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LilWin announces premiere dates for his latest production ‘A Country Called Ghana’

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NANA KWESI COOMSON
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Lil Win and two Nigerian actors starred in his upcoming movie

The comedy-drama promises to be a delightful and entertaining portrayal of Ghanaian culture and society. Scheduled to premiere in major cinemas across Ghana, ‘A Country Called Ghana’ is set to hit the screens on May 5 and 6, 2024.

The film, “A Country Called Ghana,” which commenced filming last month, is set to showcase an array of Nollywood talents including Ramsey Nouah, Charles Awurum, and Victor Osuagwu.

This star-studded production has generated significant anticipation among audiences in both Ghana and Nigeria, largely due to the esteemed cast involved in the project.

In a recent announcement, actor LilWin disclosed the premiere dates for the film, stating, “A Country called Ghana, we shall premiere it on the 5th and 6th, Accra and Kumasi.”

In a previous interview, the actor revealed that the movie was crafted to reach the renowned streaming platform, Netflix, hence the inclusion of Nollywood luminaries.

“A Country Called Ghana” promises to delve into various facets of Ghanaian life, blending humor with poignant storytelling to offer viewers a captivating cinematic experience.

Expressing his enthusiasm for the forthcoming premiere, LilWin described “A Country Called Ghana” as a labor of love, celebrating the diverse and vibrant tapestry of Ghanaian culture.

Source: pulse.com.gh

India to hold marathon national election from April

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People stand in a queue to cast their vote outside a polling station

India announced Saturday that national polls would begin in April, with Hindu-nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly favoured to win a third term in the world’s largest democracy. Nearly a billion people are eligible to cast ballots in what will be the largest exercise of the democratic franchise in human history, conducted over six weeks.

Many consider Modi’s re-election a foregone conclusion, owing to both the premier’s robust popularity a decade after taking office and a glaringly uneven playing field.

His opponents have been hamstrung by infighting and what critics say are politically motivated legal investigations aimed at hobbling any challengers to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“We will take democracy to every corner of the country,” chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar said at a press conference in New Delhi announcing the voting dates.

Voting will be staggered over seven stages, with the first date of polling on 19 April and the final phase on 1 June.

Results around the country will be counted all at once on June 4 and are usually announced on the same day.

Credit: rfi

Biden jokes about Trump’s ‘mental fitness’ at Washington dinner

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Biden and Trump

US President Joe Biden has joked about former President Donald Trump’s mental fitness during a speech at the Gridiron Club dinner, a Washington tradition that began in the 1880s.

“One candidate is too old and mentally unfit to be president. The other one is me,” Biden said on Saturday in front of more than 650 guests who included the Taoiseach of Ireland Leo Varadkar, Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, whose US business could be banned by Biden.

“Don’t tell him, he thinks he’s running against Barack Obama, that’s what he said,” said Biden, 81, who also quipped that he was staying up way past his bedtime.

Trump’s campaign did not respond, though the 77-year-old Republican leader has also questioned Biden’s mental capacity to be president. The Democratic leader has deflected ongoing criticism that his memory is hazy and he appears confused.

It was the first time Biden had attended the traditional dinner during his presidency, and comes as the 2024 election looms and the November rematch between Biden and Trump heats up.

Credit: aljazeera.com

Extreme heatwave shuts schools and cuts power in South Sudan

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Children have been turned away from school

All schools have been ordered to close in South Sudan, as it prepares for a heatwave in which temperatures could reach an exceptional 45C (113F). Authorities said children should stay indoors and that the extreme weather could last for at least two weeks. Deaths “related to excessive heat” have already been reported, officials said on Saturday. Residents in parts of the capital Juba sweltered without electric fans on Monday as the heat sparked power cuts.

The streets of Juba, home to over 400,000 people, were largely quiet in the afternoon as local media reported temperatures of 41C (106F). It is exceptionally early for South Sudan to experience such heat – temperatures often exceed 43C (109F) but only in the summer months, according to the World Bank’s Climate Change portal.

