Forty widows and an orphan from Pramkese in the Eastern Region were clothed and given hampers during the recent Christmas festivities. The act of generosity was an initiative of the Overseer of the Word In Spirit Prayer Ministry, Prophet Louis Baidoo.
The programme, dubbed ‘Touch Lives,’ is a yearly activity organised every Christmas season to put smiles on the faces of the less privileged in society.
In another development, the inhabitants of the town have been screened for malaria, hepatitis B, diabetes and hypertension.
The leader of the medical team from Accra, Dr. Thompson, used the occasion to entreat Ghanaians to inculcate the habit of going for routine check-ups, and also adhere to healthy eating habits and lifestyles.
Bilateral relations and trade between Israeland Nigeria will rise with the commencement of direct flights between the two countries in March, according to Israeli authorities.
The Deputy Director-General, African Department, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sharon Bar-Li, said this while meeting with some Nigerian journalists on a media tour to Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Mr Bar-Li said that the direct flights would further cement the relations between Africa and the Middle East.
“Once we are able to inaugurate direct flights between Nigeria and Israel we are going to see a boost because right now, there is no gateway for Israel into Africa.
“As a former Ambassador to Ghana, I can tell you that it is very difficult once you do not have a direct flight. Once this route starts working, we are going to see a huge change.
“We are going to see business flourishing; people will be able to come and go easily. We will see a pilgrimage,” she said.
The director-general said Nigeria was a very religious country and the citizens, both Christians and Muslims, went to Israel on pilgrimage.
“Do not forget that Jerusalem is a sacred place for free religions, not just to Christianity, not just to Judaism, but also to Islam where people come to mount to do little hajj.
“By March, I really hope to be able to welcome to Israel the Minister who will come on the first flight to inaugurate this route. It will be a very profitable route with a high demand for it.
“The eagerness to open this new route is a good sign for post COVID-19 recovery,” Ms Bar-Li said.
Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday dismissed a suit seeking disqualification of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Bola Ahmed Tinubu over their Muslim-Muslim candidacy for the 2023 presidential election.
The suit instituted by an Abuja-based legal practitioner, Mr Osigwe Ahmed Momoh was thrown out by the Judge on grounds of lack of locus standi by the plaintiff.
Justice Mohammed held that the lawyer not being a member of APC and having not participated in the process that produced Tinubu and his running mate, KashimShetima cannot query them on the nominations.
The legal practitioner had in the suit prayed the Court for an order nullifying the candidature of APC and Tinubu from participating in the presidential election on the ground that the nomination of Muslim-Muslim candidacy is unconstitutional and against the spirit and letters of sections 14, 15 and 224 of the 1999 Constitution.
Specifically, the lawyer who claimed to be an apostle of the rule of law and social justice argued that the Muslim-Muslim candidacy runs counter to the spirit of national cohesion, integration and unity.
He asked the court for an order of perpetual injunction to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from publishing the name of APC and its presidential candidate for the purpose of the 2023 election.
Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of Nigeria’s Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), on Tuesday, explained why Nigerians in the diaspora cannot vote in the upcoming February 2023 elections.Responding to a question about diaspora voting at a speaking appearance at Chatham House, London, United Kingdom, he said although the electoral body subscribes to it, the Nigerian law makes it impossible for such category of citizens to vote in the nation’s elections.
PREMIUM TIMES had earlier published Mr Yakubu’s full speech which he delivered during his session at the Chatham House.
“The position of law remains; unless you are resident in Nigeria, you cannot register and you cannot vote,” he said.However, “I am absolutely convinced that it is only a matter of time when this will be achieved,” Mr Yakubu added.
He narrated that the commission maintains an open-door policy and has collaborated with different diaspora groups to the point when the proposition for diaspora voting was sent to the National Assembly for deliberation where it was defeated.
The issue of diaspora voting has been an ongoing conversation and was among the issues thrown up for deliberation at the constitution review hearings last year.
In March 2022, the National Assembly struck out the proposal for diaspora voting even when INEC said it was ready.
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) in September of the same year said it would continue to canvas it.
Diaspora voting allows non-resident Nigerians to vote and choose who leads the West African country.
Barely 38 days to the presidential election scheduled for February 25, both camps of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidates, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, respectively, have continued to trade words.
The attacks heightened over the week, with each calling for the arrest and disqualification of the other over allegations of graft, contrary to the peace accord signed by the respective presidential candidates ahead of political campaigns.
Recall that at the commencement of political campaign season, presidential candidates and the national chairman of their respective parties were made to sign a peace accord committing themselves to a peaceful campaign for the 2023 election. The signing was organised by the National Peace Committee in Abuja.
DAILY POST reported that some of the candidates that signed the accord were Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
However, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate, Bola Tinubu, was absent but his running mate, Kashim Shettima, stood in for him.
Tinubu’s camp threw the first salvo last week when he called on Nigerians to worry about Atiku’s health and credibility and not his, adding that he (Atiku) must come clean on issues regarding his health and corruption allegations.
The Director, Media and Publicity of Tinubu, Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, Bayo Onanuga, who disclosed this in a statement, said Atiku ought to have stepped down from the race because he was bound to lose again.
While countering the allegations and attack by Tinubu, the Atiku, Okowa Campaign Organisation said he (Tinubu) had no moral standing to put to disrepute the impeccable character and integrity of Atiku.
Mr Samuel Aggrey, General Secretary, Food and Beverage Association of Ghana
Mr. Samuel Aggrey, General Secretary, Food and Beverage Association of Ghana, has appealed to government to reduce taxes placed on the beverage industry to promote export.
