FEBRUARY 27

NO. 100786 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019 

PRICE: GH¢2.00 

DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH 

• Mr Ababio Tawiah (M), 

Chairman of the Twifo 

Toffoe Youth Association 

flanked by two of his 

executive members 

• Residents holding placards with various inscriptions 

• Lawyer 

Dominic 

Ayine 

• Ms Gloria 

Afua Akuffo, 

Attorney 

General 

visit us: @dailyheritagegh dailyheritage facebook.com/daily.heritage.9

02 

DAILY QUOTE 

Don’t Let Yesterday 

Take Up Too Much Of 

Today. – Will Rogers 

CONTENT 

ANNIVERSARIES 

Independence Day — 

Wednesday, 6th March. 

Good Friday — Friday, 19th April. 

Easter Monday — Monday, 22nd 

April. 

DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019 

Published by: EIB 

Network / Heritage 

Communications Ltd. 

Managing Editor: 

William Asiedu: 

0208156974 

Editor: 

Kofi Enchill: 

0265653335 

ISSN: 0855-52307 

VOL 7 

Location: Meridian 

House (Starr FM) Ring 

Road. Box AD 676, 

Adabraka, Accra,Ghana. 

Telephone: +233-0302- 

236051, 020-8156974 

026-5653335 

www.dailyheritage.com.gh 

Adverts/Mktg: 

Paul Ampong-Mensah 

024-4360782 

Fax: +233-0302-237156 

Email: 

news@dailyheritagegh.com.gh 

heritagenewspaper@yahoo.co.uk 

EDDT challenges families 

over land ownership 

THE EAST Dadekotopon Development 

Trust (EDDT) has stated that 

the Land Certificate it holds over the 

3,408.65 acres of land at Tse Addo in 

La is still valid as per a Supreme Court 

ruling dated February 12, 2019. 

The EDDT said the latest Supreme Court rulings 

have nullified all rights the Atta Tawiah Tsinatse 

Family were granted by the High Court 

presided over by Justice Abada on March 3, 2016. 

Addressing a press conference to dispute claims 

by the Atta Tawiah Tsinatse Family that the Trust 

holds no authority over the said land, the Chairman 

of the East Dadekotopon Development 

Trust, Nii Obuor Fredman Afful, averred that the 

Justice Abada ruling which the Atta Tawiah Tsinatse 

Family is relying on to claim 808.644 acres of 

land had been nullified by the Court of Appeal. 

Ahead of the EDDT Press conference, the 

Atta Tawiah Tsinatse Family, in a similar fashion, 

met the media and claimed ownership over all the 

entire 3,408.65 acres being claimed at Tse Addo. 

According to the families of Attah Tawiah Tsinatse 

and Numo Ofoli Kwashie, they sued the 

EDDT and secured a judgment of the High Court 

presided over by Justice Ofori Atta in Suit No. 

BL431/ 2006. 

The family also accused the Trust of using 

some police officers to terrorise residents on the 

land. 

However, Nii Afful, in a response, indicated 

that the EDDT, was formed in 2002 following 

court action and by a Trust Deed dated April 10, 

2002, and a land certificate was issued to the Trust 

in 2003. 

He said a new Board of Trustees was formed 

• Nii Adhei Koofeh IV (M, ) La Kingmaker and Supreme Head of Nmah Abonase Family, 

Nii Obuor Fredman Afful (L), Chairman of the East Dadekotopon Development 

Trust, and others at the press conference 

on March 27, 2017 and inaugurated on September 

8, 2017, after settlers on the land had brought the 

appointment of the board to public attention 

through newspaper publication on April 30, 2017. 

Nii Afful explained that after the formation of 

the new Board of Trustees claims began to emerge 

from the Atta Tawiah Tsinatse and the Nuumo 

Ofoli Kwashie families who later sued the Trust 

and secured a judgment in their favour. 

“By that judgement the families were declared 

owners of an area of 808.644 acres, which was registered 

in the name of the EDDT. Also the judgement 

impugned the Certificate of the EDDT,” he 

explained. 

He noted also that the EDDT filed an Appeal 

against the High Court ruling at the Court of Appeal 

but the families abandoned the earlier judgement 

of the High Court and entered into a 

Consent judgment. 

Nii Afful said the consent judgement had been 

adopted as a judgment of the Court of Appeal on 

April 30, 2015. 

He also averred that after the settlement, there 

was an inter-family conflict between the Atta Tawiah 

Tsinatse family and the Nuumo Ofoli Kwashie 

family when a faction of one family disputed the 

right of the other to act on behalf of the families. 

Nii Afful said the case later went before Justice 

Anthony Abada for determination. 

“The EDDT was not a party to this suit. It was 

purely a family affair,” he said. 

He stressed that on March 3, 2016 judgment 

delivered by Justice Anthony Abada sparked off 

the unfortunate chain of events being experienced 

over the land. 

He pointed out that the two families reasoned 

that if the consent judgment was set aside, the only 

judgment existing would be the Ofori Atta judgment 

of December 2010 against the EDDT. 

According to him, the Trustees of the EDDT 

commenced several actions both at the High Court 

and at the Supreme Court to nullify those unfortunate 

developments and to set aside the judgement 

of Abada J., which gave birth to actions of the 

families. 

He, however, said the Company would always 

resort to proper legal means to ensure that the disputes 

brewing between them and the families were 

settled. 

But in a counter press conference yesterday, the 

head of family of the Ataa Tawiah Tsinaatse, a 

Nuumo Ofoli Kwashie of La, punched deep holes 

into the claims of the EDDT, saying that the Trust 

did not have a legal status to deal in any land transaction 

on behalf of the Ataa Tawiah Tsinaatse and 

Nuumo Ofoli Kwashie families of La Traditional 

Area. 

The spokesperson for Ataa Tawiah Tsinaatse 

and Nuumo Ofoli Kwashie families, Mr Henry Ayi 

Addo, noted that the judgment of the Supreme 

Court has not been challenged and so no one, "I 

say no one has taken the Ataa Tawiah Tsinaatse 

and Nuumo Ofoli Kwashie families of La to court 

to appeal against our judgment." 

AWW Commission 

Ayine’s cross-examination request declined 

BY KWAME ACHEAMPONG 

THE COMMISSION probing the 

Ayawaso by-election violence has ruled 

against a request by lawyer for witnesses 

Delali Brempong and Member of Parliament 

(MP) for Ningo Prampram, Sam 

George to cross-examine some earlier 

witnesses who made claims regarding 

them at the commission. 

The Chairman of the Commission, 

Justice Emile Short, in his ruling, said allowing 

such an application to stand 

would disrupt the the proceedings of the 

commission. 

“The Commission declines the request 

by Counsel of Mr Delali Brempong 

and Sam George to cross-examine 

witnesses who have offered testimonies,” 

Justice Short said. 

The ruling further noted: “The work 

of the Commission is not to decide what 

the balance of right and liabilities are between 

two parties…allowing the request 

will fundamentally disrupt the proceedings 

of the commission. The Commission 

has for good reason adopted the 

inquisitorial approach in its way”. 

Responding to the ruling, lawyer for 

the two witnesses, Dominic Ayine, expressed 

gratitude to the Commission 

and stressed that he was happy to note 

that the outcome of the Commission’s 

work wiould not have direct consequences 

on the political future of his 

clients. 

Meanwhile, the Ningo Prampram MP 

blamed the vigilantism menace in the 

country on the failings of the country’s 

land tenure system. 

He said the people who are recruited 

by political parties for vigilante activities 

are often known land guards who have 

no profession aside protecting lands. 

He said if the police are allowed the 

free hand to deal with such individuals, 

vigilantism will be properly dealt with in 

this country. 

• Lawyer Dominic Ayine

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH 


03 

Akufo-Addo’s boy hot 

BY PHILIP ANTOH 

philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com.gh 

THE CHIEF and people of Twifo 

Praso in the Central Region are 

appealing to President Nana 

Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to 

immediately sack the District 

Chief Executive (DCE) for Twifo-Ati 

Morkwa District, Mr Robert Agyemang 

Nyantakyi, for meddling in chieftaincy matters. 

According to them, the DCE, instead of 

embarking on development projects, has 

sided with the Ati Morkwa chief, Nana 

Kwasi Kenin IV, to deny Twifo Praso and its 

environs development, and that the DCE, on 

daily basis, harasses the youth of the town. 

Speaking to the press after a demonstration 

in the area to register their grief, the 

chairman of Twifo Toffoe Youth Association, 

Mr Ababio Tawiah, said the DCE had 

failed the town by meddling in chieftaincy issues 

in the area and appealed to the President 

to sack him immediately and replace 

him with the one who is development-oriented. 

Mr Tawiah said sometime in August last 

year, the Member of Parliament for the area, 

Abraham D. Odoom, in trying to fulfil his 

campaign promise, completed an abandoned 

market at Twifo Praso and informed the 

chiefs and elders of the place perform the 

necessary rituals to pave the way for traders 

to conduct their activities there. 

• As angry Twifo Praso residents call for DCE’s head 

• Mr Ababio Tawiah (M), Chairman of the Twifo Toffoe Youth Association 

flanked by two of his executive members. 

He added that “surprisingly we were summoned 

the next day to appear before the Divisional 

Police Commander at Assin Fosu to 

answer charges of indiscriminate shooting 

into a crowd on the day of the rituals. 

The chairman said the police later realised 

nothing of the sort happened and so the people 

were released on bail but on the following 

day a pickup with registration number GN 

1340-12, full of thugs, allegedly being 

sponsored by the DCE, stormed the 

market and vandalised all the structures. 

“They drove carelessly and fired countless 

number of gun shots in town and the case 

was reported to the police but no arrest has 

been made till date,” he stated. 

Mr Tawiah said the DCE connived with 

Nana Kenin and others and succeeded in securing 

a court injunction restraining the 

traders from accessing the market, a situation 

which has brought untold hardship on the 

traders. 

The association also accused the DCE, 

among other things, of harassing and arresting 

innocent youth in the town who seem not 

to be in agreement with him in his unwarranted 

acts. 

Wearing red gear and red armed bands 

and chanting war songs, the chiefs and youth 

of Twifo Praso last Friday, February 22, 

demonstrated through the principal streets of 

the town to register their displeasure against 

the DCE and Presiding Member of the assembly 

for working against the progress of 

Twifo Praso. 