Children in uniform could be seen walking back to their homes, having been turned away from school on Monday.

The ministries of education, health and environment said on Saturday that all schools would be closed from Monday due to the “serious health hazards” posed to students.

The ministries’ statement did not say when schools would open again, but after a briefing with authorities on Monday, two teachers told the BBC that their classes would resume on 3 April.

Credit: bbc.com

Putin claims landslide in election, scorns US democracy

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Putin wins election

Vladimir Putin was always going to claim his fifth term as president with a landslide, faced with three other candidates all rubber-stamped by the Kremlin. But when election officials said results gave him more than 87% of the vote, he said Russia’s democracy was more transparent than many in the West.

In truth no credible opposition candidate was allowed to stand.Supporters of dead Putin critic Alexei Navalny did stage symbolic protests.Their “Noon against Putin” initiative meant that long queues of voters formed at midday in Russian cities including Moscow and St Petersburg and in even greater numbers outside many embassies abroad, but it was never going to have any impact on the result.

Monitoring group OVD-Info said at least 80 Russians were arrested. There was no repeat of the sporadic attacks on some polling stations that happened on Friday.

Credit: bbc.com

Three teenagers detained in China over classmate’s death

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Chinese teenagers detained

Authorities in the northern Chinese city of Handan have detained three teenage boys over the brutal death of their classmate, local media report.

The case of the 13-year-old boy, identified only by his surname Wang, has sparked anger and furious debate on juvenile crime.

Authorities found his remains buried in an abandoned vegetable garden.

The boy was bullied in school, according to his father.

Police are investigating the case as an intentional homicide, state-run Global Times said.

All three detained teens are under 14. Under Chinese law, those above 12 years of age but under 14 can face criminal prosecution only when allowed by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the country’s highest public prosecutor.

The victim and his classmates are “left-behind children”, a term used to describe kids in China who live with their grandparents in rural areas while their parents work in the cities.

The case has triggered an outpouring of grief on social media, with tens of thousands of posts on Weibo and Douyin over the weekend.

Credit: bbc.com

 

Cubans stage rare street protest over power blackouts

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Blackouts are common in big Cuban cities

Hundreds of people in Cuba’s second-largest city, Santiago, staged a rare public protest on Sunday over chronic power blackouts and food shortages.The island is facing its worst economic crisis for three decades, with large parts of Cuba being left without power for more than 14 hours a day.

Videos on social media show people chanting “power and food”.

Its president blames the situation on US sanctions, but critics say it is down to government mismanagement.Since 1960, the US has maintained an economic embargo against Cuba which puts strict rules on trade between the countries.

The economy in Cuba, a communist-run island with a population of about 11 million, has been in dire straits in recent years. The coronavirus pandemic put further strain on the cash-strapped nation, which has led to vast shortages of food, fuel and medicine.

In February, the government asked the UN’s food programme for help with food shortages, sending an unprecedented request for assistance in providing powdered milk to children under the age of seven.

Credit: bbc.com

Health Benefits of Avocado

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Avocado

What are avocados?

The popularity of avocado is down to its rich, creamy texture and mild flavour. The avocado, or Persea Americana, is a fruit that belongs to the family of lauraceae; a group that also includes members such as cinnamon and laurel. There are dozens of varieties of avocado, ranging in size, colour and texture. All are native to tropical climates and when harvested, the flesh softens to a buttery texture that has become extremely popular in everything from dips to desserts.

The fruit of domestic varieties has a buttery flesh when ripe. Depending on the variety, avocados have green, brown, purplish, or black skin when ripe, and may be pear-shaped, egg-shaped, or spherical. Commercially, the fruits are picked while immature, and ripened after harvesting.