He said consumers complained about the prices of local beverages as against foreign brands and attributed the difference to high taxes imposed on beverage production in the country, which he said “militated” against the pricing mechanism.
“Now if you are producing in Ghana, it’s not a crime but an incentive for the State and if we export more, it also helps the government to raise the needed revenue to develop this country.
“Unfortunately, we are paying so much tax and the policies are not helping. If we can do something, then we have to look at the taxes we are imposing on these manufacturers. We need to put manufacturers in a condition where they can produce, make profit and put it back into the manufacturing,” he said.
Mr. Aggrey, who said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency ahead of the 2022 Ghana Beverage Awards, suggested that taxes be reduced by benchmarking the production of beverages against the employment the industry offered.
“If you go to the international market, most of them are producing at a lower cost because they have those incentives put in place for them to produce and export.
“In Ghana, we produce and consume about 80 per cent of them but we need to export 80 per cent and consume 20 per cent. To do that, we need to look at our electricity, water quality given to the beverage industry, and taxes imposed on the industry so that these factories will produce at a cheaper cost for exportation onto the international market,” he added.
The General Secretary, who asked industry players to critically assess how they could also contribute towards the production of fruits among other foods within the agricultural sector for beverage production, called on government to provide incentives for industry players to boost production.
“If we take pineapple and mango for instance, very often we see them being rotten away when the season comes. These are areas we need to look at. We expect the government to give us some incentives to make the companies go to those areas to produce the concentrates to store them for periods when they are out of season.
“If not, we will continue to throw away the excess produce from the farmers. We also need government to set up policies to ensure that manufacturers play key role in production of the fruits used in the country,” Mr. Aggrey said.
To protect water bodies and make beverages safer for consumption, Mr. Aggrey urged the government to halt illegal mining, which polluted water bodies in the country.
“If not, very soon Ghana will have to import water or pay heavy price to treat water for production,” he noted.
Nollywood movie star Ireti Doyle has announced that she and her husband Patrick Doyle have divorced.
In an interview with Chude, the actress revealed that she was no longer married to Patrick, with whom she has six children.
“We are officially divorced,” she confirmed.
The 55-year-old actor also denied that she had her first child at the age of 17, claiming that it was at the age of 19 and that she had no business marrying at that age.
“The truth of the matter is that I had no business being married at that time, period! Let’s not talk go to the choice of who I married.
“I can’t sacrifice my life in the alter of your imagination or your fantasy,” she said.
She said, “When you’re an adult, it’s not a life and death situation…there are some situations that are way beyond your control, the truth of the matter is that I had no business being married at that time, period! let’s not talk go to the choice of who I married.”
Doyle told the host that, while they may have painted a pretty picture for the fans, there was a large gap between the image and their reality.
She went on to say that while they are entertainers, their private lives are not, and the public has no right to know anything about them.
“That I’m an actor and plying my trade in the public arena does not make you entitled to my personal life. And quite frankly, I don’t owe anybody any explanation. So go ahead; speculate all you want. If it helps you digest your morning tea, I’m happy to oblige,” she said.
Two French journalists have gone on trial in France on charges of trying to blackmail the king of Morocco – allegedly demanding money to hush purportedly damaging revelations about him. Eric Laurent, 75, and Catherine Graciet, 48, are accused of demanding €2million in 2015 in exchange for halting the publication of a book about the Moroccan royal family.
Both writers, who face up to five years in jail and €75,000 in fines if found guilty, have denied any wrongdoing and say it was a lawyer representing the Moroccan royal family who first offered them the money.
In court on Monday Laurent admitted to an “ethical error“, a “disaster” in having accepted to “let myself be caught up in this affair”, but denied having committed “any criminal offence”.
Co-author Graciet said that the Moroccan envoy “seduced me with his financial offer, I took the plunge and I regret it”.
Netflix is hiring a flight attendant for one of its private jets – with the successful applicant being paid as much as $385,000 (£313,538) a year.
The streaming giant says it is looking for candidates with “independent judgement, discretion and outstanding customer service skills”.
They should also be able to “operate with little direction and a lot of self-motivation.”
Last year Netflix cut hundreds of jobs after a fall in subscriber numbers.
“The overall market range for this role is typically $60,000 – $385,000. This market range is based on total compensation (vs only base salary), which is in line with our compensation philosophy,” Netflix said in a job listing on its website.
The company also said it determines an employee’s salary by considering “compensation factors” such as their background, experience and skills.
The role – based in San Jose, California – requires travel in and beyond the US. “The Netflix Aviation department provides exceptional, safe, confidential air transportation,” it said.
The Gambia’s Vice President Badara Alieu Joof has died of illness in India, President Adama Barrow said on Wednesday.
Joof, 65, was appointed vice president of the West African country in 2022. He previously served as education minister from 2017 to 2022. Barrow said on Twitter that Joof had died “after a short illness”, without providing further detail, including when he died.
The vice president had left The Gambia about three weeks ago to seek medical treatment and had not been seen in public for months before the trip.
Joof was the fourth deputy to serve under Barrow since his historic win in 2016 against former strongman Yahya Jammeh and swearing-in the following year, and the second since the president won re-election in 2021.
The late vice president previously worked in the Gambian civil service and later in the World Bank as an Education Specialist for West and Central Africa, transmitting his experience there to his time as minister of higher education, research, science and technology.
