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Nzema East Assembly Launches Probe into Adelekezo –JAS Mining Clash

By
KWESI ALFRED ADAMS
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Nzema East Municipal Assembly

The Nzema East Municipal Assembly has launched a full-scale investigation into last weekend’s violent altercation between sections of the Adelekezo community youth and JAS Mining Company, an incident that led to the death of a 13-year-old boy and left several others injured.

In a statement signed by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Herbert Kuah Dickson, the Assembly condemned the actions of both parties, describing the incident as regrettable and noting that it resulted in loss of life, injuries and the destruction of property.

According to the Assembly, the Municipal Security Council (MUSEC), led by the MCE, had earlier engaged the Adelekezo community in September 2025 as part of routine security operations. During that visit, the MUSEC taskforce arrested some Chinese nationals who were leaving the community.

Subsequent investigations by security agencies confirmed that JAS Mining Company is a legally registered large-scale mining firm, with authentic documentation cleared by the Minerals Commission and other regulatory bodies in the mining sector.

The Assembly further disclosed that during the September engagement, the MCE expressed dissatisfaction with community leaders and residents for failing to report the presence and activities of the mining company during earlier security visits.

At the time of the initial arrests, investigations also established that the company had not yet commenced mining operations.

Since that encounter in September, the Assembly said it has consistently engaged JAS Mining Company, requesting a detailed operational roadmap to guide its activities in the area prior to the recent disturbances.

Following the fatal clash, the Assembly has begun investigations to determine the root causes of the confrontation, with the aim of restoring calm and resolving tensions between the company and the community.

Authorities have also assured that proper stakeholder engagement will be pursued to promote peace, harmony, and coexistence.

The Assembly noted that where liability is established, appropriate steps would be taken to address medical expenses, loss of life and other related casualties arising from the incident.

The public has been urged to remain calm while investigations are carried out impartially.

The Assembly extended its deepest condolences to the bereaved family and wished those injured a speedy recovery, assuring that the outcome of the investigations and the way forward regarding the company’s operations would be communicated to the public in due course.

Meanwhile, the Western Regional Police Command has launched investigations into a fatal shooting incident that occurred at the mining site on Saturday, December 13, 2025, resulting in the death of a boy and the destruction of several properties belonging to the company.

According to a police statement signed by Superintendent Olivia E.T. Adiku, a team dispatched to the scene found two four-wheel-drive SUV vehicles and two tipper trucks burnt, while a pickup truck and a Toyota Land Cruiser were also damaged during the disturbances.

Preliminary investigations indicate that some youth from Adelekezu clashed with private security personnel of the mining company during an alleged attempt to invade the concession.

In the ensuing struggle, the youth reportedly attempted to seize a pump-action gun from one of the security men. The guard resisted and fired a shot, which struck the boy.

 

The victim was rushed to the Axim Government Hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival.

The death sparked outrage among the youth, who allegedly went on a rampage at the mining site, setting company vehicles ablaze and threatening to lynch workers.

Police intervention led to the rescue of 11 workers from the site.

The Police also arrested five suspects – GyenNyameOwusu, 38; Matthew Asamah, 24; Nana Yaw, 15; Yaw Opoku, 16 and KojoAggyei, 21 – for causing harm and unlawful damage.

The Western Regional Police Command has appealed to residents of Adelekezu to remain calm and cooperate with investigations to ensure that justice is served.

 

 

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We Ask For Patience On The Road, Ahead Of The Xmas Festivities

By
THE CHRONICLE
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Editorial

The Ministry of Health, through the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has issued a nationwide health alert ahead of the Christmas festivities, warning of a likely surge in road traffic accidents. Drawing on data from health facilities, the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), the Ghana Police Service and research institutions, the Ministry notes that road traffic injuries in Ghana have not declined in recent years.

The alert identifies key risk factors such as poor visibility during the harmattan season, increased vehicular movement, driver fatigue, and unsafe behaviours including speeding, drunk and drug-impaired driving, dangerous overtaking, and failure to use seat belts and helmets.

Stressing that most of these risks are human-made and preventable, the Ministry urged drivers, riders, passengers and pedestrians to take personal responsibility for road safety, while reaffirming government’s commitment to protecting lives during the festive season.

The Ministry’s warning is timely, necessary and sadly familiar. Every December, Ghana’s roads become scenes of avoidable tragedy. What should be a season of joy, reunion and gratitude too often turns into a period of mourning, with news bulletins dominated by mangled vehicles, mass casualties and grieving families.