The chief and the youth called on President 

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to immediately 

call the DCE to order or they 

themselves will sack him because he cannot 

be trusted, since he has taken sides in the 

chieftaincy impasse in the area. 

Complaining about lack of development 

issues in the area, the chiefs cited the poor deplorable 

state of the road from Cape Coast to 

Praso, and the need to construct a bridge on a 

portion of Pra River to create easy movement 

across the river. 

“We are giving the President two weeks to 

talk to the DCE or we will halt every activity 

in the area,” Mr Tawiah stated. 

But when contacted to react to the issues 

in an interview with the DAILY HER- 

ITAGE, DCE Nyantakyi said he was not 

aware of the demonstration and that the 

demonstrators should have made him aware 

of their impending action before carrying it 

out. 

Mr Nyantaki, therefore, declined to speak 

about the issues, saying he had important assignments 

like a town hall meeting to attend. 

Pocket money for prosecution saga… 

AG allays fears of prosecutors 

BY MUNTALLA INUSAH 

muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com.gh 

THE ATTORNEY General’s 

Department, led by the Attorney 

General and Minister of Justice, 

Ms Gloria Afua Akuffo, has responded 

swiftly to the cry of police 

prosecutors who used their 

pocket money to prosecute crime 

for the State with the assurance 

that, “we will do what is reasonably 

necessary to ensure that 

prosecutors are made comfortable 

to work.” 

The AG’s office also said the 

prosecutors are not asking for 

something more than they deserved 

but “we are not sleeping 

at all, 24 hours we are working on 

matters like this.” 

Joseph Kpemka, Deputy AG, 

who made this known when he 

was reacting to the DAILY 

HERITAGE story that police 

prosecutors have been using their 

pocket monies for prosecution, 

told Francis Abban on Starr FM. 

According to him, some 

amendments proposals are being 

considered by the AG’s office for 

consideration by Parliament for 

some allocation of Court Fines 

to address concerns of this nature. 

“We will do what is reasonably 

necessary to ensure that 

prosecutors are made comfortable. 

Whatever they are complaining 

about most of it is true 

and we will do what is reasonably 

necessary to ensure that they are 

made comfortable to work. 

“They are not asking for 

something more than they deserve, 

how could you be using 

your own money to take maybe 

people to court and et cetera or 

go to do prosecutions, that cannot 

be?” he rhetorically asked. 

Police discussing 

modalities 

The Director-General of Public 

Affairs of the Ghana Police 

Service, ACP David Eklu, had 

earlier told the DAILY HER- 

ITAGE in a telephone interview 

that the matter had been 

discussed at management level 

and the Legal and Prosecuting 

Directorate had been tasked to 

come up with modalities for consideration. 

“That issue was discussed at 

management and the legal and 

prosecuting directorate was 

tasked to come out with various 

modalities to make it easier for 

those prosecutors to provide 

those documents to the other 

parties as per the Supreme Court 

decision. 

Asked if the modalities would 

include refunding the pocket 

monies to the prosecutors, ACP 

Eklu said “the possibilities include 

all those, but I don’t want 

to sound so certain that is what 

we are going to do, so I’m saying 

that we are looking at other 

modalities and all those are part 

of it (sic).” 

Armed robbers freed 

On February 21, the paper 

carried a story on its front page 

• CONTINUE ON PAGE 5

Inside FEBRUARY 27, 2019.qxp_Layout 1 26/02/2019 7:17 PM Page 3 

•Some Indians took to 

the streets, burning an 

effigy of Pakistan, after 

news of the air strikes 

broke 

Balakot: Indian air strikes target militants in Pakistan 

INDIA SAYS it launched air 

strikes against militants in Pakistani 

territory, in a major escalation 

of tensions between the two 

countries. 

The government said strikes 

targeted a training camp of the 

Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) group in 

Balakot. 

Relations between the nucleararmed 

neighbours have been 

strained since a suicide attack earlier 

this month that killed more 

than 40 Indian troops. 

India accuses Pakistan of allowing 

militant groups to operate 

on its territory and says Pakistani 

security agencies played a role in 

the 14 February attack - claimed 

by JeM. Pakistan denies any role 

and says it does not provide safe 

haven to militants. 

Tuesday's air strikes are the 

first launched across the line of 

control - the de facto border that 

divides India-administered Kashmir 

from Pakistan-administered 

Kashmir - since a war between the 

two countries in 1971. 

Balakot is in Pakistan's northwestern 

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 

province. Residents there told 

BBC Urdu they were woken by 

loud explosions. Pakistan condemned 

the strike and said it 

would respond "at the time and 

place of its choosing". 



World news in 4 stories 

'Fake Kenyan 

president' arrested 

POLICE IN Kenya say 

they have a busted a 

seven-man syndicate 

which allegedly impersonated 

President 

Uhuru Kenyatta and 

other government officials to defraud 

local business tycoon 

Naushad Merali of a huge sum of 

money. 

One of the men phoned Mr 

Merali, the chairman of Sameer 

Africa, mimicking the president's 

voice and persuading him to release 

money to facilitate business deals, 

local media quoted police as saying. 

The exact amount is unclear - the 

Daily Nation news site gave a figure 

of 10 million shillings ($100,000; 

£76,000) while The Star put the 

amount at 80 million shillings. 

The seven appeared in court on 

Tuesday, but have not yet been been 

charged. 

Police said they needed more 

time to carry out investigations. 

•President Uhuru Kenyatta 

“Due to the complexity of the 

has repeatedly promised to 

curb corruption 

investigations and the number of 

suspects involved, including some 

who are still at large, it is expected 

Mr Merali is one of Kenya's ment's Kenya Export Promotion 

that the investigation will involve 

leading industrialists, with interests Council and the National Investment 

Council. 

going through voluminous documents 

including bank documents 

in sectors ranging from IT and real 

estate. 

and call data records analysis,” a police 

affidavit quoted by the Daily 

mines 

•President Joseph Kabila 

Mr 

was 

Merali 

supposed 

and Mr 

to 

Kenyatta have 

•Michael Flynn has admitted one count of The lying Sameer to the Group's 

• Liberia 

FBI have is rich stepped website says 

in mineral down deposits nearly not yet 

- two commented 

and full years of illicit agoon the arrests. 

he is also member of the govern- 

BBC 

Nation said. 

•Mohammad Javad Zarif announced his resignation 

in an Instagram post on Monday night 

Iranian president backs 

foreign minister Zarif 

following surprise resignation 

THE IRANIAN president's 

chief of staff has indicated 

that he may refuse to accept 

the resignation of the country's 

foreign minister, Mohammad 

Javad Zarif. 

Hassan Rouhani was 

"satisfied" with Mr Zarif's 

record and considered him 

the only man for the job, 

the aide said. 

Mr Zarif said he was 

stepping down on Monday, 

after warning that infighting 

was poisoning Iran's diplomacy. 

His role negotiating the 

landmark 2015 nuclear deal 

with world powers exposed 

him to sharp criticism from 

hardliners. 

Many hardliners opposed 

the decision to accept limits 

on the country's nuclear activities 

in return for the lifting 

of crippling sanctions. 

Pressure on Mr Zarif 

grew last year after President 

Donald Trump abandoned 

the deal and 

reinstated US sanctions targeting 

Iran's oil and banking 

sectors. BBC 

French Islamic State accused handed over to face trial in Iraq 

THIRTEEN FRENCH citizens 

accused of fighting for the Islamic 

State group are to be tried in Iraq 

rather than face charges back 

home in France. 

Iraqi President Barham Saleh 

said the 13 were handed over by 

Syrian Kurdish forces last month. 

French President Emmanuel 

Macron declined to comment, saying 

it was a sovereign matter for 

Iraq. 

The news comes as several 

Western countries struggle with 

the fate of alleged militants returning 

from Syria. 

The UK, Belgium, the 

Netherlands and the United 

States have all grappled 

with the question of 

whether to allow those who 

left to join the Islamic State 

to return - and potentially 

face prosecution when they 

do. 

The fate of the 13 

French citizens was revealed 

during a press conference 

between presidents 

Macron and Saleh in 

•Iraq's President Saleh, left, 

made the announcement while 

visiting his French counterpart 

France, following bilateral 

talks. 

They are due to be 

tried on terrorist charges - 

which may carry the death 

penalty under Iraqi law. 

French broadcaster 

BFMTV reports that it 

will make no difference 

whether they are accused 

of directly fighting for the 

Islamic State group, or 

merely providing other assistance 

to it - the penalty 

remains the same. BBC



05 

Editorial 

Mentally deranged persons need govt’s support 

IT IS trite knowledge that 

mental health service in Ghana 

is very appalling and urgently 

requires total overhauling. 

In fact, almost all mental 

health facilities have major 

problems that are as old as the 

institutions themselves. 

Months ago, the DAILY 

HERITAGE carried on its 

front page the plight of the 

Accra Psychiatric Hospital to 

draw stakeholders’ attention for 

the needed assistance. 

During a visit by the paper to 

the hospital, it found that some 

of the wards leaked badly 

whenever it rained. The state of 

the washrooms for the staff and 

inmates was a monstrosity. It 

smelt badly and produced a 

choking stench in the area. 

Other psychiatric hospitals 

equally have major challenges 

that affect provision of mental 

health service. For instance, the 

Pantang Hospital is bereft of 

even medicines to administer to 

the patients. 

This, in the view of the paper, 

is very disappointing because 

the state actors have failed to 

adequately resource such 

facilities. 

This should not be allowed to 

continue. It is for this reason 

that we support calls for a 

vibrant media advocacy for 

sustainable financing to support 

psychiatric hospitals in the 

country. 

Due to inadequate facilities to 

accommodate mentally 

deranged persons in the country, 

there are thousands of deranged 

persons roaming the streets of 

the country. 

In some cases, all that is 

needed is solitary confinement 

with scheduled treatment and all 

would be well with these 

persons left to rot on the streets. 

The DAILY HERITAGE 

is of the view that the time to 

stem the tide is now. The 

government ought to prioritise 

mental healthcare and put in 

more resources to make life 

more comfortable for our 

unfortunate brothers and sisters. 

