Cameo, Philbro Homes organise maiden glass house preview

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October 6, 2022

Rainforest Alliance officials in a pose with a cocoa farmer at Sefwi Wiawso

Some local cocoa and livestock farmers at Datano, a farming community at Sefwi Wiawso, in the Western North Region of Ghana, have expressed their appreciation to the Rainforest Alliance for building their capacities and helping them to achieve maximum yields and higher incomes from their agricultural businesses.

In separate interviews, Mr. Isaac Kwadwo Owusu, a Cocoa farmer and Madam Doris Asampong, a pig and vegetable farmer, both explained that they have become better managers of their farms after receiving training and other technical guidance from Rainforest Alliance and its partners.

They made the disclosure when the Board of Directors and Leadership Team of Rainforest Alliance paid a working visit to the Western North Region to interact with the beneficiary farmers and community leaders on the impact of the projects and programs of the organisation on the lives of people in the Sui River Landscape.

The Rainforest Alliance is an International Non-profit organisation working to create a world where people and nature thrive together, using social and market forces to protect nature and improve the lives of farmers and forest communities.

Mr. Isaac Owusu, who is the President of the Youth in Cocoa Farming in the area, revealed that the organisation some four years ago introduced him and many other farmers to climate smart agriculture, which has helped his farm to record unprecedented improvement in yields and profit margins.

The organisation, he indicated, also supported him and other farmers to register all the trees on their farms in their names with the Forestry Commission, in order to own the trees as an added profit, aside their cocoa farms, and further explained that Rainforest Alliance has also empowered many of the cocoa farmers to go into pig, bee and snail farming to maximise their profits.

On her part, Madam Doris Asampong noted that she developed the interest to go into pig farming following the advocacy, training and resources she received from the Rainforest Alliance to start the business.

She explained further that even though Pig farming is predominantly a male dominated activity in the area, she decided to take on the challenge of rearing pigs after she was exposed to the commercial viability of the business through Rainforest Alliance’s training program and other logistic support to her and other farmers.

On their part, both the Chief Executive Officer of Rainforest Alliance Mr. Santiago Gowland and the Country Director Mr. Kwame Osei expressed appreciation to the farmers for strictly adhering to the requirements of their training and being good ambassadors of the organisation.

They admonished them to continue to guard against practices that will harm the environment or degrade the forest.

Since 2017, the Rainforest Alliance and its partners have been working in the Sui River Landscape, which covers four districts, Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai, Sefwi Wiawso, Akontombra and Bodi districts in the Western North region of Ghana.

The various interventions in the area including the establishment of Land Management Boards (LMBs) seek to complement the efforts of the state to, among other things, govern the natural resources in the forest corridors of the area.

The organisation is also implementing several projects and programs in the area, including the Landscapes and Environmental Agility Across the Nation (LEAN) project which is being implemented in collaboration with Tropenbos Ghana, Ecocare Ghana and World Vision Ghana with funding from the European Union (EU).

Through the implementation of this project, over 4,000 farmers have been trained on Climate Smart Agriculture in 60 communities to increase farm productivity and efficiency, reduce environmental impact and increase smallholder farmers’ capacity to adapt to climate change.

Other projects being implemented by Rainforest Alliance Ghana in the Sui River Landscape include the Climate Smart Cocoa project which has so far raised and distributed over 275,000 indigenous tree seedlings to over 3,600 farmers and other partner institutions to help in restoring over 2,000 hectares of degraded land and the Jurisdictional Data Project, which is also so far conducting an analysis of the data gaps and capacity needs of the landscape to meet the information and data requirements to participate and report under the Land Scale.

Pix & story by Edmond Gyebi & David Babayara

Will Smith’s ‘Emancipation’ to release this year

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October 6, 2022

Will Smith’s next film ‘Emancipation’ will release in 2022, Apple announced, releasing the first trailer for the Antoine Fuqua-directed historical drama.

‘Emancipation’ premieres in theatres on December 2 and will stream on Apple TV+ starting December 9.

Though ‘Emancipation’ had originally been set for a 2022 release date, Apple elected to delay the film to 2023 after Smith became embroiled in controversy for slapping Chris Rock onstage at the Academy Awards.