The recurring nature of these warnings raises a troubling question: why do we keep repeating the same mistakes, despite knowing the causes and the solutions?

Locally, Christmas and Easter consistently record spikes in crashes because of long-distance travel, commercial pressure on drivers to make multiple trips and social activities that involve alcohol consumption.

The Chronicle holds the view that the Ministry is right to emphasise that human behaviour is at the heart of the problem. Speeding, drunk driving and reckless overtaking are choices, not inevitabilities. Studies across Africa show that excessive speed alone significantly increase both the likelihood of a crash and the severity of injuries sustained.

Similarly, alcohol impairs judgment, reaction time and coordination yet festive seasons often normalise drinking and driving as a social habit rather than a deadly risk. The non-use of seat belts and helmets further compounds the danger, turning survivable crashes into fatal ones.

However, public education alone is not enough. Ghana has no shortage of road safety campaigns, slogans and seasonal warnings. What is lacking is consistent enforcement and systemic accountability.

Countries that have successfully reduced road deaths did so not merely by appealing to conscience, but by making dangerous behaviour costly and inconvenient. Random breath testing, speed cameras, strict penalties for traffic violations and visible police presence have been proven to deter risky conduct. In Ghana, enforcement often intensifies briefly during festivities and fades soon after, allowing bad habits to return.

 

Infrastructure is another silent contributor that deserves attention. Poor road lighting, faded markings, potholes, unregulated roadside markets and inadequate pedestrian walkways increase risk, especially during the harmattan, when visibility is already compromised.

Motorcyclists and tricycle riders who form a growing share of road users are particularly vulnerable. Without dedicated lanes or enforced helmet laws, they remain exposed to life-altering injuries.

Road safety, therefore, must be integrated into transport planning, urban design and local government decision-making, not treated as a seasonal concern.

Passengers and pedestrians, as the Ministry notes, also have a role to play. The culture of silence where passengers observe reckless driving but say nothing out of fear or resignation must change. Speaking up can save lives.

Likewise, pedestrians must resist unsafe crossings and use designated walkways, even when enforcement appears lax. Road safety is a collective contract; when one group abdicates responsibility, everyone pays the price.

Beyond the immediate human cost, road crashes impose a heavy economic burden. They drain the health system through emergency care, surgeries, rehabilitation and long-term disability management.

Families lose breadwinners, children drop out of school and productivity declines. According to international estimates, road traffic injuries cost countries between 1–3% of their GDP annually resources Ghana can ill afford to lose, especially amid economic constraints.

As Christmas approaches, The Chronicle believes the Ministry’s alert should not be treated as routine background noise. It should be a call to action for drivers to slow down, for authorities to enforce the law without fear or favour, and for communities to reject the normalisation of road deaths. Celebrations should not come at the cost of amputations, orphaned children and preventable funerals.

If Ghana is serious about safeguarding lives, road safety must move from seasonal warnings to year-round priority. This Christmas, the most meaningful gift we can give one another is simple: patience on the road, respect for the law, and the resolve that no celebration is worth a human life.

 

 

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Bronya Eba ooo!!!  (Christmas is drawing near)

By
admin
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Opinion

Regulations 94 (2) of Road Traffic Regulations, 2012, LI 2180, reads:

“Where a motor vehicle or a trailer carries an abnormal load, the registered owner or the person to whom the motor vehicle has been entrusted, hired or rented “SHALL PROVIDE AN ESCORT VEHICLE” at the owner’s or person’s expense and the Road Authority “SHALL” issue an abnormal load permit to the registered owner on payment of the prescribed fees”.

Clear and unambiguous provision, abi. l had had cause to write and prompt all who matter in the equation to the unbridled sight of these trailers with weird width transversing our “road scape” as if there are no laws pertaining to the subject matter and, again, as if no persons/institutions have been charged same.

On June 19, May 15 and somewhere in August, l had cause to piece something thereon. Two trucks mentioned therein belonged to very reputable institutions namely, De Simone and Engineers & Planners, but surprisingly no lessons has been learnt thereof as of the night of Saturday, 6th December, 2025.

Yah, around 9:45pm on the N1/George Walker Bush Highway were two blue headed MAN Diesel trucks, property of Engineers & Planners ferrying huge industrial tyres on such wried pay-loaders. These trucks, whose presence were well pronounced on the stretch during that night because of the weird cargo they were ferrying had not, no such escort vehicle(s)  as they meander through traffic.

