was speaking
on Kumasi-based
Abusua FM to Mr Katah.
“I’m now like Mzbel,
I’m sweet sixteen. Sometimes
I am thirty-two,
sometimes 20. All I want to
say is that I’m ageless now
and I celebrate my birthday
every day. I am always
grateful that I have life.”
BY ERICA ARTHUR
GHANAIAN AC-
TRESS, model, producer
and mother,
Yvonne Nelson is
set to sell her new
customised mesh Caps to raise
funds to support all new mothers
in different hospitals.
According to the actress, the
Caps which has a pink and white
colour is customized with her
daughter’s name ‘RYN’ on the
front will be sold for GHc 60.00 to
support new mothers who are unable
to afford their hospital bills
and other items.
She posted on her Instagram
page, “My favorite thing about
motherhood is the outpouring of
love that is non-judgmental and
beautiful and so this month of October,
I am giving back to all new
mothers, and I would want each
and every one of my friends, family
and fans to help me by purchasing
this lovely mesh cap for only
60ghc. All proceeds will go to new
mothers in different
hospitals, God
richly bless you”
The mother of
one who started a
campaign to raise
funds Yvonne
Nelson was motivated
to do this
yet to be done
benevolence because
of the outpouring
love
shown by mothers
to their children
though they
go through difficult
times during
child birth.
The donation
according to the
beautiful model
is to put smiles
on the faces of
the new mothers
since most find
it difficult to pay their bills for reasons
best known to them.
Yvonne gave birth to her first
child, RYN on October 29, 2017
•Yvonne Nelson
with her Irish boyfriend, Jamie
Roberts, a photographer based in
the United Kingdom.
LIFESTYLE
TIPS 11 Early relationship problems that are
most likely to get worse over time
IT'S OFTEN tough to spot potential relationship
problems when you're in the throes of a
new love. Heck, you might even see a red flag
or two, but not care one bit because woo this is
so much fun! I totally get it, and yet that doesn't
mean you should ignore early relationship
problems, since many have a way of getting
worse with time.
You can give your new partner the benefit
of the doubt, and take some time to work on
things. "Perhaps they can control the negative
behaviour," Bash says. "But, in cases where
there are some incompatibilities from the beginning,
it's probably best to fold and move on,
because that is not going to get better." Here
are some issues that'll only get worse with time.
1. Lack of sexual chemistry
If you two aren't the most sexually compatible,
you can definitely work on it by communicating
and experimenting. But do know this
issue doesn't always work itself out. "The beginning
of a relationship, when a couple is in
the honeymoon stage, is the time when fireworks
should be going off every time they are
together," Bash says. "If that chemistry is not
there from the beginning, it usually will only go
downhill from there."
2. Having nothing in common
While you two don't have to be twins, it's
not a good idea to force a relationship with
someone who's your total opposite. "If there is
just no common ground, it will likely lead to
the couple eventually having separate lives,"
Bash says. If you're an extrovert and they're an
introvert, for example, or if you like to hike and
they won't even step outside, such differences
can get more and more frustrating with time.
3. Controlling and demanding
personality
Since people are normally on their best behaviour
in the early days of a relationship, take
note of any hints that they might be controlling
or demanding. As Bash says, "These will not
only get worse, but could also ... foreshadow a
potentially abusive partner." And that's obviously
someone you want to run far away from.
4. Different spending habits
Money is one of the top things couples
fight about, so don't be surprised if this becomes
your go-to argument. Or if it gets worse
as the years go by. "Since it's such a crucial aspect
in day-to-day life .. understanding how
both you and your [partner] relates to it is important,"
says speaker and life coach Jaya Jaya
Myra. "Don't wreck a relationship just because
you are stressed about money and don't like or
respect the way your partner handles it." Instead,
talk about it — before it gets out of
hand.
5. Issues from the past
Any fights about family members or ex
partners will likely only get more heated, so nip
those in the bud ASAP. As relationship expert
Stef Safran says, "If you notice early on that
you feel that you are not on the same page
when dealing with things from the past, you
need to find early on if you can make an agreement."
What's OK to talk about and what isn't?
And how do you plan to deal with this issue the
next time it comes up?
•Ama Petal

14
DAILY
HERITAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
100% Ghanaian
music airplay is
not enough — Efya
SINGER EFYA has said
that fighting for 100-per
cent Ghanaian music
airplay is not enough to
put Ghanaian musicians
on the world level.
According to her, even though
it was a move in the right direction,
streaming music of preferred
artistes gets them on the international
market as compared to airplay.
The award-winning singer said
the introduction of several music
streaming platforms now affords
them the opportunity to gain
global recognition if they get the
right support.