Pocket money for prosecution saga… 

AG allays fears of prosecutors 

• READ FROM PAGE 3 

with the caption, Pocket Money 

for Prosecuting Saga: Armed 

robbers freed, highlighting the 

facts that suspected armed robbers 

have been freed by court for 

want of prosecution, because 

prosecutors are unable to present 

courts with relevant document 

due to financial constraint. 

As a result however, the peace 

officers were losing confidence 

in their own work following the 

continuous release of suspected 

criminals by various courts because 

“we do not have enough 

pocket money” to prosecute 

cases. 

The police prosecutors and 

investigators are worried that 

after working hard at their peril 

to arrest and arraign suspects, 

they are discharged on the technicality 

of want of prosecution. 

“We struggle to arrest armed 

robbers to the extent that sometimes 

our colleagues are killed in 

line of duty and when such a 

person is discharged on that 

technicality it demoralises us (police 

personnel),” a police prosecutor 

stated on condition of 

•Ms Gloria Afua Akuffo, Attorney General 

anonymity. 

“This directive of Disclosure 

of Documents introduced by the 

Chief Justice, which took effect 

from November 1, 2018, seems 

to have made the law flexible to 

the offender and some of the accused 

persons, when they are 

discharged, point fingers at us 

and sometimes warn us, because 

“We struggle to 

arrest armed 

robbers to the 

extent that 

sometimes our 

colleagues are 

killed in line of 

duty and when 

such a person is 

discharged on 

that technicality 

it demoralises us 

(police 

personnel),” a 

police prosecutor 

stated on 

condition of 

anonymity. 

the person has been freed. Our 

pockets are also dry and nobody 

is giving us money to prosecute 

the cases.” 

Public confidence in 

police diminishing 

The prosecutors also 

lamented that their effort is 

being ridiculed by the public, 

who are “losing confidence in 

our system, and public confidence 

in the police is diminishing”. 

“If the public realises that the 

police have made arrests and the 

people are discharged, it makes 

them lose the trust in us. Some 

of these criminals are clever people 

and when they are discharged 

they go back and repeat similar 

acts and put the police in a more 

difficult position. 

“Some armed robbers have 

been discharged because the 

prosecution didn’t have money 

to file certain processes. We have 

evidence of the cases we bring 

to the court. At times when we 

arrest them at the police station 

level, they admit. They mention 

names of persons they work together 

with but when the police 

take the pain at their peril and arraign 

them, they are eventually 

discharged.


06 

Views 


Security Alert 

US to mobilise troops and equipment 

for ‘Military Base’ establishment 

BY VINCENT MENSAH 

DO YOU remember 

the heated discussions 

that took 

place almost a year 

ago, in March, 

2018, about the 

‘Defence Cooperation Agreement’, 

otherwise referred to as ‘Status of 

Forces Agreement’ (SOFA) 2018, 

signed between the Governments of 

Ghana and the United States of 

America? 

The Government of Ghana, led 

by the Minister of Defence, ably 

supported by Cabinet and Parliament, 

ratified the Agreement. Civil 

society members and groups from all 

walks of life – from the discerning 

the man on the street, the Clergy, Academia, 

etc, through to Parliament, 

where the Minority Caucus stood 

their ground against the Agreement - 

all of whom were convinced that the 

‘letter and spirit’ of the Agreement 

would eventually lead to the establishment 

of a military base in Ghana. 

The Minority in Parliament debated 

and pointed out the flaws in the 

Agreement and the inherent dangers 

to Ghana’s sovereignty and security, 

if Ghana went ahead and ratified the 

Military Agreement. The Government 

of Ghana, strongly supported 

by the US Embassy in Ghana, defended 

the Agreement to the hilt. 

‘2019 fishing closed season 

fixed’ 

The above headline was quoted 

from Ghanaweb’s Business News of 

Wednesday, February 6, 2019, with 

‘ghananewsagency.org’ as the source. 

The article states among other 

things, that ‘The 2019 close season 

for artisanal fishers has been fixed 

from May 15 to June 15 while that of 

industrial trawlers will take place between 

August 1 to August 31.’ 

‘The decision was taken by stakeholders 

attending a consultative 

meeting convened by the Ministry of 

Fisheries and Aquaculture Development 

to discuss the road map for the 

implementation of the ‘Closed Season’ 

concept in Ghana’s fishing industry.’ 

What on ‘mother-earth’ has the 

‘2019 fishing closed season’ got to do 

with the establishment of a ‘military 

base’ in Ghana? 

The ‘2019 fishing closed season’ 

is everything the matter with the establishment 

of the ‘military base’ in 

Ghana. To establish the link between 

the two events, the following questions 

must be asked – 

What are the reasons for the 2019 

and future fishing closed seasons? 

Why are the closed seasons divided 

into two periods – May 15 to 

June 15, 2019, for artisanal fishers, 

and August 1 to August 31, for industrial 

trawlers? 

What happens to the industrial 

trawlers during the period of the ban 

on fishing for artisanal fishers? 

What happens to artisanal fishers 

during the period of the ban for industrial 

trawlers? 

The basic reason for the ‘fishing 

closed season’ is that in the past, 

there had been ‘overfishing’ activities 

in the sea that had supposedly depleted 

the territorial waters of Ghana 

of its fishery stock, and the ‘closed 

fishing season’ would replenish those 

stock during the periods of the ban. 

Questions ii through to iv seek to 

defy the basic logic behind the establishment 

of a ‘ closed fishing season’. 

If industrial trawlers would be fishing 

during the first ban from May 15 

to June 15, 2019, and artisanal fishers 

would also be going to sea during the 

one month ban in August 2019, what 

purpose would the so-called ‘closed 

fishing season’ achieve in the shortto 

long-term? 

Herein lies the nexus between the 

‘2019 closed fishing season’ and the 

establishment of the US military 

base in Ghana. 

Be it known to all Ghanaians - 

concerned or otherwise, politicians 

or ordinary citizens, majority or minority 

in Parliament, active or passive 

citizens – that the United States government 

has been interested in 

Ghana’s energy sector, more so in 

Ghana’s oil and gas resources over 

the recent past years. That interest 

has been behind the Compact II 

Agreement for which initially Electricity 

Company of Ghana, including 

NEDCo, would be taken over, supposedly 

on concession for some 20 

years or more, hence the imperative 

for the establishment of a permanent 

military base, not made up of 

tents and trenches – to protect the 

future US interests! 

The intended ‘military base’ 

‘The decision was taken by stakeholders attending a consultative 

meeting convened by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development 

to discuss the road map for the implementation of the ‘Closed 

Season’ concept in Ghana’s fishing industry.’ 

would need all the materials and logistics 

for the various types of infrastructure 

to accommodate military 

personnel, and all the sophisticated 

military hardware that would adorn a 

twenty-first century military establishment 

within Ghana’s political jurisdiction 

and space. Those materials 

and logistics would be easily and 

furtively transported by sea within 

the stipulated periods of two months 

– May 15 to June 15, 2019, and August 

1 to 31 August, 2019, when 

Ghana would be ‘virtually asleep militarily’, 

as the invasion plans unfold. 

The Ghana Navy, the custodians 

of Ghana’s territorial integrity at sea, 

would be passive during the periods 

of the ban as with the tacit consent 

of the Government of Ghana, and 

the US deployment of whatever materials 

into Ghana would be interpreted 

to be from a ‘friendly’ nation. 

The snag of all the above scenario 

is that the ordinary artisanal 

fishers and industrial trawler operators, 

who do not know what has 

been happening behind their back 

whilst at sea all these while with regard 

to the Defence Cooperation 

Agreement, would be frightened and 

overwhelmed at the large warships 

that would be sighted in Ghana’s territorial 

waters as they unload their 

military cargo daily for two separate 

months! Those artisanal fishers and 

industrial trawler operators would 

raise alarms to the Ghanaian public 

on the actual happenings at sea, 

which would inherently generate 

public fear and panic! 

How would the United States of 

America carry out her intentions 

without causing any fear and panic 

among the Ghanaian populace? Just 

convince the Minister of Agriculture 

and Aquaculture and the Government 

at large about the need to protect 

Ghana’s fishing industry and 

therefore implement a ‘2019 closed 

fishing season’, the sea would be free 

from any ‘tell-tale’ marine operators, 

day and night, and then the ultimate 

goal would be achieved, seamlessly! 

Trust the Ministry of Agriculture 

and Aquaculture Development to 

deny the above assertion! 

Ayawaso violence: Why we can’t just condemn and move on 

BY ESTHER KOIKALE SASSRAKU 

(Student journalist, GIJ) 

MANY HAVE condemned and criticized 

it to be wrong, but do we just 

condemn and leave it to hang? I do 

not require an answer from you, but I 

will tell you what my sincere fears are. 

From all indications, Ghanaians 

should be worried and disturbed 

about the outscoring of political vigilante 

groups and their activities in the 

country especially in recent times. 

Sometimes the seeming lack of 

ability of the state security agencies 

such as the police to counter, arrest 

and punish these hoodlums makes it 

easy for one to easily forget about 

their existence and the fact that they 

are mandated by the state to protect 

its citizens. 

Let me ask again, where are the 

security agencies to protect us and 

ensure our safety as citizens in the 

country. Are they waiting for a command 

beyond the IGP’s? Well that 

command will not come because the 

IGP’s word is your command. Or are 

we to assume that the IGP gives 

command in public and says something 

else in secret? Fact is we are ‘officially’ 

scared for our lives, we are 

beginning to get the point where the 

•Police SWAT team 

presence and the assurance of the 

police means nothing. We know that 

is not a desirable point, but you can’t 

blame us when you, the police, keep 

disappointing us with your sheer 

weakness to deal with people who 

openly obstruct justice and fight 

legitimate authority under the 

guise of vigilantism or political 

security. Disband them, period! 

Come to think of it, how do 

you expect us to act normal 

when some unidentified, masked 

and armed men deployed to 

monitor an election by ensuring 

the election is peaceful turn to 

rather harm electorates and create 

fear? 

The violence during the byelection 

has made people make 

certain comments creating fear 

and panic in citizens leaving 

them in a pool of thoughts. 

Where will they go? What will 

they do? 