Nutrients

Raw avocado flesh is 73% water, 15% fat, 9% carbohydrates, and 2% protein (table). In a 100 gram reference amount, avocado supplies 160 calories, and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of several B vitamins (such as 28% DV in pantothenic acid) and vitamin K (20% DV), with moderate contents (10-19% DV) of vitamin C, vitamin E, and potassium. Avocados also contain phytosterols and carotenoids, such as lutein and zeaxanthin.

 

1. Avocados are nutritionally rich

Avocados have been commended as an example of a nutrient dense food, with one half of the fruit counting towards your five-a-day.

Avocados are an excellent source of monounsaturated fat and vitamin E, and are a good source of folate. They also supply more soluble fibre than other fruit and contain a number of useful minerals including iron, copper and potassium.

2. May support heart health

Avocados are high in fat with 60 per cent of this being monounsaturated fats, which research suggests helps to protect against heart disease and lower blood pressure. They are also an excellent source of potassium, folate and fibre, all of which benefit the heart and cardiovascular system.

3. May help to lower cholesterol

The oils supplied by avocado include oleic acid and linoleic acid, these unsaturated fats are recommended as part of a balanced diet to help manage cholesterol.

4. May help to regulate appetite

There is no doubt that the calorie content of avocados is greater than other fruits and vegetables. However, an interesting study has shown that the fat and fibre content of avocados leads to feelings of satiety which helps regulate appetite.

5. May help keep eyes healthy

Alongside the benefits outlined above, avocado are a rich source of protective vitamin E as well as carotenes including lutein and zeaxanthin which are thought to help keep the eyes healthy.

Is avocado safe for everyone?

Some sensitive individuals may experience allergy to avocado. This includes an oral allergy which may be triggered by a cross-reaction to birch pollen. A rarer allergic response may occur if you have a latex allergy – if this is relevant to you refer to their GP for guidance.

Avocado, along with fruits including apples, peaches, raspberries and blueberries contain natural chemicals called salicylates. Some people are sensitive to these compounds and may experience an allergic reaction including skin rash and swelling.

 

My Open Letter To The President On GNPC CEO

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Opinion

Dear Mr. President,

I have read with displeasure the proposed salary and allowance increase for the CEO of GNPC. There are publications in the media about the staff threatening to embark on a strike if this proposal is approved by the board of directors.

I cannot verify the authenticity of this proposed salary increase and allowance, but as the saying goes, “there is no smoke without fire.”

Mr. Opoku Danquah is the acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GNPC. His appointment has still not been approved by the board, which is very worrying considering how long he has been in the position. The board is also aware that the CEO spends more time abroad than in Ghana since his appointment.

He is repeatedly absent from Parliamentary committee meetings to defend and approve his budget and policies, Ministry of Energy retreats, and meetings of sector CEOs, to mention a few.

One would expect the Board Chairman, Mr. Blay, to reprimand the CEO for the continuous absence from the office, but instead, he is rewarding the CEO with a pay rise. Why?

Our national oil company is in disarray, indebted, and has no leadership to turn its fortunes around.

Mr. President, please act to save our National Oil Company. Fourteen (14) years after first oil, GNPC is supposed to be like the Petronas and Sonangol of this world, supporting Ghana’s drive to prosperity. Today, it is an albatross around the neck of the government.

Thanks,

Kwadwo N Poku

(INSTEPR)

Feature: The Analogy Of A Driver’s Mate Vrs A Spare Driver (NDC/NPP)

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Christian Adu Poku

EPISODE 4

In this episode, let’s turn our attention to the behaviors of the two (the driver’s mate and the spare driver) and draw our conclusions. 