In an interview on Starr Drive,
the Afro Pop artist stated emphatically
that music enjoying airplay
on radio and TV was not enough
to get our artistes on the global
level.
“If everybody in Ghana buys
and streams a song when it comes
out, we can go international. So
when the music comes, go and
stream the music.
“You don’t expect me to release
a song and it will have more
views from Nigeria than Ghana.
We must support our own,” she
said on the ‘Starr Drive’ programme
on Starr 103.5 FM in
Accra.
•Efya
GHANAIAN HIPLIFE music
trio, Praye, have released three
singles to announce their reunion.
The group, currently on a
radio tour to promote the three
banging tracks, disclosed the release
last Friday on their social
media platforms.
The songs, ‘Gbang Gban‘,
was produced by Lynx Entertainment
artiste Kidi, ‘Adesoa‘ produced
by Keylex and ‘Disco
•The music trio, Praye
Praye group releases
tracks to announce reunion
Light‘ produced by Mix Master
Garzy.
Choirmaster, a member of the
group, has revealed that the three
singles are from their upcoming
ten-track album to be unveiled
before the end of 2018.
The group, made up of three
members, Eugene Baah ( Praye
Ho Ne Ho); Steven Fiawoo
(Praye Tiatia) and Nana Kwame
([Praye Tenten) was formed during
the maiden edition of the
Nescafe African Revelations.
After the group, which broke
up in 2014 with Praye Tintin
being the first to leave the group,
Choirmaster and Cartel Big J
tried their best to keep the group
going but it did not work, which
made them to also pursue their
individual solo projects which did
not go well for them either.
Their new tracks is regarded
as likely to make the Praye group
more united than before.
Actress Maame Serwaa signs
new deal with Lifebuoy Company
GHANAIAN TEEN actress Clara
Benson, popularly known as Maame
Serwaa, has signed a deal with
Lifebuoy, the world’s leading health
soap company as their new Brand influencer.
As part of the company’s annual
event, celebrating Global Hand Washing
Day, the young actress is expected
to engage patrons on social media to
drive engagements and traction for
proper hand-washing campaign in a
post-event day activities.
She will also tour selected schools
and selected venues to educate children
and mothers to wash their hands
with soap and water in the Ashanti
Region.
Lifebuoy took interest in signing
this deal with the beautiful actress
because of her success in the
Ghanaian movie industry and for
being an inspiration to millions of
Ghanaian youth.
She was also signed because of
her huge influence beyond the
shores of Ghana.
So far, Serwaa and broadcaster
Nana Aba Anamoah are the
new influencers who have been inducted
into the exclusive Hall of
Fame for Lifebuoy’s brand icons in
Ghana.
The Global Hand Washing Day,
celebrated on October 15, every
year, is a global advocacy day dedicated
to increasing awareness and
understanding about the importance
of hand-washing with soap as
an effective and affordable way to
prevent diseases and save lives.
It was initiated to reduce childhood
mortality rates and related
pneumonia and diarrhoea by introducing
simple behavioural changes,
such as washing hands with soap.
Serwaa, currently one of Ghana’s
most celebrated actresses, began acting
at age six and has since not
looked back.
The screen goddess has moved to
build and maintain a reputation as
one of the most-loved actresses in
Africa, and no wonder Lifebuoy’s interest
in her.
•Maame
Serwaa,
actress

DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Sports
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018
15
Premier League
Christmas fixtures:
TV matches
announced for
festive period
PREMIER LEAGUE teams will have one more
day's rest in this year's festive period than they had
in 2017, but will all still play four games in two
weeks.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said last
season the schedule would "kill players" after they
faced Watford 48 hours after a New Year's Eve
game.
There were no fixtures on December 24, 25
and 29 in 2017. This year Decembe 24, 25, 28 and
31 have been left blank. City will have had a day's
less rest than Liverpool before the teams meet.
Their match at Etihad Stadium will now take
place on January 3 at 20:00 GMT.
City's previous fixture at Southampton will kick
off at 14:15 GMT (2:15 p.m.) on December 30, a
day after Liverpool host Arsenal at 17:30 GMT
(5:30 p.m.).
Wolves fans will face an early start to watch
their team's game at Fulham at 12:30 GMT on
December 26.