Do we even think about the 

vulnerable: women, children, 

aged and disabled? Although a 

commission has been set to investigate 

the incidence, do we 

just leave it to them to work as we sit 

aloof? No way! We all have a role to 

play. The so called vigilantes live in 

our communities; they are our husbands, 

children and brothers. Let’s 

talk them out of violence or better 

still expose them for who they are. At 

least in that way, we would be making 

our stands known openly. 

Let us remember that in war, 

there's no work, productivity, development, 

religion and many more. 

Is this the legacy we want to leave 

for the future generations? Certainly 

not. Let's not allow ourselves to be 

used by political parties and politicians 

for their selfish interest. What 

are the measures we putting in place 

to prevent what happened in the 

Ayawaso West Wuogon by- elections 

from repeating itself In the 2020 

elections? Lets’ be vigilant, make 

Wise decisions and guard the peace 

our forefathers left for us. 

As my dad says "an action you 

take today will have an impact on you 

tomorrow." If we turn blind eye to 

these bloodthirsty groups, obviously 

the repercussion will be on our 

heads. You have seen a few of the 

likely repercussion, imagine the rest. 

The time to act is now.


Science-based health benefits of drinking 

• Water helps to maximize 

physical performance 

Dehydration can have a noticeable 

effect if you lose as little as 

2% of your body's water content. 

However, it is not uncommon for 

athletes to lose up to 6-10% of 

their water weight via sweat. 

• Hydration has a major effect 

on energy levels and brain 

function 

Your brain is strongly influenced 

by hydration status.Studies 

show that even mild dehydration 

(1-3% of body weight) can impair 

many aspects of brain function. 

• Drinking water may help to 

prevent and treat headaches 

Dehydration can trigger 

headaches and migraines in some 

individuals. Several studies have 

shown that water can relieve 

headaches in those who are dehydrated. 



&Env. 

Seek medical advice 

on products 

• Women advised 

BY BENJAIMN TANDOH 

THE FOUNDER 

of Ropheka 

Hospital, Dr 

Mary Dei-Zanga, 

has advised 

women to abstain 

from using unapproved 

chemicals for cleansing and 

maintaining their private parts. 

This, according to the 

award-winning health activist 

cum author, is the cause of 

most sexual-reproductive-related 

diseases. 

Speaking to the DAILY 

HERITAGE during the ‘Girl 

Up’ event to introduce the 

VaginneGel to the Ghanaian 

market last Saturday, Dr Dei- 

Zanga urged women to pay attention 

to their health, 

especially their reproduction 

health, saying, “In recent times, 

what we see is that a lot of 

women use different materials 

when they are menstruating.” 

She continued that, “they 

[women] use a lot of chemicals 

with the aim of cleaning and 

maintaining their private parts 

but in the long run they end up 

contracting various sicknesses 

like cervical cancer.” 

She further urged women 

to seek medical advice from 

experts on products and chemicals 

they use in their private 

parts. 

“There are a lot of chemicals 

in the market that some 

women use in their private 

parts which have side effects. 

Those chemicals destroy a lot 

of things in their reproductive 

system,” she explained. 

Dr Dei-Zanga further expressed 

dissatisfaction about 

the government’s efforts in 

promoting female reproduction 

education in the country. 

•Dr Mary Dei-Zanga (L), Founder, Ropheka Hospital, and Miss Queen 

Komada (R), Vice-President, Immeri Group Africa, at the event 

She indicated that the rate 

at which women in the country 

were contracting sexual-reproductive-related 

diseases was 

alarming, hence the need to intensify 

the education. 

“When it comes to female 

reproduction health, I don’t 

think we, as a country, are focusing 

much on it. Women 

have a lot of sicknesses, so I 

think the government can do 

more on education on the female 

reproduction health,” she 

told the paper. 

In view of this, Dr Dei- 

Zanga recommended the 

Vaginne gel to Ghanaians, 

adding that it helps women to 

improve their reproductive 

health. 

“This product really helps 

to keep the private parts clean 

and does not give extra problems 

like itching and bad 

odour,” she advised. 

Also speaking to the paper 

at the event, Ms Queen Komada, 

Vice-President, Immeri 

Group Africa, highlighted the 

need for women to pay attention 

to their reproductive 

health. 

She added that their mission 

of helping people was the 

reason behind the introduction 

of their product in Ghana. 

“This product is natural, 

which protects the reproductive 

health of women, both internal 

and external,” Ms 

Komada said. 

Chirano organises free 

eye-screening for locals 

THE CHIRANO Gold Mines Limited 

has offered free eye screening to 

over a 1000 people in 21 communities 

in its catchment area, as part of 

its corporate social responsibility. 

The screening, organized on 

Thursday, February 14, was also the 

company’s way of showing love to 

the community that has become pivotal 

in its growth. 

The screening, which targeted the 

young and elderly who have eye 

problems, was set up at two centres; 

the Paboase and Chirano Health 

centres, to guarantee that everyone 

could be attended to. 

Those with conditions that could 

not be treated were given referrals to 

the appropriate facilities which could 

assist them. 

Human Resource Manager and 

Community Relations Manager of 

Chirano, Thomas Nyarko Danquah 

said the company prioritizes the 

wellbeing of local communities and 

the free eye examination was only 

one of the numerous ways to do 

that. 

He noted that these communities 

provided a substantial portion of 

Chirano’s workforce. Therefore, the 

provision of quality healthcare 

would benefit the Mine directly. 

Dr Daniel Adu Agyemang, an 

optometrist with the Third Eye Care 

and Vision Centre, in an interview, 

lauded the step taken by Chirano 

Mine to ensure the wellbeing of the 

communities in the area. 

Outlining the activities during the 

screening, he observed that “people 

showed up with itches in the eye and 

other petty infections that needed to 

be treated alongside the screening”. 

•Some of the residents going through the health screening

spread_ FEBRUARY 27, 2019.qxp_SHOWBIZ TEMP 26/02/2019 7:16 PM Page 1 

News 

DAILY 

Inmate fights prison officer for 

attempting to snatch wife 

BY STEPHEN ODOI LARBI 

BUT FOR the intervention of some good 

Samaritans, the Nsawam Medium Prisons 

would have witnessed one of the bloodiest 

scenes in its history when an inmate tried 

to slug it out with a warder for attempting 

to snatch his wife from him. 

It was Tuesday, February 12, 2019, at 

about 3pm when Tracey (not original 

name) traveled to the Nsawam Medium 

Prisons to visit her husband, Atobrah (not 

real name) who had been given a room in 

Block 5 at the Nsawam Prisons to ‘cool 

off ’. 

After going through the process and 

acquiring a pass to visit Atobrah, Tracey 

was told to wait for a while. 

Unknown to Tracey, a Prison Officer 

(name withheld) who had knowledge 

about her host and who had been 

disturbing her to go out with him quickly 

rushed to Block 5, called Atobrah to step 

out and started quizzing him about his 

relationship with Tracey. 

Sources in the prison yard said Joshua 

did not take it easy when the Prison 

Officer kept pressing hard wanting to 

know if there exist a relationship between 

him and Tracey. 

At this point, a verbal altercation 

ensued between the two (Atobrah and the 

Prison Officer) with some inmates who 

were not happy with the situation 

intervening to avert any calamity. 

The Prison Officer, kasapafonline.com 

understands, had once seized the mobile 

phone of Tracey for failing to grant him 

audience. 

This, together with the verbal 

• Some prison officers at an event 

confrontation, compelled Atobrah to 

officially lodge a complaint with the 

administration of the Nsawam Medium 

Prisons over the bad conduct of the 

Prison Officer. 

In October, 2018, Management of the 

Nsawam Medium Prisons commenced 

investigations into allegations of prison 

officers snatching the wives of inmates of 

the correctional facility. 

The move followed complaints by some 

of the inmates who accused some prison 

officers of taking their wives from them 

when they come around to visit them. 

According to the inmates, they would 

have no option to address their grievance 

than to embark on massive demonstration 

in the prison yard which will be very 

difficult for anybody to control them, 

should their call for the removal of the 

leadership of the facility falls on deaf ears. 

The inmates contend that they are bent 

on triggering their option since the 

leadership of the prisons have for some 

time now been treating them unfairly. 

“Once of the In-Charge Officers (name 

withheld) has been exchanging telephone 

numbers with our wives when they come 

around to visit us. He will then call to 

propose to them and will end up telling 

them all manner of things. Most of us 

here, our marriages are on the rocks 

because of these officers. They are 

supposed to be professionals but their 

actions have proven otherwise. The 

authorities have to change them 

immediately”, one of the inmates speaking 

on condition of anonymity told 

kasapafmonline.com. 

The public is yet to be briefed about 

the outcome of the investigations 

conducted by the Prisons authorities. 

•Eric Nartey 

Yeboah and Yussif 

Ibrahim Bangsua 

COMMERCIAL 

ACTIVITIES of 

the Atiwa Quarries 

Limited, a wholly 

Ghanaian-owned 

stone quarry 

company at Kasoa-Opeikuma in 

Awutu-Senya Municipality of the 

Central Region, are posing grave 

dangers to over1800 residents in the 

area. 

Information available to the 

DAILY HERITAGE indicates 

that the company’s activities, 

especially its constant dynamite 

explosion, are causing serious health 

damages and affecting lives and 

properties. 

Some of the residents the paper 

spoke to called on Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA), Minerals 

Commission, Ministry of Lands and 

Natural Resources and Ministry of 

Environment, Science, Technology 

and Innovation to immediately stop 

the dynamite explosions at the 

quarry site to avert disaster. 

Investigations conducted also 

revealed that school buildings, 

including the Opeikuma Junior 

High School (JHS), and water 

bodies are being destroyed by the 

company's activities since its 

commercial operations started in 

2012. 

The disturbing activities of the 

quarry company, the paper has 

gathered, •Hassan are being Tampuli done on the 

blindside of EPA, Minerals 

Commission, Ministry of Lands and 

Natural Resources and Ministry of 

Environment, Science, Technology 

and Innovation. 