Recall when we were small boys in the 60s/70s, such spectacles had, at least, one escort vehicle serving as harbinger and sometimes, another in tow.

Forty years plus on, when traffic has ballooned with its concomitant road crashes, bigger vehicles emerging on the road transport landscape and when and where these escort vehicle(s) are most needed, what do we witness – free range.

There are no escort vehicles for such trucks whilst the MTTD of the Police Service, NRSA, Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), Department of Urban Roads (DUR) and National Security, among others, look on in blind pretense – Are we progressing or retrogressing as a State?.

Interestingly, in the aforementioned years, there were no dedicated bodies like NRSA, MTTD (not an appendage ooo, but a full fledged division within the Police Service), things worked perfectly.  I am thus tempted to question the relevance of the aforementioned entities presently if we find ourselves in such a mess.

It may interest readers to know and learn that enforcement of this regime attracts additional cash into the national kitty, to wit, “…….on payment of the prescribed fees”. I am thus at a complete loss why we are not tapping into this “free money” to boost our domestic revenue.

Kindly permit me to quote from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, he posits, “HE WILL NOT BE A WOLF BUT SEES THAT, THE ROMANS ARE BUT SHEEP.

What I want to drive home is, safety adds to cost – escort vehicles and proper lashing, among others, thus any non-caring, insensitive business or entity will prey on our collective safety if not whipped in line. This is where NRSA and MTTD fit squarely into the equation.

Again, kindly permit me to play the “devil’s advocate” innocently here.

Fancy Abraham Amaliba Esq, (NRSA) or Prince Gabriel Waabu (MTTD) picking not their personal phones, but instructing their respective secretaries to place a call via the state funded phones to Enrico De Simone and Ibrahim Mahama to engage them thereon.

Axiomatically, the duo may be quite oblivious thereof (which is no excuse anyway), of the ripples of their actions and inactions. Bet me, it will work some magic and invariably free our road network of this nuisance staring us all in the face for which none cares.

I am no Soothsayer and practice not, sorcery, but at least, am imbibed with a little common sense not taught at any educational institution worldwide to inform me that this unchecked practice portends real and apparent danger to all and sundry.

I Rest my Fractured Peace.

Written by Osei Kwabena Esq., Etia Street, Asante Effiduase

 

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College Proprietor slams Ghana’s educational system …claims it lacks consistency

By
admin
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Ernest Agyapong-Bofa speaking with The Chronicle

Mr. Ernest Agyapong-Bofa, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Secret Effort College (SEC) has identified lack of consistency in the nation’s educational curriculum.

SEC is an accredited WASSCE remedial school, located at Asafo-Labour Roundabout in the Ashanti Region, that seeks to equip students with the needed knowledge and skills to excel in their respective examinations.

He said for students to spend   two months in school and stay at home for three months coupled with the negative use of technology and the scrapping of corporal punishment has contributed to the abysmal performance of students who wrote the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

The latter registered sharp drops in pass rates (Mathematics fell from 66.86% in 2024 to 48.73% in 2025), increased failure rates (F9).

Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle, Mr Agyapong-Bofa disclosed that “constant learning” is very pivotal in educational development hence the need for devising policies that will ensure students learn to their maximum potentials.

He opined  that the practice of students being in school for two months and vacating for three months over the three academic years in the second cycle institutions does not help foster students’ learning capacity.

The CEO also argued that the government should query the decisions of West African Examination Council (WAEC), administrators of WASSCE, indicating that sometimes questions set are beyond “standard”, citing this year’s Core Mathematics paper as an example.

He contended that WAEC’s decision to change the commencement of WASSCE from the month of September to April, effective 2026, is a “bad decision”, explaining that final year students normally get promoted in the month of November and that it would  not give candidates enough time to cover prescribed syllabus, as well as exerting pressure on both teachers and students.

Mr. Agyapong-Bofa disclosed that the practical aspect of Ghana’s educational system is not enough, urging government to put mechanisms to ensure that secondary school students undergo internship in corporate organisation, to help them (students) gain experience.

He as well recommended the reintroduction of corporal punishment into the nation’s education system, to ensure resilience, discipline and hardwork among students and also the regulation of phones and various technological devices in various schools.

He also urged parents and guardians to be strict with their wards to ensure they learn when they vacate.

To enhance the nation’s educational sector, Mr. Ernest Agyapong-Bofa suggested that all stakeholders should hold a round table discussion to devise the best policies to shape Ghana’s educational system.

