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DIGITAL NO. 100850 TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2020

DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH

• Even the Tip-toe Lane, one

of the busiest marketing

centres in Accra, was quiet

• Mallam Atta Market in Accra New Town locked to traders

and the public for disinfestation against the coronavirus

• The usually congested Labadi trotro station

near the Circle overhead had a few vehicles there

• Some of the spraying guards ready with their accoutrements to invade the various

markets coronavirus and business centres across the Greater Accra Region to disinfest

and render them inhabitable for the coronavirus

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


02

PUBLIC SERVICE

CAMPAIGN

Tax is for development; Pay

your tax always because tax

evasion is criminal

CONTENT

ANNIVERSARIES

Good Friday — Fri, 10 Apr 2020

Easter Monday — Mon, 13 Apr 2020

Labour Day — Fri, 1 May 2020

DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2020

Published by: EIB

Network / Heritage

Communications Ltd.

Managing Editor:

William Asiedu:

0208156974

Acting Editor:

Kweku Gyasi Essel:

0244744973

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

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024-4360782

Fax: +233-0302-237156

Email:

news@dailyheritagegh.com.gh

heritagenewspaper@yahoo.co.uk

www.dailyheritage.com.gh

• One of the popular beaches in Ghana

Close

down all

beaches

BY KOBINA WELSING

THE GHANA Tourism

Authority has ordered

the indefinite closure of

all beaches across the

country as part of measures

to slow the spread of the

COVID-19 disease.

Ghana has so far recorded 24

cases of the Coronavirus disease

with one death. Globally over

340,000 people have been infected,

with over 15,000 deaths.

All social gatherings have been

banned by the President with

Ghana’s borders also closed to traffic.

But beaches and restaurants are

opened to business.

In a statement, the Ghana

• GTA to govt

Tourism Authority stated that the

move was in line with directives suspending

all public gatherings.

The statement added that “in this

regard, the GTA hereby orders all

beaches to be closed to the public

until further notice. The GTA, with

the support of National Security and

the Ghana Police Service, will begin

patrols of the beaches from Tuesday

(today), March 24, 2020, to ensure

compliance with the closure order.”

The statement concluded by reminding

the general public and

tourist business operators to be

mindful of the precautionary measures

announced by the President of

the Republic to fight the COVID-19

pandemic.


WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH

DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2020

03

Accra goes calm

BY PHILIP ANTOH

philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com

THE WHOLE of the nation’s

capital, Accra,

yesterday went calm as

Ghanaians were reacting

to the directives of

the President, Nana Addo Dankwa

Akufo-Addo, to make way for the

disinfestation of market places

throughout the city as a measure of

containing the spread of Covid-19.

The exercise was part of the

measures to ensure that the country

work towards measures to fight

the deadly coronavirus.

The situation was such that

shops across the region were all

locked up with no single trader or

shop owner ready to defy the directives

as fear and panic grip Ghanaians.

Even the banks and other public

offices opened to the public were

not patronized as expected and so

customers and others who went

there for services did not have to

waste the slightest time.

The streets of Accra were virtually

empty as even the busiest

places like Tip-toe Lane at Kwame

Nkrumah Circle went quiet with

the absence of its heavy human

traffic.

Traffic flow was smooth as

people travelling from Kasoa

in the Central Region to the

national capital’s centre said

they had to spend only 30 minutes

as against the two or more

hours they had been spending

before yesterday.

Interviews conducted by the

DAILYHERITAGE revealed

that pedestrians movement

along the streets were

easy except that some of them

could not find food to buy.

Some passengers also said it

took long time for drivers to

get appreciable number of passengers

for them to make a trip

but the absence of traffic made

their trips fast and therefore

appreciable.

Some of them said “we

hope the situation will remain

“I was at the Pension House to

apply for an introduction letter to

support my application for a loan

from my bankers and within 10

minutes, yes 10 minutes, the young

lady who served me had handed it

to me because there was nobody

there for me to wait for my turn,”....

• Mallam Atta Market in Accra New Town locked to traders and the

public for disinfestation against the coronavirus

this way from now on”.

While some passengers

were happy that there was no

traffic, drivers were complained

that yesterday was worst day of

their career.

“Some of our colleagues

came and left home; others

didn’t come at all and those of

us who are around are facing

problems.

