Cocoa loan eases pressure on record low Cedi

The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has closed down some facilities that have failed to register with the authority.

Among some of the facilities shut down are; Bronis’ Pizza Inn, Baffour Apartment, KBR restaurant, Grace Court and Gyamfuaa court.

As part of the exercise, the authority pasted a notice which is backed by Act 817, warning operators of defaulted facilities to do the needful before they can operate the facilities again.

Speaking to the media during the first day of the enforcement exercise in Kumasi, Madam Mavis Gyasi Afriyie, the Ashanti Regional GTA director, told the media that twenty-six days have been earmarked for the exercise.

On the scope of the exercise, Madam Gyasi Afriyie disclosed that 127 units, excluding hostels, have been targeted by her outfit.

She noted that their work seeks to address three challenges, namely Operators without license, uncollected license and uncompleted license documentation.

Madam Gyasi Afriyie also noted that the exercise aims at regularising these establishments as enshrined in the Tourism Act.

On his part, Nana Mathew Prempeh, Ashanti Regional Quality Assurance Officer of the GTA explained that GTA is mandated to regularise all the tourism establishments such as apartments, hotels, car rentals, restaurants and travel and tours.

According to him, many are those whose licences are ready but they have not come for them, adding that there are others who are also operating without even bothering to register with the Authority, whilst others have started the process but they have relaxed.

GTA is, therefore, going round trying to make sure that their clients do the right thing, stressing that they are not sabotaging any business.

“Those who fall below, we try to encourage them to adhere to the Act 817, by putting them on re-inspection and those who do not meet the time frame that we have given them are closed down.” Nana Prempeh said.

“My advice to those who are operating in the informal sector-Chop Bars and drinking bars all fall under the law, so we are urging them to do the needful,” he added.

Nana Prempeh disclosed that before a facility is licensed, they undergo a number of checks, including criminal vetting of the owner, fire certificate among others, in an attempt to make sure that the facility renders quality service to the public.

He, therefore, implored the public to ask for licenses of such establishments before they patronise them, saying “We make sure they give out their best to the customers.”

Government needs proper structures to Stop Galamsey -Adansi Progressive union

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October 7, 2022

Kwasi Aboagye (right) with Kofi Asante Mensah(APATreasurer) at the meeting.

An Obuasi-Based NGO, the Adansiman Progressive Association (APA), has said any attempt by the government to stop galamsey in the country will be an exercise in futility, since millions of Ghanaians are neck-deep in “this emergent gold business”.

Rather, it said, putting in place proper structures for the illegal miners to acquire license to do their work without fear of arrest by the military and police is the way to go.

“Galamsey activities have gained root across the length and breadth of the country and has given jobs to millions of Ghanaians and for that matter no government or political party dare stop it”, Mr. Kwasi Aboagye, the Co-Ordinator/Founder of APA emphasised at a meeting with the media at Obuasi on Wednesday.

The APA Coordinator said government’s measures of dealing with illegal mining by forming task forces of police and military to arrest and destroy machines of illegal miners contribute to the miners not covering the pits and pollute the river bodies.

He said, when the illegal miners are made to acquire licenses, measures could be put in place to bind them to cover their pits and protect the river bodies at their sites, failure of which the licenses should be revoked and the site owner arrested.

The APA Coordinator said, under the Green Ghana initiative, almost all the degraded areas in the country following the activities of illegal miners could be replanted with trees for the areas to regain their lost glory.

Mr. Aboagye noted that when the operation of illegal miners are properly regularized and the youth freely get hooked to the modern and scientific way of mining, the massive unemployment phenomenon that stare us in the face will be a thing of the past and there will be no pressure on the government to fix anybody anywhere.

He cautioned that until the government does what is needful in the galamsey sector to get Ghanaians to work peacefully and to recoup the gold hidden in the ground, breaking the 8 being preached by the NPP adherents will not happen, as Ghanaians will vote massively against the party in 2024.

From Frederick Danso Abeam, Obuasi

NDC account resurrected my viral old tweets –KiDi

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October 7, 2022

KiDi who is still in the news for his old tweets that led to public humiliation has finally opened up on it.

After apologising on social media and asked for forgiveness from those affected, the ‘Touch it’ hitmaker says National Democratic Congress (NDC) Twitter account resurrected those old tweets.

According to the VGMA Artiste of the Year, he initially had no idea where the old tweets came from but investigations revealed that they came from the NDC account.

Speaking in an interview on Angel FM’s which was monitored by The Chronicle, KiDi explained that usually issues of this nature appear when the individual involved has said or done something but in his case he doesn’t know circumstances that led to that.

“Later when we investigated, we realised that it came from an NDC account,” he told host of the show.

“They just went back and started searching for people who have said something about Mahama so that they will give them pressure to say something about Nana Akufo-Addo as well, because when Mahama came you spoke about him but with Akufo-Addo you are silent. It was just political,”KiDi added.

The agenda of the perpetrators was probably to compel him to speak against the current administration just as he criticized ex-President John Mahama but it escalated and “everybody was like KiDi too has said some foolish things before so let’s go dig them out.”

When asked how he has been coping with the incident, he replied that “it has been hard. I won’t lie to you, I don’t want anybody to go through this because it is tough.”

Joyce Dzidzor, Dr UN ‘divorce’ after their alleged marriage

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October 7, 2022

Joyce Dzidzor Mensah has finally cleared the air about her supposed ‘marriage’ to Kwame Fordjour, popularly known as Dr UN. According to the Former AIDS ambassador, her marriage to Dr Un was a contract marriage meant to last for two weeks.