In an interview with journalists 

over the issue, the Youth Chief 

(Mbrantsehen) of Kasoa, 

Opeikuma, Nana Mensah, 

complained about the irresponsible 

quarry activities of the company, 

which, he noted, had been causing a 

HERITAGE, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH 

Danger looms at Kasoa-Opeikuma Ajumako Anona 

• Over Atiwa Quarries dynamite explosion 



lot of harm to residents in the area, 

as they had resulted in the 

destruction of building in the area. 

According to him, the residents 

leave in constant fear of being hit 

by a flying stone from the quarry. 

Nana Mensah stated that “we are 

forced to move the aged and the 

sick from their homes to safe places 

anytime a blast is bound to occur.” 

“The dust from the blasted rock 

that could be seen rising into the air 

and the noise of the crushing 

stones are both health hazards.” 

The Mbrantsehene mentioned 

that the quarry is not far from the 

community, and “so residents are 

exposed to flying stones, loud noise 

of the crushers, dust and stones 

being thrown on our roofs, which 

create fear and panic in the 

residents. 

He, therefore called on officials 

of EPA, Minerals Commission and 

the Ministry for Lands and Natural 

Resources to prevent the company 

from any further explosion. 

•Nana Mensah, Youth Chief of Kasoa Opeikuma 

Stop taking advantage of the vulnerable NGOs urged 

BY PROSPER AGBENYEGA 

THE EXECUTIVE Director of 

HEALTHBASE International, a 

non-governmental Organization 

(NGO), Nathan Perry Mensah, has 

expressed great worry over activities 

of some NGOs that are in the 

habit of taking undue advantage of 

the vulnerable to raise funds. 

According to him, the act has 

become a strategy being adopted by 

some “unscrupulous NGOs in our 

system.” 

Mr Mensah was speaking during 

the official launch of the NGO’s 

2019 Action Campaign Project in 

Accra. 

He said “NGOs are also part of 

the demographic society and are 

seen as agents that will bring 

solutions to areas where 

government cannot meet needs, 

hence their actions are very 

important to the growth and 

development of the society.” 

He mentioned that many people 

were no longer willing to open up 

to NGOs because they had been 

deceived a number of times by 

other NGOs. 

He revealed that most people 

have had their names written, 

invited to workshops to give fake 

credence to the work of those 

NGOs and even going to the extent 

of doing videos with their families 

under the guise of being in 

hardship and seeking financial 

assistance. 

He said the situation where ablebodied 

people were carried in 

wheelchairs as disabled people to 

convince donors to support them 

had become so rampant in the 

•Mr Nathan Perry 

Mensah, Executive 

Director of 

HEALTHBASE 

International 

society all due to poor monitoring 

on the part of donor agencies. 

Mr Mensah added that there was 

another worrying situation where 

able bodied people were carried in 

wheelchairs as disabled people to 

convince donors to support them. 

“Others who have no problems 

with their sight have equally been 

used as blind folks to attract 

funding. Persons living with HIV 

and other deadly diseases have 

suffered the same fate,” he said. 

“The situation is affecting the 

work of hardworking NGOs who 

are working well for the good of 

mother Ghana.” 

According Mr Mensah, many of 

the NGOs must be complimented 

for their excellent activities in most 

of their communities in the 

country. 

HEALTHBASE International 

HEALTHBASE International 

was established in November 2012 

by a group of Health professionals 

with the mission of promoting total 

health through health status 

consciousness. 

The organization’s goal is to 

contribute to the wellbeing of every 

Ghanaian by helping people to 

know, confirm, accept and deal with 

their health status, so they can 

effectively manage their health 

conditions and help reduce 

premature deaths. 

It also has the objective of 

helping improve the standard of 

living as preventive health care is 

cheaper than curative health care. 

HEALTHBASE International is 

a member of the National Coalition 

of NGOs in Health in the Greater 

Accra Region in Ghana. 

According to the Executive 

Director, even though they operate 

on a broad spectrum path to play 

Advocacy roles on all health issues, 

they have decided to major their 

activities under the Sexual and 

Reproductive Health sector. 

He said the organization had 

been vocal by way of campaigning 

against the spread of sexually 

transmitted infections/diseases in 

schools, community meeting places, 

churches and mosques. 

He said “The reason for the 

work against sexually transmitted 

infections or diseases is that they 

include many typically dangerous 

diseases like HIV, Human Papiloma 

Virus (HPV), Hepatitis, chlamydia 

and syphilis.” 

He also mentioned that the 

Foundation will embark on health 

education campaign throughout the 

Greater Accra, Eastern and Western 

regions. 

He added that they would do 

stress management presentations in 

corporate institutions with trained 

human resource experts. 

“It must be noted that stress is a 

silent killer. Therefore exposition on 

the subject will calm a lot of nerves 

to mitigate the effects,” he said. 

Yogo clan 

removes family 

head 



THE CHIEF and elders of 

Anona Yogo clan of Ajumako 

Techiman in the Central 

Region have stripped their 

head of family of his position 

as Ebusuapanyin of the clan 

effective last Sunday, February 

17. 

According to the chiefs, 

Ebusuapanyin Onyinkyi 

Afedzi has gone contrary to 

the norms and traditions of 

the family, rendering him 

unfit to continue to hold the 

position. 

He was accused of failing 

to meet with his people to 

settlement disputes, taking 

decision on his own without 

consulting other family 

members. 

He has also been accused 

of other problems such as 

taking the family staff (ebusua 

poma) for rituals without 

proper notification; placing an 

injunction on a family 

member’s corpse without 

consulting those concerned; 

and deceiving the entire chiefs 

and elders of the Ajumako 

Traditional Area by feigning 

sickness to avoid meeting 

them to give reasons for his 

actions. 

A four-minute-forty-threesecond 

video covering the 

rituals performed to signify 

his distoolment is in the 

possession of the DAILY 

HERITAGE. 

Meanwhile one Mr Kofi 

Amoakwa Acquah has been 

asked to take charge till they 

appoint a substantive head of 

clan. 

All attempts to contact 

Ebusuapanyi Afedzi to react 

to the issues have proved 

futile. 

According to 

the chiefs, 

Ebusuapanyin 

Onyinkyi Afedzi 

has gone 

contrary to the 

norms and 

traditions of the 

family, rendering 

him unfit to 

continue to hold 

the position. 

•A chief pouring libation to 

signify his distoolment


26TH 

FEBRUARY, 

2019 

TUESDAY 

CURRENCY PARIS CODE BUYING SELLING 

US Dollar USDGHS 4.7871 4.7919 

RATES Pound Sterling GBPGHS 

6.1380 

6.1461 

Euro 

GBPGHS 

5.4483 

5.4530 

10 



MTN Ghana wins six HR Innovation awards 

MTN GHANA 

has been adjudged 

Employer 

of the 

Year at the second 

edition of 

the Ghana Human Resource Innovation 

Awards (GHRIA) held 

in Accra. 

At the same event, MTN 

Ghana won Outstanding Employee 

Retention Policy; Excellence 

in Employee Engagement; 

HR Innovation of the Year and 

HR Team of the Year for the Private 

Sector (Gold) 

In addition, the Human Resource 

Executive of MTN Mrs. 

Amma Benneh-Amponsah, was 

adjudged the HR Personality of 

the Year and one of the top 20 

Human Resource Practitioners in 

Ghana. 

Receiving the awards, Mrs Benneh-Amponsah 

said “the awards 

attest to our continued commitment 

and investment in our people. 

We are humbled by this 

recognition. We will continue to 

invest in our human capital and 

infrastructure to create a conducive 

environment that enables 

employees to deliver their best.” 

She dedicated the awards 

to the staff of MTN. 

Speaking on behalf of the 

Minister of Employment and 

Labour Relations, the Chief Executive 

of the Fair Wages and 

Salaries Commission 

(FWSC), Dr Edward 

Kwapong, reiterated 

the importance of 

the HR practitioner 

to the socio-economic 

development 

of a nation. 

He said the wealth 

of a nation or an organization 

lies in the 

hands of its human 

resources and how 

well those resources 

are managed to the 

benefit of all. 

“An event such as 

this to recognize the 

great works of professionals 

is a good 

catalyst and a motivator 

to make sure that 

our human resources 

are at par if not ahead of the 

changes in the human resource 

sector in the country,” Mr 

Kwapong stressed. 

Over the years, MTN has been 

PIAC, EOCO sign MoU to fight corruption in petroleum sector 

THE PUBLIC Interest and Accountability 

Committee (PIAC) and the Economic 

and Organised Crime Office 

(EOCO) have agreed to collaborate to 

protect Ghana’s petroleum revenues 

from embezzlement and financial 

abuse. 

The two separate entities signed a 

Memorandum of Understanding 

(MoU) to back the agreement between 

them. 

The collaboration between the 

PIAC and the Economic and Organized 

Crime Office (EOCO), which is 

to safeguard Ghana’s petroleum revenue 

from abuse, is expected to last 

for 5 years, after which the two entities 

will review the progress made, as well 

as the challenges encountered, to inform 

them on the next steps to take. 

Speaking at the signing ceremony, 

Dr Steve Manteaw, Chairman of 

PIAC, said it was not enough for his 

entity to just shed light on the wrongful 

use of Ghana’s petroleum revenue. 

Pursuant to its mandate, PIAC has 

since 2011 made findings and recommendations 

in its Semi-Annual and 

Annual Reports highlighting, among 

others, instances of misapplication, 

misuse, and diversion of petroleum 

funds allocated to projects. 

“For us at PIAC, shedding light on 

what appears to be criminal conduct 

on the part of some public officials, 

with respect to the use of petroleum 

revenues, without holding such people 

to account, does not in any way serve 

the accountability mandate that can be 

inferred from our name,” Dr Manteaw 

said. 

According to him, it was about 

PIAC’s transitioning from just focusing 

on transparency to accountability. 

“To ensure accountability means 

holding people to account for their actions 

or inaction in terms of the management 

and prudent use of the 

petroleum revenues. The signing of 

this MoU means that we would ensure 

that people who may have abused petroleum 

revenues are held to account. 

“So you would have a situation 

now where all our reports will come 

with a cover letter referring particular 

cases to EOCO for further investigation 

and possible prosecution. We also 

intend as a team to go back as far back 

•MTN HR team at the event 

as 2011 when oil revenues started 

coming in and look at all possible instances 

of corruption which may have 

occurred and refer those cases to 

EOCO.” 