“Passengers are not coming

as expected, we don’t know

how we are going to have our

sales today,” said Mahamadu

Ibrahim, one of the drivers at

Circle said.

Some pedestrians also said

movement was smooth and

healthy because only a few

people moving around and distancing

was okay “but the

problem is that even the chop

bars are closed and food is

hard to come by.”

“I was at the Pension House

to apply for an introduction

letter to support my application

for a loan from my

bankers and within 10 minutes,

yes 10 minutes, the young lady

who served me had handed it

to me because there was nobody

there for me to wait for

my turn,” a visibly happy old

pensioner said when the

DAILY HERTAGE asked

about his mission in town at a

time it was difficult to see old

people around yesterday.

• Even the Tip-toe Lane, one of the busiest marketing

centres in Accra, was quiet

•The usually congested Labadi trotro station near

the Circle overhead had a few vehicles there


Digital MARCH 24, 2020.qxp_Layout 1 23/03/2020 8:45 PM Page 2

DAILY HERITAGE DIGITAL MARCH 24, 2020

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH

GhIPSS waives interbank, cross

wallet transfer charges

THE GHANA Interbank

Payment

and Settlement

Systems

(GhIPSS), a

wholly-owned

subsidiary of the Bank of

Ghana, has announced a waiver

of fees on electronic services.

In a press statement issued in

Accra, on Sunday, it said all commercial

banks, Fintechs and Mobile

Money (MoMo) operators

leveraging the various platforms

to offer electronic payment services

were not going to incur any

service charges.

This effect from yesterday,

Monday, March 23, and the

waiver is regardless of the volume

and value of transaction.

Mobile Money Interoperability

(MMI) and all cross-wallet

transactions on the platform, it

said, would not attract any fees,

likewise the GhIPSS Instant Pay

(GIP), banks and Fintechs offering

instant pay services.

This, it added, applied to

banks leveraging the ACH-Direct

Credit platform for bulk

payments such as

salaries on behalf

of corporate institutions.

The GhIPSS

expressed confidence

that the fee

waiver would contribute

to efforts

in promoting and

encouraging the

use of digital payment

options to

limit the possible

spread of the flu-like COVID-19

through contacts with cash in

physical form.

It therefore urged the partner

banks, Fintechs and MoMo service

providers to make the services

available to customers on

their various digital and mobile

payment platforms - the mobile

app, Internet banking and USSD.

The GhIPSS also appealed to

the public to turn to these and

other electronic payment options

and avoid the use of physical cash

as much as practicable. It said the

Ghana Quick Response (GhQR)

and Proxy Pay services, which

would be launched on March 25,

would also provide additional

channels for the public to transact

business electronically.

GhIPSS reminded the people

to observe personal hygiene and

social distancing in order to curb

the spread of the COVID-19.

&Env.

15M Ghanaians could

contract coronavirus

– Research Scientist

ASENIOR Research

Scientist and Lecturer

at the Department

of

Medical Diagnostics

at the Kwame

Nkrumah University of Science

and Technology (KNUST), Dr

Michael Owusu, says 50 to 60% of

Ghanaians are likely to be exposed

to the deadly coronavirus if safety

etiquettes are not properly observed

with increasing cases of

community transmission.

According to the clinical microbiologist,

out of the country’s

30 million population, about 14 to

15 million people could contract

the coronavirus.

The Kumasi Centre for Collaborative

Research(KCCR) scientist

is predicting that the aged population

in Ghana, which is about 1.4

million, representing five percent

(5%) of the total population of

the country according to the 2010

population census, are likely to die

if they decided not to adhere to

the safety measure government

and scientists have put in place.

He added, “We should also

think into the fact that we can

overwhelm the health care sector

such that those who have malaria,

those who will get accident and

other people

with underline

conditions

may

not get a

place to be

attended to

in the hospitals

and we

are likely to

lose all these

people.”

“So the

precautions

of staying indoor

and social

distancing

and limiting

movements

are very crucial at this moment,”

he stressed.

Dr Owusu said though lockdown

was part of measures government

must consider, it was not

fully prepared for that because a

lot of factors needed to be put in

place before.

“A lot has to go for a lockdown;

from what I’m seeing I

don’t think we are prepared. A

lockdown involves a lot of thinking

and structural planning to enable

us to do this.

“A lot of people in Ghana are

in the informal structure. There

are some who, if they don’t go to

market to sell, they will not get

anything. So the MMDCEs, and

DCEs must begin to have a plan.