The embattled Actor has since publicly apologized for his actions, sharing an emotional video released online in June, but has largely steered clear of the public eye since the Oscar ceremony.

A few months ago, Apple was seen as a potentially formidable Oscar contender. After becoming the first streaming service to win the best picture with “CODA,” the company was preparing to campaign for a lineup of buzzy titles throughout the fall.

However, summer releases like Sundance favourite “Cha Cha Real Smooth” and Skydance Animation’s “Luck” have not maintained momentum, Peter Farrelly’s “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” was a critical nonstarter at the Toronto International Film Festival and Martin Scorsese’s mega-budgeted western “Killers of the Flower Moon” won’t be ready until 2023.

With its slate of prestige titles now relatively slim, “Emancipation” is seen as Apple’s best shot at making an impact in the coming Oscar race.

Written by Bill Collage and produced by Todd Black, Joey McFarland and Jon Mone, the film stars Smith as a runaway who becomes known as “Whipper Peter” after photographs of keloid scarring on his back are distributed to show the brutality of slavery.

The film follows Smith’s character as he navigates the swamps of Louisiana to escape the plantation owners that nearly killed him.

Prior to Smith’s altercation at the Oscars, the buzz around “Emancipation” was very positive, suggesting that the film, and its star, would be formidable awards contenders in the next season.

Smith resigned from the Academy after the incident, while the institution’s Board of Governors issued a 10-year ban barring the actor from attending the Oscar ceremony. However, the injunction does not prevent Smith from being nominated during this period.

I was selling weed before it became legal –Vic Mensa

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October 6, 2022

American rapper and song writer Vic Mensa has disclosed that he was selling weed even before it was made legal in some States in America.

“So 93 Boyz, I just launched the first black-owned weed brand – it’s cannabis, in Illinois. It’s legal now,” Mensa said.

“You know, I’ve been selling it far before it was legal but now I’m selling it” he added.

In an interview on TV3 which was monitored by The Chronicle, Vic Mensa said, “I don’t sell it here [in Ghana]” when his attention was drawn to the illegality of weed in Ghana.

“I don’t have it here, don’t check me for it, you won’t find it,” he stressed and laughed.

the singer highlighted how “the weed and the gas give-away” are tied into his upcoming concert “the Black Star Line Festival in a lot of ways.”

“What we’re looking to do is also to reinvest,” he explained.

“I think the narrative with Black communities in America, as well as the continent at large, has always been extraction; it’s always people come and they extract our resources, they extract our labour, they extract our value, and so with this Black Star Line Festival, our purpose is to not only come and profit or capitalise from the continent, but to really bring resources, and talent, an we’re working on providing clean water,” Vic Mensa elaborated.

“We’re partnering with some organisations, one of which my father started that we’ve already built a water hole, in Koftown [Koforidua] where my family is,” the Hiphop celebrity revealed.

Black Sherifloses ‘Best International Flow’ Award to Benjamin EPPS

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October 6, 2022

‘Soja’ hitmaker, Black Sherif who was Ghana’s only nominee in this year’s BET Hip-Hop Best International flow category has lost the award to Benjamin Epps at the just ended 2022 BET Hip-Hop Awards.

Black Sherif was nominated in the ‘Best International Flow’ category with Benjamin Epps (France) Central Cee (UK), Blxckie (South Africa), Haviah Mighty (Canada), Knucks (UK), Le Juiice (France), Nadia Nakai (Zimbabwe), and Tasha & Tracie (Brazil) at the 2022 edition of the prestigious awards scheme.

French Rapper Benjamin Epps beat his category colleagues in the stiff competition to be crowned winner of the Best International Flow Category at the BET Hip Hop Awards 2022.

Established in 2019, Ghanaian Rapper Sarkodie became the first winner in the Best International Flow Category beating Falz (Nigeria), Ghetts (U.K.), Kalash (France), Lil Simz (U.K.), Nasty C (South Africa), and Tory Lanez (Canada).

The 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards was a recognition ceremony that was held on October 4, 2022, as the 17th installment of the BET Hip Hop Awards. The nominations were announced on September 12, 2022.