The Behavior of a spare driver

The spare driver, as already indicated, is a qualified driver who for some reasons may be idling. These are their attributes or behaviors:

  1. They come in as a stop-gap to support the substantive driver.
  2. They drive only in the absence of the original driver. Better still, if it is ‘trotro’, then the mate has to still be with him to make his work easier.
  3. Most spare drivers work on weekends or in odd hours when the original drivers are tired.
  4. They drive without any guidance so they mostly commit lot of offenses which later puts the substantive driver and the car owner in trouble.
  5. Spare drivers work with the view to get more money. In this case they want to get their *’chobo’* as well as the sales, hence they overuse the car which later sends the car to the fitting shop.
  6. Most spare drivers have worked their substantive drivers out and later become the substantive drivers either through backbiting (konkonsa), blackmailing or making more sales to attract the owner.
  7. Spare drivers don’t normally take the work seriously. That is, they don’t put in their best because they know eventually the car would be taken away from them or they may have to give it back to the substantive driver.
  8. Most spare drivers use the car at the blind side of the car owner hence creating problems for the original driver as well as the owner.
  9. Most spare drivers refuse to renew their license hence cannot work efficiently and effectively. They therefore prefer to work in the night and in obscured places putting the car at risk.
  10. Most spare drivers engage in illegalities such as overloading, abuse of traffic rules and regulations, they mostly drive under the influence of alcohol and eventually cause accidents. It has been observed over the years that most accidents on our roads are caused by Spare drivers.

The behavior of a spare driver leaves much to be desired and a cause  of worry to both the car owner and the original driver.

EPISODE 5

The mate

The mate also called “Aplanke” is a driver’s assistant who partners the driver to work efficiently. The following are the attributes or behaviors of the driver’s mate:

  1. The driver’s mate is very obedient and thus follows all instructions of his master or the substantive driver.
  2. The mate cannot touch the steer to drive unless the master has given him tutorials.
  3. The mate attends all errands of the master without questioning.
  4. The mate makes sure that the car is washed and cleaned for the day’s work.
  5. He serves as the treasurer of the car. He collects all the money and keeps it until the close of the day and then accounts accurately to the master.
  6. He gets up very early in the morning and prepare the car for the day’s work. He makes sure the battery, tyres and wheel bolts are all set in their proper places before the journey starts.
  7. The driver  sometimes hands over the steering wheel to the mate under his guidance.
  8. It is said that drivers’ mate are far better in driving than those who went to driving schools. The practical tutorials make them more experienced.
  9. Driver’s mate normally take instructions from their boss. Hence, they don’t rebel against their masters but are very patient and obedient. They therefore excel when they are given the opportunity to drive.
  10. A driver’s mate is trustworthy and for that matter will, under no circumstance,  betray his master.

The issues raised above will determine whether a spare driver will be preferred over an experienced driver’s mate by the car owner.

EPISODE 6

This episode will analyze the earlier ones and leave a thought for the *Car Owner* who are Ghanaian voters to determine who should drive their car (the country, Ghana).

As mentioned earlier, a spare driver needs no direction from anybody because he feels he is experienced and thus already qualified to drive. It is imperative to note that being a spare driver cannot guarantee you are licensed to drive every car. 

If Ghana metaphorically is seen as a car, then the question that arises is: what kind of car is Ghana now?

Can every driver drive any car at all? There are some drivers who find it difficult to drive automatic cars. There are equally those who can’t drive cars with normal (analog) gears.

We are leaving in a technological world where cars have gone through different upgrades and imbued with digitalization and other sophisticated features. Is Ghana now a digitized car or still the analog car? What kind of driver do we need taking technology and modernity into consideration.

Ghana (the Car) indeed needs a driver. As owners of the car, what kind of driver do we need. The car has gone through a lot of transformation. Additionally, it has become more modern and sophisticated.

Do we as car owners need an analog driver?, the driver who has remained idle for almost eight years now or we need the mate who has gone through daily tutelage and has been part of the transformation championing digitalisation.

The choice of the car owners will determine whether we want to advance or still want to remain in the doldrums.

Written By Dr. APC

* The writer is the District Chief Executive of Afigya Kwabre South. 

 Christian Adu Poku

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