“Yeah, we can limit movement; we

must make people sit indoors if

we have to give people incentive

to stay indoors we must begin to

do that,’’ he suggested.

He stressed that ration of market

days should also be considered

to reduce congestion as part of

measure to control the spread of

the virus in communities.


Digital MARCH 24, 2020.qxp_Layout 1 23/03/2020 8:45 PM Page 3

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH

NEWS

DAILY HERITAGE DIGITAL MARCH 24, 2020

Covid-19:

Krowor MCE shuts down defiant

church at Nungua, pastor arrested

BY MUNTALLA INUSAH

muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com.gh

THE MUNICIPAL

Chief Executive

(MCE) of Krowor

Municipal Assembly,

Mr Joshua Nii

Bortey, on Sunday,

March 22, led a team of police officers

from the Nugua Divisional

Police Headquarters to close down

a church and arrest its head pastor.

In spite of President Nana

Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s directive

for all social gatherings, including

church services, to be

suspended as a measure to contain

the deadly coronavirus, a church in

the MCE’s jurisdiction defied the

order.

The ‘Zions All Prayer Ministry’

situated in the Nkpor Electoral

Area conducted a church service

which made the MCE called in the

police and together stormed the

church to close it down.

Bishop Michael Banga, a Nigerian

national and head of the

church, was arrested together with

some of his elders.

The MCE, while confirming

the arrest of the head pastor and

his elders, said: “They have been

arrested and the pastor and some

elders are behind the counter now.

“The police had been there already

and they never obeyed to

lock up until l went to the police

station and led them there for the

second time and arrested and

locked up the place. The keys to

the church are with the police.”

In an advice to churches in the

KroMA municipality, the MCE

said “Let’s obey instructions from

His Excellency Nana Addo

Dankwa Akufo-Addo. It is all

about prevention. This is life and

death matter. About 900 people

died in Italy in a day. I beg us all to

be highly preventive. May God

bless Nungua Krowor and make

our nation Ghana great and

strong.”

Settle your indebtedness to health facilities

• NDC to Akufo-Addo

PATIENCE SYLVESTER SELORMEY

pselormey2015@gmail.com

THE NATIONAL Democratic

Congress (NDC) Volta has asked

the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic

Party (NPP) government to stop

peddling falsehood about claims of

payment of National Health Insurance

commitments to all health facilities

and rather pay them

immediately to enable them to

build their capacities and to acquire

protective gears to be Covid-

19 prepared.

The NDC said the National

Health Insurance Authority

(NHIA) owes health facilities in

the region a whooping twenty-two

million and fifteen thousand

Ghana Cedis (GH¢22,015,000)

and noted with grave concern the

falsehood the government was

peddling that they had redeemed

their obligations to the service

providers.

A release dated March 16, 2020

and jointly signed by the regional

communication officer, Sorkpa

Agbleze, and his deputy, Delali

Bright Kugbeadzor, stated among

other points that they could place

on authority after investigations

that claims owed major health facilities

in the region from January

2019 to January 2020 is outstanding.

"An alarming GH¢22,015,000

is still outstanding and we would

not allow government to engage in

this kind of cheap propaganda to

the detriment of the health status

of its citizenry," it said.

Giving the breakdown of facilities,

the NHIA owed in the region,

it indicated that from January 2019

to January 2020, the authority

owed the Akatsi District Hospital

GH¢2,508,000, Sogakope Government

Hospital GH¢2,436,000 and

Hohoe Government Hospital,

GH¢2,724,000. thers facilities

were St. Patrick's Hospital,

Kpando GH¢580,000, Keta Municipal

Hospital GH¢2,050,000,

Dzodze Ghana |Mission,

GH¢210,000, Ho Teaching Hospital

GH¢4,20,000 and Ho Municipal

Hospital GH¢1,500,000.

The rest are Margaret Marquart

Hospital Kpando, GH¢2,200,000,

Central Aflao Hospital

GH¢760,000, Adidome E.P Hospital

GH¢1,200,000, Comboni

Hospital Sogakope GH¢1,300,000,

Anfoega Catholic Hospital

GH¢700,000, Ho Polyclinic

GH¢300,000, International Health

Development Network

GH¢870,000, and Ketu South Municipal

Hospital, GH¢1,750,000.