From Oswald P. Freiku, Kumasi

 

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Armed Robbers Kill Landlord At Asonkore SSNIT In Obuasi

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admin
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Comfort Mensah, wife of Bismark (seated middle), speaking to newsmen

Residents of Asonkore SSNIT, a sprawling community in the Obuasi East Municipality of Ashanti region are living in fear following the killing of 42-year-old Bismark Sarfo Danso alias Yaw Danso by armed robbers in his house at the weekend.

Bismark Sarfo Danso, a worker of AngloGold in Guinea had arrived for a visit barely a fortnight ago and was due to return to his workplace in Guinea soon, when the robbers struck in the early hours of last Friday and killed him.

Bismark Sarfo Danso, the deceased

Comfort Mensah, the wife, speaking to ‘The Chronicle’ said at about 2 a.m. on Friday, a relative, Kwame Atta, with whom the couple was staying with, banged at their door with the message that he was sick and needed some medication.

She said she opened the door only to realise that three robbers had forced the boy to feign sickness and make that request, so as to get access to their room and attack them.

Comfort Mensah said the robbers demanded money, laptops and key to the husband’s private car parked inside the house.

She further stated that she realised that GH¢2,600.00 was in her bag and quickly handed it over to them.

“In the ensuing confusion the robbers hit my husband’s head with a hard object which sent him into coma and later died,” she said.

Bismark’s house, where the robbery took place

She said at a point during the struggle between her husband and the robbers, she managed to call some residents on phone and they responded positively, but by the time they arrived the robbers had escaped with the money, two laptops, two phones and two Bluetooth speakers.

She confided in The Chronicle that all the robbers were masked. Comfort Mensah appealed to the IGP to use his good offices to help arrest the killers of her husband to face the law.

A ‘Burger’ resident in the area feared for residents in the areas and told ‘The Chronicle’ that if a man of calm disposition like Bismark could be killed in this way, then all of those staying in the area are not safe and urged the police to help trace the killers.

From Frederick Danso Abeam, Obuasi

 

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Akufo-Addo Denies Seeking Mahama’s Intervention Over Ofori-Atta’s Return

By
RICHARD OWUSU-AKYAW
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President Akufo-Addo

Former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has strongly denied media reports suggesting that he is considering approaching President John Dramani Mahama to seek assurances for the safe return of former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

In a rejoinder issued by his office, the former President described the publication, first carried by The Herald newspaper and amplified by other media outlets, as “utterly false” and a “total fabrication.”

“The Office wishes to state emphatically that this publication is utterly false. Nana Akufo-Addo has neither contemplated such a consideration nor expressly or impliedly made any such request or representation to President John Dramani Mahama, his agents or assigns,” the statement said.

The Office of the former President stressed that Nana Akufo-Addo’s commitment to democratic principles and the rule of law has never been in doubt, rejecting any suggestion that he would interfere with legal processes involving Mr. Ofori-Atta.

While acknowledging that the matter is of personal and political concern to him, the statement clarified that such concern does not translate into interference.

“It is true that the fate of Mr. Ofori-Atta is of considerable concern to the former President, not only because he is his cousin, but more importantly because he served as Finance Minister throughout both administrations under his mandate. However, that concern does not extend to wanting to interfere with the rule of law,” the Office noted.

The rejoinder said the clarification was intended to set the record straight and demanded that media outlets that carried the original publication reproduce the rejoinder in line with the former President’s right of reply.

 

 

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Gunmen Kill One, Abduct Pregnant Woman, Others In Kogi Church Attack

By
admin
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Gunmen

Gunmen, suspected to be bandits, have kidnapped dozens of worshippers during an attack on a church in the Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State.

Our correspondent gathered that the attackers, numbering over 50, invaded the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Aiyetoro Kiri on Sunday.

One person was reportedly killed by the gunmen who shot indiscriminately during the attack, while over 20 worshippers, including children, were whisked away.

The attack on Aiyetoro Kiri church is the second incident in the community, as bandits had recently invaded the area, abducting 50 people and carting away dozens of phones from a business centre.

The attacks have instilled fear among residents, with many now relocating from the community.

Similarly, there was fear in the Oke-Agi and Ilai communities in the Mopamuro Local Government Area of the state as armed bandits launched simultaneous attacks, leaving behind a trail of destruction and despair.