Full rearranged festive TV fixtures
All times GMT
Friday, December 21: Wolves v Liverpool
(20:00) - live on Sky Sports
Saturday, December 22: Arsenal v Burnley
(12:30) - live on Sky Sports; Cardiff v Man Utd
(17:30) - live on BT Sport
Sunday, December 23: Everton v Tottenham
(16:00) - live on Sky Sports
Wednesday, December 26: Fulham v Wolves
(12:30); Brighton v Arsenal (17:15); Watford v
Chelsea (19:30) - all three matches live on Sky
Sports
Thursday, December 27: Southampton v
West Ham (19:45) - live on Sky Sports
Saturday, December 29: Liverpool v Arsenal
(17:30) - live on BT Sport
Sunday, December 30: Crystal Palace v
Chelsea (12:00) live on Sky Sports; Burnley v West
Ham (14:15); Southampton v Man City (14:15) -
live on Sky Sports; Man Utd v Bournemouth
(16:30) - live on Sky Sports
Tuesday, 1 January: Everton v Leicester
(12:30) - live on Sky Sports; Cardiff v Tottenham
(17:30) - live on Sky Sports
Wednesday, January 1: Bournemouth v Watford
(19:45); Chelsea v Southampton (19:45); Huddersfield
v Burnley (19:45); Newcastle v Man Utd
(20:00) - live on Sky Sports; West Ham v Brighton
(19:45); Wolves v Crystal Palace (19:45)
Thursday, January 3: Man City v Liverpool
(20:00) - live on Sky Sports
Opare Addo lashes
out at 'indisciplined'
Samudeen Ibrahim
SPOKESPERSON OF
Hearts of Oak, Opare
Addo, has criticized player
Samudeen Ibrahim over his
indiscipline behaviour at
the club.
According to the communication
officer, the decision to suspend the
midfielder is aimed at serving as a deterrent
to other players.
Hearts of Oak have won no major
trophies in nine years and the recent
player exodus has infuriated supporters
the more and it is not good times.
Hearts of Oak announced the suspension
against the former King
Solomon player citing violations of
contract after missing training at Pobiman
without permission.
“It’s true that Samudeen Ibrahim
has been suspended indefinitely for
multiple violations of player contract,”
Opare Addo said.
“We are doing this to deter others
from doing so. Samudeen has been
missing from training for sometime
now without seeking permission. It is
not just about the training session
that he has been missing. Samudeen
has been misbehaving for a while.”
Opare Addo also rubbished claims
that Samudeen’s contract with Hearts
of Oak had expired.
“Ignorantly people are saying
Samudeen’s contract with Hearts of
Oak is expired. How can we suspend
a player that we don’t have a contract
with?
Opare Addo also confirmed the
player received his suspension letter
via a WhatsApp platform as the club
did not know his whereabouts.
” I can confirm that Samudeen has
received his suspension letter through
a WhatsApp message,” he said.
Conor McGregor, Khabib
Nurmagomedov suspended
• Nurmagomedov
claimed his win
after making Mc-
Gregor tap out in
the fourth round
CONOR MCGREGOR and Khabib Nurmagomedov
have been temporarily suspended
by the Nevada State Athletic
Commission (NSAC) pending a full investigation
into the scenes that marred the end of
Sunday's UFC lightweight fight in Las Vegas.
Following his victory, Nurmagomedov
jumped the octagon fence and started fighting
his rival's team. McGregor then fought
with the Russian's camp as numerous brawls
broke out.
The NSAC, which sanctioned the bout,
withheld Nurmagomedov's fight purse. A
hearing is expected to be held at the end of
the month and the NSAC can impose a fine
and ban.
• Samudeen Ibrahim,
Hearts of Oak player
If the NSAC imposes a ban, other athletic
commissions are likely to follow suit. The
UFC can decide whether to strip Nurmagomedov
of his belt, but president Dana
White has already said the Russian will keep
his title.
Nurmagomedov claimed his win after
making McGregor tap out in the fourth
round, with the Irishman having since been
suspended for a month on medical grounds.
Members of Nurmagomedov's team were
also involved in a brawl with McGregor in
the octagon after the Russian had vaulted the
cage fence.
Three of his party were arrested but later
released, with McGregor refusing to press
charges. Nurmagomedov apologized after
the incident but cited pre-fight comments in
which McGregor "talked about my religion,
talked about my country, talked about my father".
Baba Rahman working way
into regaining Schalke spot
BABA RAHMAN has been training
with his teammates at Schalke as he
aims to regain his starting place at the
club.
The on-loan Chelsea defender has
returned to first team duties after
being granted sometime off with his
family.
Rahman just recently welcomed
the birth of his second child and was
given permission to spend some time
with his nursing wife.
The Ghana international has been
working since his return to regain his
starting place at the side, which
seems to have recovered from their
early season wobble.
Rahman, who is not involved in
international activity, joined the likes
of Franco Di Santo, Benjamin Stambouli,
Bastian Oczipka and Steven
Skrzybski in training at Schalke’s
training complex.
They are looking to maintain their
sharpness before the resumption of
official club activities next week.
• Baba Rahman, Schalke 04 defender