According to the release, other

claims owed facilities in the region

form May 2019 to January 2020 include

Battor Catholic Hospital

GH¢2,043,000, Sacred Heart HospitalGH¢162,000

Dzodze St. Anthony

Catholic Hospital

GH¢1,872,000, and Peki Government

Hospital GH¢990,000.


WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH

06

DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2020

Editorial

Traders’ obedience good for national progress

YESTERDAY WOULD remain

one of the most memorable

days associated with the

presence of the coronavirus,

otherwise known as Covid-19,

in the country, especially the

nation’s capital, for positive

reasons.

Traders’ adherence to directives

to close their shops and

quit their spaces in the various

markets in the city was overwhelming.

Ghanaians are recalcitrant

about such

instructions on occasions like

clean-up exercises and holidays.

The reason for yesterday’s

obedience to official instruction

is not far-fetched though

but it carries some lessons for

the whole nation.

The DAILY HER-

ITAGE can say that obedience

was massive because of

the fear of the deadly coronavirus,

which means that if officialdom

can take time to

educate the public to see what

threatens their existence,

rights, freedoms, comfort,

wellbeing and the like and

help them to understand and

accept them many misdeeds

would cease in society.

It is also instructive to note

that if we can make the

Ghanaian public to appreciate

the fact that what threaten

some people can evolve to be

our problem too, at least majority

of the masses can adopt

positive attitudes towards

every situation, however insignificant

it may appear to

others.

Yesterday’s obedience also

re-echoed the fact that “prevention

is better than cure”,

so the city authorities should

couch a strategy out of that to

reinforce efforts to make

Accra clean, even if not the

cleanest city in Africa because

the vision appears a mirage

currently, looking at the level

of filth in Accra.

In spite of the overwhelming

obedience, there were a

few, in fact a negligible number

of, young traders who

wanted to disobey instructions

but personnel of the security

services were on hand

to rein in such recalcitrant

traders hovering around various

shops soliciting customers.

This also teaches a lesson

that law enforcement is prime

in the prevention of everything

that undermines the

progress of society — crime,

diseases, corruption, civil disobedience,

etc. etc. If so, then

we should see yesterday’s obedience

from the trading community

in Accra and

elsewhere as a leverage for national

progress.

Local Govt Ministry, Zoomlion

disinfest 137 markets

• In Greater Accra Region

BY PHILIP ANTOH

philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com.gh

THE MINISTRY of Local Government

and Rural Development

(MLGRD), together with the various

assemblies in the Greater Accra

Region, and in partnership with

Zoomlion, has embarked on a disinfestation exercise

in 137 markets the across region.

The exercise was in line with the directives by

the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-

Addo, to control the spread of Covid-19, which

is wreaking havoc globally.

Although the exercise had few hitches here

and there like starting late, some market women

agitating, and many others, the heavy presence

of the military and the police made it successful.

“We can say that almost everybody has

obeyed the instruction of the city authorities

and the President in general,” one of the officials

stated.

A senior official at the MLGRD, Mr

Jonathan Aboagye, has stated that the closure of

markets in Accra and the disinfestation exercise

by various municipal assemblies to contain the

spread of Covid-19 should present an opportunity

to city authorities to achieve the ‘Clean

Ghana’ agenda.

According to Mr Aboagye, one of the sure

ways of achieving this is to make the surroundings

clean and with the old adage ‘cleanliness is

next to godliness,’ it behoves the citizenry to

adopt the attitude of cleanliness.

He said about two thirds of Ghanaians are

Godly “so if we say cleanliness is next to godliness,

then it means we are not Godly so there is

the need for all of us to try as much as possible

to keep the city clean.”

“So if I eat and I don’t throw the left-overs

away on the street but into designated dustbins

within the city, definitely we are not going to get

filth in our country. If we go to other countries

and we find out their countries look very neat, it

is not only the city authorities there but everyone

in the country.

“One thing that we must do as Ghanaians is

that it is about time we started making sure that

the filth which we are going to collect is paid

for.”

The well-attended

disinfection exercise

by officials of Zoomlion,

the various assemblies

and Local

Government Ministry

was part of the Presidents

directives to

control the spread of

Covid-19.

The exercise

squad was divided

into various groups

based on the various

assemblies and chlorine,

a disinfectant

chemical, was mixed

with water and

sprayed with Solo

spraying machine in

all the markets.