The event is Hip hop’s biggest night that seeks to honor the best songs and videos of the year, as well as the industry’s biggest hustlers, the most visible hip hop platforms, and the most impactful protest tracks.

Hosted by GRAMMY-nominated rapper Fat Joe, BET’s 17th annual show featured some big wins, emotional tributes, and big performances, including a medley highlighting “I Am Hip Hop” award winner Trina’s most well-known hits.

Kofi Kinaata fan nearly collapses upon seeing him

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October 6, 2022

A middle-aged woman whose name is given as Dorothy Eku, who is an ardent fan of Kofi Kinaata nearly collapsed upon seeing him for the first time.

Madam Eku who lives in the United Kingdom was in Ghana for the 80^th birthday party of her uncle, Wing Commander (rtd) Andy Mensah where Kofi Kinaata performed.

Before mounting the stage to perform, Kofi Kinaata who was in a car waiting to be introduced on stage was sighted by the fan who could not control herself upon seeing him.

The Ghanaian woman who could not believe that it was indeed the ‘Things fall apart’ crooner she was seeing was disoriented and nearly collapsed.

In the viral video circulated by ‘Extensive Chat by NKC,’ on social media, the woman who was excited during the encounter with the award-winning musician could be seen losing her breath as she kept shouting the name of the Artiste and supported by people to prevent her from passing out.

Eventually, she came back to herself and took pictures with the four-time Vodafone Ghana Music Awards songwriter of the year winner.

She has offered to host Kofi Kinaata when next he is in the UK.

The rise of prostitution among university students

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October 6, 2022

Prostitution or commercial sex work, they say, is “the oldest profession in the world as it is as old as the hills”. Prostitution dates back to ancient societies and occurs in various forms within communities but when and how did it become common among university students?

Prostitution is derived from the Latin word “Prostare” which means publicly selling oneself. Over the years, the name prostitution or Commercial sex work has evolved to what is now known as Hookup or Slay Queens.

Despite its criminalisation in Ghana, students find ways and means to engage in the illegal activity for various reasons.

A brief study conducted on selected university campuses revealed that the proliferation of commercial sex work among students is for financial, material, and emotional gains. Student sex workers have devised various strategies to combine academic work and sex work.

Student sex workers seek out their potential clients by hanging out in pubs and nightclubs in and around university campuses at night and/or leaving contact details on their various social media handles.

Some student sex workers also convert their hostel rooms into brothels. Price negotiation is based on the environment, duration, the sex workers’ perceived safety of the sexual act, customer’s preferences for styles, and positions adopted for sex.

A level 400 student at the University of Ghana who spoke on condition of anonymity said she engages in the act to pay her fees and also keep up with increasing financial burden on her. According to her, she is not perturbed that the laws of the country are against prostitution as long as she gets her daily bread.

“Prostitution started right from the bible, or you don’t know? So what has the law got to do with me? So far as I disguise myself, nobody will know my sister…I have to do what I have to do to survive, the financial pressure is real and that [prostitution] is my only option.”

The Criminal code 1960 Act 29, sections 273-279, specifically makes it an offence to engage in prostitution. Section 273 – Persons Trading in Prostitution:

(1) Any person who:

(a) Knowingly lives wholly or in part on the earnings of prostitution; or

(b) is proved to have, for the purposes of gain, exercised control, direction or influence over the movements of a prostitute in such manner as to aid, abet, or compel the prostitution with any person or generally, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.

“Oh honestly, I was desperate because I was in my final year as an undergraduate student in the University of Ghana and all my mates from high school that were in different schools had completed and were doing well so I wanted to use all means possible to get money.

Currently I am pursuing a master’s programme at GIMPA and I am able to fund my education because of this sugar mummy…So how I go fit stop! You barb?” A male student who referred to himself as Johnny at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration confessed.

Obiora, a Nigerian student at the University of Ghana also said “shebi you know I be Nigerian? Eheh! Na my friend tell me say work dey…wey I fit do get money so me too gree follow her come. But the truth be say she no tell me say naolosho oh, na later I come find out but anyhow shaaedey ok so make I kuku do am as money no dey house. My mama don sick wey my papa na one rubbish man so you sef you for understand now.”