The Executive Director of the 

Economic and Organised Crime Office 

(EOCO), ACP K.K. Amoah 

(Retd), welcomed the opportunity to 

collaborate with PIAC to expand its 

•Dr Steve 

Manteaw, 

Chairman of PIAC 

scope of work, saying it will help in reducing 

corruption in that area of the 

extractive industry. 

“The MoU serves as a very good 

document for us in the sense that it’s 

going to open up our scope of investigation. 

Per our law, that’s Act 804 

(2010), EOCO is mandated by law to 

investigate matters, especially financial, 

which affect the state. And therefore a 

recognized by several institutions, 

both local and international, for 

their unequalled commitment to 

high performance through exceptional 

people management. 

MTN is the first corporate organization 

in Ghana to be 

awarded a Gold accreditation by 

Investors in People International, 

the international standard for people 

management. In 2018 alone, 

MTN Ghana won Investor in 

People Gold Employer of the 

year. The company also won HR 

Leader of the Year (Top 50 HR 

Practitioners) and Human Resources 

(HR) Team of the Year at 

the maiden edition of the Ghana 

Human Resources Awards. 

Mrs Benneh-Amponsah, was 

awarded and recognized as an HR 

Change Maker at the HR Awards 

Ghana. 

The GHRIA is an annual event 

that recognises leading Human 

Resource persons and organizations 

who have contributed significantly 

to the practice. 

few months ago when the boards of 

the two companies met a decision was 

arrived at to get the two entities to 

work together. We at EOCO have 

been looking forward to the signing of 

this MoU, which will give us a push to 

carry out the work.” 

The two organisations the working 

relationship between them will include 

but not limited to the PIAC submitting 

copies of the report to EOCO, 

highlighting relevant sections that require 

consideration and further investigation; 

and EOCO updating PIAC at 

regular intervals on the progress of its 

investigations on matters referred to it 

by PIAC. 

The MoU will not restrict PIAC 

from participating in similar activities 

or arrangements with other entities or 

Government agencies. It will last for a 

period of five (5) years from the date 

of signature unless revised, extended 

or terminated by the written agreement 

of the Parties. 

It is said that during the tenure of 

the MoU, the Parties may review annually 

the provisions of this MoU and its 

implementation.



DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019 11 

Politics 

Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about 

anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for 

yourself —Henry James 

Democracy in Africa: Demand, 

supply, and the ‘dissatisfied democrat’ 

THE INCREASING 

threat to democracy 

from populist movements 

and authoritarian 

leaders 

occupies a prominent 

place in current political debate. 

Yet political scientists who 

study this question reach contrasting 

conclusions, often because 

they use different measures and 

standards of democracy. 

Some say the world is in a democratic 

recession, with countries 

experiencing recent declines in the 

quality of democracy outnumbering 

those where it has improved 

(Diamond, 2015; Lührmann, 

Mechkova, & Wilson, 2017; Economist, 

2018; Freedom House, 

2018). Others see no such decline 

(Levitsky, 2015) or trendless variation 

(Jiménez, 2017; Skaaning & 

Jiménez, 2017). 

In Africa, Freedom House has 

tracked a significant retreat in political 

rights, civil liberties, and the 

overall quality of democracy. The 

biggest shifts have occurred 

among countries previously rated 

as “partly free,” many of which 

have retreated to “not free” status. 

Analysts have observed that 

this is often the result of hybrid 

regimes using counter-terrorism 

legislation to shrink democratic 

spaces (Temin, 2017) or of governments 

responding to increased 

electoral competition by restricting 

opposition parties and critical civil 

society organizations (Cheeseman, 

2019). On the other hand, the V- 

Dem Institute finds more positive 

than negative change in Africa 

(Lührmann et al., 2018). 

African public opinion seems 

to embody this sense of divergence. 

While Yasha Mounk (2018) 

has claimed to find a systematic 

decline in citizens’ attachment to 

democracy across most of the established 

democracies in North 

America and Western Europe, 

Africans’ responses to questions 

posed by Afrobarometer over the 

past decade present a more varied 

and complex picture. 

At the most general level, the 

picture seems relatively clear and 

simple: The typical African is 

strongly committed to democracy 

and opposed to authoritarian rule, 

and has remained so for more 

than a decade. 

However, this image of solid 

democratic commitment changes 

radically if we narrow our focus to 

only those people who consistently 

express pro-democratic 

preferences across several different 

survey questions – those 

whom Afrobarometer describes as 

“demanding democracy” (Bratton, 

Mattes, & Gyimah-Boadi, 2005). 

Under these more demanding criteria, 

fewer than half of all 

Africans qualify as committed democrats. 

And levels of commitment 

vary sharply depending on a 

person’s demographic category 

and level of political engagement. 

The picture becomes even 

more complex when we look at 

specific countries or take a longerterm 

view. In some countries, 

publics are strongly committed to 

democracy, while in others people 

are largely indifferent. 

Similarly, some societies are developing 

more favourable views of 

democracy over time, while others 

are moving in the opposite direction. 

These trends in individual 

countries may matter even more 

than trends on the continent as a 

whole. 

The same kind of complexity 

Get rid of corruption tag – Expert advises Mahama 

FORMER PRESIDENT John 

Mahama would have to rid himself 

of the corruption tag put on him 

by the governing New Patriotic 

Party (NPP) during the 2016 elections 

to stand a chance in 2020, 

Prof. Agyemang Duah has said. 

“John Mahama may have to 

repackage himself. I think his approach 

to politics should be different. 

We expect a new conviction,” 

the former senior adviser to the 

UN on governance stated on 

Morning Starr Tuesday. 

“John Mahama will need to 

convince the people that he is in 

with a new vision and rid himself 

of the corruption tag put on 

him. The level of corruption 

charge given to John Mahama’s administration 

was very high,” he 

added. 

Mahama recorded a landslide 

victory in the just ended National 

Democratic Congress (NDC) 

presidential primaries. 

At the end of the presidential 

primaries, Mahama polled a whopping 

213,487 votes representing 

95.23% of the total votes cast to 

beat the six other contestants to 

lead the largest opposition party in 

the 2020 general elections. 

Marching to Jubilee 

House 

The NDC is occupying the seat 

of government after the 2020 elections, 

Mahama said in his victory 

speech. 

• John Mahama on the campaign trail 

emerges when we examine 

people’s evaluations of 

democracy. A slight majority 

of the Africans we 

interviewed say their 

country is a democracy, 

and somewhat fewer people 

are satisfied with the 

way democracy works – 

two indicators that Afrobarometer 

combines to 

measure the perceived 

“supply of democracy.” 

Overall, Africans say they 

get less democracy than 

they want. 

But in some countries, 

the perceived supply of 

democracy is greater than demand. 

And while this supply is increasing 

in some countries, it is declining in 

others. 

What does this mix of results 

mean for the survival of Africa’s 

multiparty regimes and the deepening 

of democracy? Of course, a 

great deal will depend on factors 

other than what citizens think, 

such as the degree to which democratic 

values are embraced by a 

country’s leaders and elites, as well 

as the extent to which countervailing 

institutions (legislature, courts) 

constrain the executive. 

But we argue that popular demands 

also have the power to 

drive countries toward democracy, 

and that this is most likely under 

certain conditions of high, but 

unmet, popular demand. 

In particular, this report concludes 

by highlighting the specific 

importance of citizens who are 

not only deeply committed to 

democracy but who also adopt a 

critical perspective toward their 

country’s current leaders and institutions 

– in other words, those citizens 

who demand democracy but 

do not think they are getting it. 

We describe these citizens as 

“dissatisfied democrats.” To the 

extent that citizens’ commitment 

to democracy matters for the survival 

and quality of democracy, evidence 

suggests that it is these 

dissatisfied democrats who matter 

most. 

While fewer than one in six 

Africans qualify as dissatisfied democrats 

in our most recent round 

of surveys, they make up much 

larger proportions in some countries 

in which electoral processes 

are deeply flawed and opposition 

forces are harassed, suggesting a 

continuing struggle between the 

forces of democracy and autocracy. 

However, dissatisfied democrats 

are in especially short supply 

in other places where the space for 

opposition has recently narrowed, 

offering little evidence that further 

restrictions will meet popular resistance. 

Credit CDD 

“Tonight, I want to serve notice 

to Ghana that from the outcome 

of this election, the NDC is 

strong. 

“The NDC is united. The 

NDC is poised for victory in 2020. 

And nothing, absolutely nothing 

can stop our march towards [the] 

Flagstaff House,” he said. 

President Akufo-Addo defeated 

Mr Mahama, then incumbent president, 

to become the president of 

Ghana in the 2016 general elections. 

Mr Akufo-Addo polled 53.9% 

of the total valid votes, while John 

Mahama managed 44.4%, the 

worse so far for an incumbent 

President.


12 

DAILY 

Politics 


HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019 

Mahama will remain 

one-term president – NPP 

BY ALBERT KUZOR 

The Volta regional 

secretary for the 

governing New Patriotic 

Party (NPP), 

Joseph Homenya, 

says former President 

John Mahama will remain an 

ex-President, despite his victory in 

the just ended National Democratic 

Congress (NDC) flagbearership 

primaries. 

The secretary who doubles as 

the Volta Regional Director of the 

National Health Insurance Scheme 

(NHIS) says the opposition NDC 

has no satisfactory flagbearer than 

Mr Mahama but the NPP will 

make sure that he will not make it 

to the Jubilee House in 2020. 

He said the NPP will fight 

every battle to make Mahama remain 

a one-time President. 

“We know that they don’t have 

any other person apart from Mahama, 

but we will make sure that 

he remains the former president 

that he is because come 2020 

Nana Addo is going to beat him 

and he will beat him heavily 

again,” he said. 

A cross section of the unveiled 

NPP Women’s Wing in Ho Central 

Mr Homenya was speaking at a 

ceremony held in Ho, over the 

weekend to inaugurate NPP 

Women’s wing in the Ho Central 

Constituency. 

He then admonished members 

of the NPP in the Volta region to 

stay united in order to win the 

2020 general elections. 

“What is important as a party is 

to remain united and once we remain 

united we will be able to 

achieve,” he said. 