In a new video she shared online, Joyce Dzidzor announced the end of their marriage. According to her, this is because their contract has expired. Despite the end of the contract marriage, Joyce says she is grateful to all the people who supported them.

“Thank you for making our marriage a memorable one. We are so grateful for every support you have given us. Our marriage was based on a contract. We had a two weeks marriage contract and we really enjoyed our marriage,” she said.

She emphasized that “we are not divorcing ooo. We are not divorcing. We are always going to renew our vows because I don’t live in Ghana. I will be going to Germany soon but my husband is still my husband“.

Alleged wedding photos of the controversial couple surfaced on social media with an announcement that they were now are now married. The photos however left some Ghanaians confused and surprised.

Credit: pulse.com.gh

Sarkodie calls Black Sherif’s new album ‘masterpiece’

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October 7, 2022

Lovers of music, including celebrated Artiste, Sarkodie are celebrating the new album of Black Sherif, ‘The Villian I never was,’ on social media.

Ghanaian most decorated rapper, Sarkodie has also taken to his official Twitter account to congratulate Black Sherif on the creation of his masterpiece album.

“#TheVillainINeverWas Is what I woke up to … About to dive in it today and I know a true artist made this so it’s already safe to call it a masterpiece!! Congrats International BLACKO” he said.

Combining his native tongue of Twi and his gift for storytelling with ‘asakaa’ (the Ghanaian take on the popular drill sound) and Afrobeats, Black Sherif blends cultures to create his own world on the album.

The much-anticipated maiden album was released midnight on October 6, 2022 and has already topped trends across Ghanaian social media platforms.

The 14-track album features his hit songs ‘Second Sermon’ remix which features Burna Boy, ‘Kwaku The Traveller,’ and ‘Soja.’

The new entries include ‘The Homeless Song’, ‘Oil In My Head’, ’45’, ‘Prey Da Youngsta’, ‘Sad Boys Don’t Fold’, ‘Konongo Zongo’, ‘Wasremwn’, ‘We Up’, ‘Toxic Love’, ‘Don’t Forget Me’, and ‘Oh Paradise’.

Music lovers have already given high ratings to Blacko’s project which they believe sums up his life story and struggle in his hometown Konongo, and how he rose from a small community to become a Ghanaian music star.

Already ‘Konongo Zongo’, and ‘Oh Paradise’ have earned the love of Twitter users. The two songs have become the favourite of many, who have credited the rapper for singing with passion.

Police stopped my performance in Belgium -Wendy Shay

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October 7, 2022

“The police stopped the show in Belgium, but we still had some fun @ghanaculturefest. Next year will be massive!” Wendy Shay disclosed that she was stopped by the Belgium Police force from performing at the Ghana Culture Festival on October 3, 2022.

According to an Instagram post which contained details, the show wasn’t a total flop, promising she will make it worth their while next year.

In a video that came with the posts, Wendy was captured giving her fans a freestyle to some of her popular songs.

The cheerful group shouted and sang along to her tunes, looking all gingered and filled with so much energy as Wendy swayed and moved her body to the rhythms of her songs.

In an all-black two-piece outfit and ankle boots, Wendy Shay thrilled fans to performance of her hit songs.

Wendy Shay on September 17, 2022, released a single titled Survivor’ with strong language warning a supposed best friend; “Whiles, I was on the road chasing my passion, my so-called best friend was also chasing my man, and now they are together. So ShayGang excuses me for my language, this song is very personal. #WARNING.”

Wendy Shay says she composed the songs because while she was chasing her passion, her best friend was chasing her man, adding that the two are now in a relationship.

Uganda president apologises to Kenya for son’s ill-advised tweets

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October 7, 2022

Lt. General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni

President Yoweri Museveni has apologized to Kenyans over tweets posted by his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba that had repeatedly threatened to invade Uganda’s East African neighbor.

In a series of tweets on Monday and Tuesday, Kainerugaba posted provocative messages, including proposing the unification of Kenya and Uganda.

“It wouldn’t take us, my army and me, 2 weeks to capture Nairobi,” Kainerugaba wrote, referring to Kenya’s capital.

“Union is a MUST! No honorable men can allow these artificial, colonial borders anymore. If we our generation has men, then these borders must fall!.”

President Museveni apologized for his son’s comments, saying it was wrong for public officers to meddle in the affairs of other nations.

His comments drew angry reactions from Kenyans on social media and Kainerugaba, who is widely regarded as the de facto head of the military and his father’s chosen successor,

Credit: bbc.com

At least 17 people dead after boat sinks off the Greek Island

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October 7, 2022

The bodies of 16 women and one man have been recovered from waters off the Greek island of Lesbos after a boat carrying people from countries in Africa sank in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The Greek coastguard spokesperson Nikos Kokkalas said a large operation spanning various agencies was under way to find other passengers who had been on the dinghy that set sail from Turkey.

“The women were all from African countries, aged 20 upward,” said Kokkalas, who described survivors of the shipwreck as being “utterly panicked”.

At least 15 other people were thought to be missing. Nine had been saved, with at least three rescued from a remote rocky outcrop. “There is a search on land as well as the sea, and we hope that survivors made it to land,” Kokkalas told ERT, Greece’s state-run broadcaster.

The coastguard spokesperson, said the vessel that sank off Lesbos had been “completely destroyed”, and locals described how they watched in horror as the boat crashed into the rocks.

Credit: theguardian.com

Children killed in mass stabbing and shooting at Thailand preschool

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October 7, 2022