Even though they say that prostitution is a gold mine being exploited by students, there are risks involved. Some of them are assaulted, others contract sexually transmitted diseases, while some after giving out their bodies are not paid non-payments, threats and sometimes, even murder.

Johnny also added “This is funny but…my client’s husband almost caught me. The woman wasn’t aware that the husband was going to come home so we were resting when we heard the door bell ringing and a call followed afterwards and it was a call from the husband. I remember the words vividly “darling please open the door I am home, I wanted to surprise you”. You should have seen how my heart left my body haha but I managed to escape.”

Is there a way out?

Well until the problem of unemployment is resolved, prostitution will continue to increase especially among students. Realistically, we all know that it cannot be fully eradicated but there are some few things that can help curb the menace.

Recent statistics by the National STIs and HIV/AIDS Control Programme revealed total of 23,495 people in Ghana tested positive for HIV in the first half of this year (January to June).

The figure is two percent of the 948,094 people who undertook HIV testing from January to June 2022. Majority of the newly infected people were youth. This means something urgent must be done to fight prostitution among students.

Parents must be properly invested and more responsible in the lifestyles and upkeep of their children in universities than allowing students to fend for themselves.

This one may sound exhausting but I believe student can apply for evening or weekend jobs.

Students must not also look for the easy way out but rather look out for weekend and paid part-time jobs to help them meet their financial demands.

Students who intend to make money can also enroll in skill training programmes such as soap making, wig making, dress making which can provide and avenue to establish a business after school.

BY CONSTANCE NTSIM

GHANA INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISM

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s stance.

Buhari appoints new postmaster-general

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October 6, 2022

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Sunday Adepoju as the new postmaster-peneral for the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST).

Mr Adepoju takes over from Bulus Yakubu who held the position in an acting capacity following the suspension of Ismail Adewusi.

Mr Adepoju’s appointment was recommended by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, and approved President Buhari, the minister’s spokesperson, Uwa Suleiman, said in a statement Wednesday.

Mr Adepoju’s appointment will be for an initial term of five years.

Mr Adepoju, an accountant, is a former member of the House of Representatives where he served from 2011 to 2019, representing Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency of Oyo Stat

Source: www.premiumtimesng.com

Nnamani denies stealing $41.8m from Enugu State

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October 6, 2022

Enugu East senator, Chimaroke Nnamani, has denied reports that he stole $41.8 million from the coffers of the Enugu State government during his time as governor between 1999 and 2007.

Mr Nnamani described the reports as a ruse and fake news targeted at maligning him “because of his alternative views on the recent political development in the country.”

His comment was contained in a statement he signed on Tuesday.

The lawmaker was reacting to a report that said he looted $41.8 million during his days as Enugu State governor.

According to the report, a statement by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) revealed that he used the stolen funds to acquire luxury assets in Florida.

The FBI, in the statement, said Mr Nnamani’s official salary as governor at the time was $10,670 per year thereby unlikely he would possess an adequate source of legitimate income to account for the purchase of the real estate he acquired in Florida.

In his statement, Mr Nnamani who recently became vocal on social media – particularly against supporters of opposition parties – said the allegation was a campaign of calumny, intimidation, insults and abuse orchestrated to suppress and diminish his voice.

“However my voice will grow louder and more persistent,” he said. “I know my recent position will attract this attack by those who cannot tolerate alternative views. Democracy allows alternative viewpoints. If I cannot express my opinion and take a stand who will,” he said.

There was no such judgement anywhere, he maintained. He added that he left Enugu State on a solid foundation 15 years ago and no amount of mudslinging can rewrite the history.

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to ignore the report “sponsored by political foes and professional blackmailers.”

The senator, a member of the PDP, was recently named a member of the Presidential Campaign Council of the ruling All Progressives Congress – an announcement which generated controversy.

The APC has defended his inclusion in the Council. The party said while he may not be on the field with a PDP senatorial candidate in Enugu East, his presence is indicative that he may have chosen to give ‘moral support’ to his old-time friend and brother, Bola Tinubu.

Mr Nnamani is, however, yet to speak on his inclusion in the APC campaign council.

Source: www.premiumtimesng.com

ASUU strike: You’re taking Nigerians for granted with negotiation – Group to govt

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October 6, 2022