The Ho Central Constituency is 

first to form Women’s Wing in the 

Volta region, aimed at publicising 

in depth the programs and policies 

of the NPP administration. 

• Community e-blocks 

The Regional Women organizer, 

Afi Adzagbo who spearheaded 

the Wing called on the 

women to preach the aim of the 

association in their various communities. 

She reiterated that the NPP 

cannot afford to lose the 2020 

elections, charging the women to 

empower fellow women and any 

person willing to join the NPP for 

victory in the next election. 

• John Mahama 

NPP Executives in the 

Volta Region 

At the event was the Volta Regional 

Minister, Dr Archibald Yao 

Letsa who praised the Regional 

Executives of the NPP for the 

newly inaugurated 

group and charged 

the women to 

work for victory in 

2020. 

He said President 

Akufo-Addo 

is committed to 

the development 

of every Ghanaian 

and has called on 

him to implement 

various programs 

to favour everyone 

regardless of religion, 

educational 

background, gender 

among others. 

The Regional 

Executives led by 

their Chairman, 

Mr Makafui 

Wornya are expected 

to inaugurate the Women’s 

wing in other constituencies in the 

region. 

More than 700 women attended 

the ceremony after a peaceful unity 

walk held on the streets of Ho. 

Young Professionals congratulate Mahama 

MEMBERS OF a pro National 

Democratic Congress (NDC) 

group, Young Professionals 

have congratulated ex-president 

John Dramani Mahama on his 

victory in the just ended presidential 

primaries of the party. 

The group also congratulated 

all candidates who contested 

in the election, urging 

them to join forces with the 

flagbearer-elect and ensure victory 

for the party come 2020 

general elections. 

The Young Professionals 

expressed confidence in Mahama’s 

leadership adding that, 

“We are hopeful, just as he had 

shown in his campaign for flag 

bearer of the party he will 

commit himself in leading the 

party and it agenda into the 

2020 election”. 

The group further promised 

to remain committed to John 

Mahama’s vision of leading a 

united party and “to support 

and share his ideals and to embark 

on a campaign hinged on 

his vision for the country”. 

“The As Young Professionals, 

we shall place at his disposal, 

to the best of our 

professional capability, to ensure 

that the 2020 elections 

turns out positive for the National 

Democratic Congress 

and HE. John Dramani Mahama,” 

the group assured in a 

statement signed by its Communications 

Officer, Stephen 

Kwabena Attuh. 

“We want to use this opportunity 

to admonish all to come 

together to ensure a resounding 

victory for the NDC to enable 

the party return the country on 

the path of physical development 

and job opportunities 

driven by a coordinated plan 

from committed leaders of the 

party,” they added. 

Read the full 

statement below 

YOUNG PROFESSION- 

ALS CONGRATULATE HE. 

JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA 

ON HIS VICTORY 

The Young Professionals of 

the National Democratic Congress 

(NDC), wishes to extend 

its message of congratulations 

to the former president and 

flag bearer elect of the NDC, 

His Excellency John Dramani 

Mahama on his winning the 

just ended primaries. 

SWe wish to use this same 

opportunity to congratulate all 

contestants in the elections for 

their commitment to deepening 

the internal democratic values 

of the party NDC. 

To our numerous party delegates 

across the 275 constituencies, 

we wish to 

congratulate them also for ensuring 

a peaceful and a smooth 

exercise that had resulted in the 

massive victory of the party 

and the candidate. 

We wish to pledge our commitment 

to the flag bearer of 

the party, now that our internal 

elections are over, to support 

and share his ideals and to embark 

on a campaign hinged on 

his vision for the country. 

We are hopeful, just as he 

had shown in his campaign for 

flag bearer of the party, he 

would commit himself in leading 

the party and its agenda 

into the 2020 elections. 

We are in no doubt that the 

overwhelming confidence reposed 

in him to lead the party 

once again, would result in the 

victory of the NDC in the 

2020 elections. 

As Young Professionals, we 

shall place at his disposal, to 

the best of our abilities, our 

professional capabilities, to ensure 

that the journey into the 

2020 elections turns out positive 

for the National Democratic 

Congress and HE. John 

Dramani Mahama. 

We want to use this opportunity 

to admonish all to come 

together to ensure a resounding 

victory for the NDC to enable 

the party return the country on 

the path of physical development 

and job opportunities 

driven by a coordinated plan 

from a committed leader of 

our party. 

Signed: 

Stephen Kwabena Attuh 

Communications, Young 

Professionals

13 

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019 

•Efia Odo 

Stop bashing artistes 

– Akoo Nana 

BY ERICA ARTHUR 

Teach your 

children how 

to live, not 

celebrities — 

Efia Odo 

ACCORDING TO Efia Odo, she is the 

embodiment of girls staying true to themselves 

because she does not pretend to be 

an angel and the devil in detail behind the 

curtains. 

The actress, who is constantly criticized 

for her risqué lifestyle, was also 

caught up in a near fight encounter with 

Counsellor Lutterodt over a provocative 

dress she was wearing then. 

Defending her stance on whatever she 

decides to do, though other young girls 

may be looking up to her, Efia Odo said 

she is rather influencing such young girls 

to be real and not to please society. 

In a counter submission to Counsellor 

Lutterodt, who was on the show saying 

that children still look up to Efia and so 

she should live a life worth emulating, she 

said, “The parents should teach their children 

what to do, not the influencer.” 

POPULAR GHANA- 

IAN afrobeat musician 

William Ato Ankrah, 

known in the music 

scene as Akoo Nana, is 

cautioning Ghanaians to stop bashing 

artistes for having fewer audience 

to attend their shows outside 

Ghana. 

Speaking at the launch of 

Young Mission Entertainment last 

Friday, February 22, 2019, at the 

Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra, 

Akoo Nana expressed disappointment 

in most Ghanaians for measuring 

the popularity of an artiste 

based on the number of people 

who attend his or her events outside 

Ghana. 

He said, “Let’s start supporting 

our music anywhere we find ourselves. 

It has never been easy getting 

Ghanaians patronize a show 

outside Ghana, so if an artiste organises 

a show in UK and gets 

more than 100 people as audience, 

let’s not criticize them due to the 

low patronage.” 

According to him, if Ghanaians 

here in Ghana can support their 

artistes, then it can transcend to 

Ghanaians and other nationals outside 

Ghana. 

The CEO of Young Mission 

Entertainment, Frimpong 

Ebenezer Nana Yaw Amoako, also 

shared some of the challenges as 

• MUSIGA president Bice Osei Kuffour (Obour), Frimpong 

Ebenezer Nana Yaw Amoako( CEO YM Entertainment) and Akoo 

Nana at the launch 

event organizers outside Ghana. 

At the launch 

Amoako, in an address, said, 

“the company is very poised to 

projecting Ghanaian music and 

musicians of Ghanaian descent 

across Europe. We are a reputable 

company with a mission to invade 

the industry and even do better 

than our previous projects. 

“Young Mission Entertainment 

was founded in 2015 in Paris, 

France. In our past dealings, we 

have been able to take on bookings 

and tours for notable Ghanaian 

artistes and various organizations 

across without any issues. We have 

worked with Obrafour, Kofi Kinaata, 

BisaKdei, Patapaa, and a 

host of others.” 

Amoako said Young Mission 

had opened its doors wider by getting 

closer to the industry in its 

home country, Ghana, hence the 

launch of a local wing in the country. 

MUSIGA President, Bice Osei 

Kuffour (Obour), BisaKdei, Akoo 

Nana, Sista Afia, budding female 

Dancehall artiste Singjay, Akiyana, 

among other key musicians attended 

the ceremony. 

The launch highlighted documentaries 

from Young Mission’s 

previous projects as well. Young 

Mission Entertainment is open for 

business in Ghana; they are scouting 

for artistes and new content 

ahead of the summer to take on 

bookings for Europe. 

Be more attractive for features — Viberz 


BUDDING GHANAIAN music duo, 

Viberz, have hit hard on Lynx Entertainment 

signee and Ghanaian young high 

lifer, Kidi after he vented his frustration 

about the difficulty he is faced with in 

reaching out to veteran musicians for 

collaborations. 

According to the duo, though getting 

a veteran or a mainstream artiste for feature 

on a song comes with lots of frustration 

they feel some young artistes go 

through this frustration because of 

something they have ignored and they 

are to be blamed for that. 

In an interview, they said, “Well, we 

think the big artistes are doing well 

though it’s not that easy out here. Young 

artistes should work themselves out well 

and make themselves attractive to encourage 

top artistes to collaborate with 

them or help them.” 

Viberz, who are preparing to take the 

African music to the shores of the rest 

of the world, have promised to serve 

Ghanaians with authentic tunes with 

great messages,“Not much different but 

the message is always our priority, since 

we think music is medicinal.” 

Viberz are out with their current 

song dubbed ‘Bless me today’, which 

features Ras Kuuku. ‘Bless Me’ is one of 

the most realistic and motivational piece 

which depicts the story of the Biblical 

character Jacob, which inspired the title 

of the song . 

The song was written by #Viberz 

and Brainworkx and produced by Brainworkxbeatz 

and mastered by Possigee. 

The song stands as a tool that shapes the 

mind of a hustler to work hard and celebrate 

his success. 

• Viberz group artistes

14 



Is Castro back? 


ON JULY 6, 2014 

Ghanaian famous 

hip life 

artiste, 

Theophilus 

Tagoe, known in the music space 

as Castro Under Fire but popularly 

Castro, disappeared with his 

supposed girlfriend Janet Bandu 

after reports of the two drowning 

in the Volta Lake. 

But currently in the voice of 

budding Ghanaian afro beats/ 

hip life artiste, Kobina Richiz, 

born Ahmed Amin, one feels 

Castro is strongly back. 

Kobina Richiz, who describes 

himself as humble, determined 

and a go-getter, says he does not 

lose focus “and always get my 

eyes on the prize which I go for. 

And I am allergic to negativity.” 

In an interview with Kobina 

Richiz, he said had the passion 

for music at an early age and took 

inspiration from Sas Squad, Castro 

and other good artistes. He 

said started music professionally 

in 2011, when he gathered confidence 

to begin writing his own 

songs. 

According to the artiste, who 

sings like and takes his inspiration 

from Castro, said he is in the 

music scene to add up to what 

has already been created by creating 

more platforms for the upcoming 

artistes to shine so that 

they will not go through more 

stress. 