The assaults, which began at about 4 a.m., reportedly resulted in several fatalities, numerous injuries, and the abduction of innocent residents.

Eyewitness reports indicated that the attackers targeted two specific locations almost concurrently, conducting their operations for over an hour.

They said distress calls from the affected communities, made during the onslaught, were responded to late.

The first incident unfolded in the Jamroro settlement, situated between Oke-Agi and Takete Isao, predominantly inhabited by the Tiv ethnic group.

It was learnt that the violence led to casualties.

The injured victims were transported to an undisclosed hospital for urgent medical attention. Credit: channelstv.com

 

 

You’re biased, step aside from my probe –Malami slams EFCC chair

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admin
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Former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami

A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has asked the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukayode to recuse himself from his ongoing investigation.

This is as Malami accused Olukayode of bias, personal vendetta and political persecution linked to his recent defection to the African Democratic Congress.

Malami, who stated this through his media aide, Muhammad Doka, on Monday, alleged that the EFCC is conducting what he described as an illegal detention, media harassment and procedural abuse.

The former AGF insisted that the probe against him was not driven by law enforcement considerations but by deep-seated historical animosity on the part of the EFCC leadership.

“I have been clearly pre-judged and cannot receive a fair, objective or lawful investigation under the current leadership of the EFCC,” Malami insisted.

Credit: dailypost.ng

Court to rule on Ngige’s bail application on December 18

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admin
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Ngige served as a minister under former President Muhammadu Buhari

Justice Maryam Hassan of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Gwarimpa, Abuja, will on December 18, rule on the bail application of a former minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige.

Ngige will be on remand at the Kuje Correctional Center till the date when his bail application is decided

Justice Hassan issued the order on Monday shortly after taking arguments for and against the bail request of the former governor of Anambra State.

Counsel for the former minister, Patrick Ikwueto SAN, pleaded with the judge to admit the former minister to bail on various reasons, but mainly on health grounds.

He added that Ngige was not a flight risk and did not have the capacity to leave the country at this time.

He submitted that the former Minister would not jump bail or interfere with witnesses if admitted to bail.

However, the counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Sylvanus Tahir, opposed the bail request, insisting that Ngige was a flight risk.

He told the judge that the defendant was granted administrative bail by the EFCC and allowed to travel abroad for medical care, but never reported back to the agency.

Besides, he said that the passport released to him to facilitate the trip abroad had not been returned.

The senior lawyer argued that it was when Ngige was re-arrested that he came up with a purported claims that he lost his passport.

Insisting that the claims of passport loss were an afterthought and should not be believed by the Court, Tahir urged the court to dismiss the bail request as frivolous.

After the submissions, Justice Hassan fixed December 18 to deliver a ruling in the bail request.

The former minister was arraigned last Friday on an eight-count charge of alleged corrupt practices.

Credit: channelstv.com

Court upholds President’s power to declare emergency rule, suspend elected officials

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admin
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Tinubu and Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has upheld the power of the President to declare a state of emergency in any state to prevent a breakdown of law and order or degeneration into a state of chaos or anarchy.

In a split decision of six-to-one, the apex court held that the President, during a state of emergency, can suspend elected officials, but that such suspension of elected officials must be within a limited period.

In the lead majority judgment, Justice Mohammed Idris held that Section 305 of the Constitution empowers the President to deploy extraordinary measures to restore normalcy where emergency rule is declared.

Justice Mohammed Idris noted Section 305 was not specific on the nature of the extraordinary measures, thereby granting the President the discretion on how to go about it.

The judgment was on the suit filed by Adamawa State and 10 other Peoples Democratic Party-led states challenging the propriety of the state of emergency declared by President Bola Tinubu in Rivers State, during which elected state officials, including Governor Siminalayi Fubara, were suspended for six months.

Justice Idris, in the earlier part of the judgment, upheld the preliminary objections raised by the two defendants against the competence of the suit.

In upholding the objections raised by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the National Assembly (the defendants), Justice Idris held that the plaintiffs (the 11 PDP states) failed to establish any cause of action capable of activating the original jurisdiction of the apex court.

He struck out the suit for want of jurisdiction, proceeded to also determine the case on the merits, and dismissed it.

However, Justice Obande Ogbuinya dissented and held that the case succeeded in part.

Among others, Justice Ogbuinya held that although the President could declare a state of emergency, the President could not use such power as a tool to suspend elected state officials, including governors, deputy governors, and members of parliament.

Credit: channelstv.com

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