Speaking to the

DAILY HERITAGE, a Local Government

Representative at Ayawaso Central Municipal

Assembly, Mr Baba Seidu, said the exercise was

in line with the President’s initiative of disinfecting

all marketplaces to control the spread of

coronavirus.

Mr Seidu said the exercise was done in part-

•Mallam Atta Market

being disinfected

ner-

ship with Zoomlion Ghana Limited.

The tour took journalists, officials of Zoomlion,

Local Government Ministry and various

workers of the various assemblies to Tip-toe

Lanes, Mallam Atta Markets, then to Nima

through to Mamobi and finally to the Kaneshie

market.


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WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH

Politics

DAILY HERITAGE MARCH 24 2020

• COVID-19 outbreak

Parliament to temporarily relocate to AICC

THE SPEAKER of

Parliament, Professor

Aaron Mike

Oquaye, has

hinted that the

Legislature is

likely to relocate to the Accra International

Conference Centre

(AICC) to enable MPs to heed

the social distancing measures.

According to the Speaker, the

conference centre is spacious

and would allow all parliamentarians

to properly observe the

measures against the spread of

the COVID-19 disease.

“As the Majority Leader suggested

the other day, we are in

the process of making all relevant

arrangements if we can relocate

temporarily to the

conference centre…and carry

on. Maybe this would make people

realise that Parliament is in

need of a more spacious place,”

the Speaker of Parliament said

on Monday.

Coronavirus cases in Ghana

have jumped to 24 from 21, as

of Sunday evening.

The update was posted on the

government website dedicated to

matters concerning the virus.

Details of the new cases have

not been disclosed.

Among the confirmed cases,

seventeen (17) are of Ghanaian

nationality and seven (7) other

nationals, namely Norway,

Lebanon, China, France, and the

UK.

With regards to contact tracing,

a total of 575 contacts have

been identified and are being

tracked.

According to the

Speaker, the conference

centre is

spacious and

would allow all

parliamentarians

to properly observe

the measures

against the

spread of the

COVID-19 disease.

Tyshan Knight’s ‘Beautiful’

song’s visuals released

TYSHAN KNIGHT,

one of the world’s

best voice coaches,

recording artist and

entrepreneur, who

recently released his

‘Stages’ EP with ‘ Beautiful’ as

part of the six songs on the EP,

has dropped the official video of

‘Beautiful.’

The visuals were shot and directed

by his production company

‘Vision Media’, who are into video

directing/shooting, video editing,

photography, sound

engineering/production and a host

of other great services.

‘Beautiful’ is a song that he says

is meant to appreciate the beauty

in all aspects of human lives.

“Everyone in the world is beautiful

in his/her own special way. We

need no validation to feel confident.

Confidence is beautiful.

There is no special standard to define

‘Beauty’. Beauty has no colour,

gender, size, height or nationality.

You need to accept yourself first

to be accepted by others. You are

•Tyshan Knight

‘Beautiful’; you are wonderfully

and fearfully made.”

According to the Canadian

artiste, ‘Stages EP’, which is his

first musical project for 2020, is a

compilation of six songs in genres

ranging from RNB to Afro beats

with the respective titles of the

songs as ‘Beautiful’, ‘War’, ‘Hustle’,

‘Start Ova’, ‘Adore You’, and ‘

Best Life.’

He said he chose the title

‘Stages’ because he sees himself in

a new stage of life which cannot

be compared to his previous stage.

“I am going through different

phases of life which is toughing

my skin and exposing me to new

ideas, those stages are what I communicated

in my EP.”

Tyshan said his song was inspired

by his life experiences,

which was why he adopted such titles

as ‘Start Ova’, the ‘War Times,

the ‘Hustle Days’, the ‘Beautiful

Stage, and currently, he is recounting

his ‘Best life’.

Tyshan is a Canadian Gospel

artiste who dishes out captivating

songs with his piercing new-school

gospel style and soothing voice.

He has songs like, ‘ Not Forsaken’,

‘War’, ‘Take Back’, ‘What I

Gotta Do’, ‘Grateful’, and ‘Audience

of One’on which he featured

Starringo and Dru Bex. |

The artist says he loves God

and is very active in sports and

health and believes there is a shortage

of relevant sounding (urban

flavoured) gospel music, which is

why he has brought a new urban

flavour to gospel music that the

youth respect and seek. Tyshan has

teamed up with Caleb Music

Group.