Richiz has seven songs on his 

current EP, which were produced 

by Jaynim Beat, Konfen, DoB 

Music and Jay Wyse. His current 

single, ‘Higher’, is an inspirational 

song, which talks about realities 

of life. 

“I chose the title because I always 

derive positive from negative. 

It talks about love, 

inspirations and the realities of 

life,” he said. 

He also revealed that he is 

musically related to top Ghanaian 

artiste Sarkodie and will soon feature 

him on a song. Richiz also 

boasted that he had no competitor 

in the music scene because he 

was on a mission to take African’s 

music to the global stage. 

He encouraged his fellow 

artistes to stay humble, determined 

and just focus on whatever 

they do and never think of 

giving up because nothing good 

comes easily. 

• Kobina Richiz, artiste 

Give us hope 

• Adjetey Anang tells President 

GHANAIAN ACTOR, AdjeteyAnang, popularly 

known as Pusher, has reacted to creative arts issues 

contained in President Akufo-Addo’s State of the 

Nation Address delivered on February 21, 2019. 

The award-winning actor, who said he was dissatisfied 

with the state of the Creative Arts in the 

country and what the President said regarding the 

theatres, told Kojo Preko Dankwa, host of 

Kasapa Entertainment, the Government 

should do more for the arts 

industry. 

According to him, if 

the Government has 

shown a keen interest 

in the Arts industry, 

the evidence of its 

passion for the industry 

must evidently 

show in the 

infrastructure 

projects they 

promised. 

“Let’s do 

something concrete. 

The talk is 

just too much. With 

all the passion or desire 

for the Government 

to help build the 

arts industry, we want to 

see something concrete to 

give us the hope that what we’re 

• Adjetey 

Anang 

doing will give us the ground to move 

forward. We need the ultra-modern theatres 

to facilitate our work as film stakeholders. 

“We’re putting in our bit as film stakeholders so 

we’re pleading with Government to also do its best 

to push the arts industry,” Anang said. 

Commenting on lack of support from Government 

for Ghanian movies honoured or nominated 

in International Awards scheme projecting the 

country, Anang said he gets irritated when the government 

refuses to assist in such great achievements. 

“I get pissed off when people, especially from 

Government, criticise filmmakers for the film they 

produce without facts. It’s sometimes discouraging 

for some of us who struggle to invest 

our own resources without support 

from Government. 

“If we’ve gotten this 

FESPACO platform to 

project the country, 

the government 

must see the 

need to support 

the filmmaker 

of that project 

because it 

opens up the 

film market,” 

he said. 

Talking 

about ‘Keteke’ 

Movie, Anang 

expressed excitement 

featuring in 

the movie. 

Keteke, a Ghanaian 

drama movie released in 

2017, portrays the Ghanaian 

train transportation system and 

was nominated for the Gold standard of 

Yennenga, which is the overall best film category at 

the festival. 

Peter Sedufia becomes the second Ghanaian director 

after the legendary Kwaw Ansah of Heritage 

Africa fame to be nominated in that category in the 

50-year history of FESPACO. 

RELATIONSHIP 

TIPS 

IF YOU'RE in a place where you 

need to be gathering up people to 

befriend, then here's a quick list of 

my best advice for creating new 

friendships! 

• Own the Opportunity: Value 

friendship enough to do something 

about it! Be proud of yourself. 

• Use Your Resources: Offer to 

help someone local host a dinner 

party with their friends. E-mail 

your friends from across the country 

and ask them if they know any 

fun women in your area they can 

connect you with since you're new! 

Look through your friends' local 

friends on Facebook and introduce 

yourself. Follow locals on Twitter 

and see what events they're inviting 

people to attend. (For more ideas, 

read chapter 5 of my book.) 

• Practice Friendliness: Even if 

you're shy, you simply have to decide 

what places feel authentic for 

you to be practicing friendliness: 

association meetings, lectures, networking 

events, the dog park, 

church, poetry readings, cafes, 

classes, and so on. 

• Affirm Her: No need to talk 

about the weather! Start conversations 

with the things you noticed 

about them: their hair, their outfit, 

their confidence, their laugh. We 

like people who like us. 

• Invite: Just making small talk 

The 10 Steps to 

starting friendships 

with someone in the locker room 

after yoga is hardly the same as 

making a friend. As you meet 

women that you want to get to 

know better, you have to take the 

friendly chat to the next level. Try 

this: "Want to get a drink after class 

sometime next week?" 

• Be Specific about your Availability: 

The disease of "we should 

get together sometime" can ruin 

the best of potential BFFs. Instead, 

try, "I'm usually available for happy 

hour most nights or for Sunday 

morning brunches. What works 

best for you?" 

• Ask Personal Questions: By 

personal, I don't mean private, but 

make sure conversation is about 

the two of you. Don't risk an entire 

evening wasted on celebrity gossip, 

the latest movies, and hairstylesgone-bad. 

These subjects feel temporarily 

bonding, but you haven't 

shared yourself. Ask her why she 

appreciates where she works, what 

she's got coming up that matters to 

her, what she loves to do in your 

new city, or what her highlights 

have been in the last few weeks. 

• Share the Positive: It's a 

proven fact that we want friends to 

improve our happiness and health, 

not to bring us down. We haven't 

earned that right yet to cry on each 

other's shoulders.

DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH 

Sports 


15 

Hearts of Oak to 

sign new players 

• Kepa 

Arrizabalaga 

Chelsea goalkeeper 

fined for misconduct 

• Apologises for refusing to 

be substituted 

CHELSEA GOAL- 

KEEPER Kepa Arrizabalaga 

has been fined a 

week's wages and apologised 

for refusing to be 

substituted during Sunday's 

Carabao Cup final 

defeat by Manchester City. 

The Spaniard refused 

to be replaced by Willy Caballero 

at Wembley. 

"Although there was a 

misunderstanding, on reflection, 

I made a big mistake 

with how I handled 

the situation," Kepa said in 

a Chelsea statement. 

Manager Maurizio Sarri 

said he and Kepa had since 

had "a good conversation". 

Sarri, who reacted angrily 

when Kepa refused to 

leave the field towards the 

end of extra time, also said 

the incident had been "a 

misunderstanding". 

But he added: "Kepa 

realises he made a big mistake 

in the way he reacted. 

"He has apologised to 

me, his team-mates and 

the club. It is up to the 

club if they want to discipline 

him according to the 

club rules, but for me this 

matter is now closed. 

"The team performance 

as a whole was extremely 

positive and it is a 

shame to see how this incident 

has overshadowed 

our efforts in what was a 

very competitive cup 

final." 

Kepa, the club's record 

£71m signing, defied 

Sarri's attempt to substitute 

him for Caballero before 

Manchester City won 

on penalties. The Italian 

appeared furious and 

walked down the tunnel 

before quickly returning. 

The 24-year-old former 

Athletic Bilbao player said: 

"I wanted to take the time 

today to apologise fully 

and in person to the coach, 

to Willy, my team-mates 

and to the club. 

"I have done this and 

now I want to offer the 

same apology to the fans. I 

will learn from this 

episode and will accept any 

punishment or discipline 

the club decides is appropriate." 

The club will donate 

Kepa's fine to the Chelsea 

Foundation. 

Source: BBC SPORTS 

ACCRA HEARTS of Oak 

coach, Kim Grant, has 

hinted that they will beef 

up the team in the next 

transfer window. 

The Phobians signed six new players 

and promoted four from their youth 

team in the January transfer window 

but their boss says they still need reinforcement. 

“We are looking to the future, myself, 

the Chief Executive Officer, and 

the players. When the next window 

opens, we will strengthen the team with 

new additions,” Grant told footballmadeinghana.com 

“The players should start believing 

that they are good players and be positive. 

The fans should also know we are 

doing something useful.” 

Accra Hearts of Oak have come 

good in the managerial aspect since the 

appointment of Mark Noonan and 

Kim Grant. 

NKANA FC will arrive in 

Ghana on Wednesday ahead 

of their CAF Confederation 

Cup game against Asante Kotoko 

The Zambian side defeated 

Asante Kotoko by 3-1 at the 

Nkana Sports Stadium in 

Kitwe on Sunday in the first 

leg. 

The Chief Executive Officer 

of the Zambian club, 

Charles Chakatazya, says he 

expects a warm reception 

from their Ghanaian counterparts. 

"We are leaving Zambia tomorrow 

(Tuesday) and will arrive 

in Ghana on Wednesday 

with about 38 people. Football 

in Africa is a uniting sport 

• Flashback: Accra Hearts of Oak Team 

Nkana FC to arrive in Ghana today 

• Ahead of Kotoko clash 

• Nkana FC team 

now; you become a family 

throughout Africa and so we 

expect everyone to behave 

same way. 

"The football days where 

we were mistreating each 

other is long gone but for now 

we just need to be receiving 

each other well and treating 

each other well. 

"So we are expecting the 

same treatment from Kotoko 

when we get to Ghana," he 

said. 

Asante Kotoko have already 

expressed their gratitude 

to Nkana FC for the warm reception 

given them during 

their stay in Kitwe ahead of 

the first leg between them and 

Nkana and indicated they will 

give same preferential treatment 

to Nkana in Ghana. 

Cobbinah delights with form at new club 

•Winful Cobbinah, KF Tirana Attacker 

KF TIRANA attacker, Winful Cobbinah, 

says he is satisfied with his side’s 

2-1 win against KF Skenderbeu in the 

Albanian league. 

The former Hearts of Oak forward 

is enjoying an extraordinary moment in 

the Tirana shirt since joining from 

Ghanaian giants Hearts of Oak. 

"It was an important and highly motivating 

victory for us. We are in a good 

spirit and this victory helps us, even 

more, to continue with this championship," 

he said 

"It's a big boost for us ahead of the 

derby against Partizan this week, where 

we hope to win. 

"What's important for us is the fact 

that we are on the right track and we 

are doing our best to increase our ranking 

position. 

"It was a plus for me to have scored 

and I hope to score against Partizan as 

well." 

The Ghanaian has now made 19 appearances 

so far this season with 14 

starts and has managed to score twice.

FEBRUARY 27

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