He was part of the artistes who

performed at the ‘Afrofest Africa,

which was hosted by Music Africa

of Canada International, held here

in Ghana at the Ghana International

Trade Fair Centre, Pavillion

A, with performances from some

artistes based in Canada, Ghanaian

artistes like Amanzeba, Sherifa

Gunu, Opanka, Fameye, and Sista

Afia, and those from Nigeria and

other Africa countries.

The Stages EP is available on

all music streaming sites.

About Tyshan Knight

Tyshan was born in Canada and

raised in the small city of Hamilton.

At a young age four, he discovered

that he had the ability to

sing. With no vocal training,

Tyshan took upon the challenge of

teaching himself how to sing.

Tyshan says as he was growing in

singing he had ambitions to sing

R&B music.

ing in Mauritania


DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH

TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2020

Hearts players grouped

for special training

drills at home

GHANA PRE-

MIER League

side, Hearts of

Oak, have confirmed

that the

playing body has been divided

into groups to ensure training

continues amid the suspension

of the 2019/20 Ghana Premier

League season due to the

Coronavirus outbreak.

Head coach Edward Nii

Odoom wants his squad to

maintain their shape while at

home.

The experienced gaffer has

assigned individual training

drills to the players as well as

grouping the squad to help

them stay fit till the league resumes.

Communications Director

Kwame Opare Addo, in an interview

with Otec FM yesterday

monitored by the DAILY

HERITAGE, confirmed the

decision.

“The coach has given the

players individual special

training and also ready to

make sure that they will

continue to keep their

shape because no one

knows when the league

will resume. We don’t

want our players to lose

form when they come

back from the break,” he

stated.

Hearts are currently

ninth on the Ghana

league table.

• Hearts Players

Owusu-Abeyie recalls losing

FIFA Golden Ball to Messi

KP Boateng goes hairless

BESIKTAS FORWARD Kevin-

Prince Boateng has shared a picture

of him having a new look in

which he has no hair.

The 32-year Ghana international

has been known to wear

different hairstyles during his nomadic

career. This, coupled with

his high taste for fashion, has

made him one of the most recognisable

players in any team he

plays for.

"New hair same happy face,"

read the caption of Boateng's

post on Instagram.

Boateng is currently on loan at

Besiktas from Fiorentina and has

played six times in the Turkish

• Kevin-Prince Boateng

Super Lig, scoring twice.

The league was recently called

off due to the growing coronavirus

pandemic. It was still in

operation last weekend despite

other European leagues going on

suspension.

Although games were played

behind closed doors, the decision

to continue led to a backlash

from players like Nigerian midfielder

John Obi Mikel, who has

since left Trabzonspor.

Kayserispor and Ghana attacker

Bernard Mensah also

voiced his concerns. Turkey has

so far recorded nearly 1000 cases

of the virus.

FORMER ARSENAL winger

Quincy Owusu-Abeyie is baffled

by his failure to reach his

potential as he recounted his

best days with the Dutch Under-

20 team at the 2005 FIFA World

Youth Championship which featured

Lionel Messi.

Owusu-Abeyie and Messi

were the names that resonated

loudly on the lips of every football

fan across the world ahead

of the youth tournament in the

Netherlands.

But it was the Argentine wizard

who emerged the best player

of the championship after hitting

six goals to help the South

American giants clinch the trophy.

Owusu-Abeyie went on to

have decent career playing for

the likes of Arsenal, Malaga,

Celta Vigo, Panathinaikos and

Crystal Palace.

The now 33-year-old was

quizzed why he was beaten to

the Golden Ball award at the

tournament by Messi.

"Yes, and look where we are

each now ...," the footballer

replied in a friendly way.

"Uugh! ... Well, imagine what

I asked myself. I still dream of

that moment, of that tournament,

today. There I played like

never before, it was my best version

I hope someday to play like

this continuously. Why didn't I

stay the same? It is not easy, it is

not easy to answer ... I still trust

that one day I will try to climb

and return to that level,” he told

• Former Arsenal winger

Quincy Owusu-Abeyie

Besoccer.

In January 2007, the tricky

wideman switched his nationality

to Ghana after failing to earn

a call-up into the senior Dutch

national team.

He played for Ghana at the

2010 FIFA World Cup in South

Africa as the Black Stars reached

the quarterfinals stage.

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