Day: January 26, 2022

Senegal have been criticised after Sadio Mane continued playing despite suffering a suspected concussion in a “sickening collision” with Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha.

Mane remained on the pitch for several minutes despite appearing to sustain a head injury in the incident during Tuesday’s Africa Cup of Nations match.

The Liverpool striker scored before eventually being substituted.

Brain injury association Headway said Mane’s health had been put at risk.

“On the face of it, this seems to be yet another example of football putting results ahead of player safety,” said Luke Griggs, deputy chief executive of Headway.

“This was a sickening collision that clearly left both players in enough distress for a concussion to have surely been considered a possibility at the very least. At that point, the principle of ‘if in doubt, sit it out!’ should have resulted in Mane being substituted without another ball being kicked.”

Vozinha was sent off for the challenge with Mane and had to be helped off the pitch while visibly unsteady on his feet.

Mane, however, remained on the pitch, despite seeming to lose consciousness in the incident. Six minutes later, he scored an excellent goal for Senegal, before laying down on the halfway line.

It was only then that he was substituted.
“The image of the player collapsing on the ground and having to be helped from the pitch after scoring his goal should tell you everything you need to know about the impact and the effect it had had on his brain,” added Griggs.

“Yet again, the desire to win is seen as being worth serious risks to players’ health. It is simply shocking that this continues to happen.

“This is now a real test of leadership for The Confederation of African Football (Caf) and world governing body Fifa – particularly if Senegal declare Mane fit for Sunday’s quarter-final.

“If football wants to be taken seriously when it comes to concussion, it simply must take action to enforce and strengthen its protocols.”

In a statement from the Senegal FA, team doctor Dr Abdourahmane Fedior said Mane had been “replaced due to the vertigos he had on the pitch” after scoring.

“After this we felt it was safer to bring him to the hospital for a scan which didn’t reveal any brain injury or bone lesion. We left the hospital a few moments later and we went to the hotel. For now, he feels well.

“All the symptoms he had on the pitch disappeared. It needs to be followed closely though and we will see in two days how he feels.

“He needs to rest and come back to training step by step.”

Liverpool’s medical team will speak to their Senegal counterparts about Mane’s condition, though it is normal to have regular contact with all international squads, particularly when a player goes off injured.

Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly denied Mane’s health had been put at risk by being allowed to continue playing.

“It wasn’t risky at all. It’s him who scored the goal after this,” said the Napoli defender.

“When we saw after the goal he was a bit disoriented we preferred to replace him. I asked him if he wanted to leave the pitch and he said no, but we preferred to replace him to avoid taking any risk.”

Source: Modern Ghana

As is well projected, the core of the Ghana Gold Expo Mining Week event is to pursue and successfully entrench “Potentials of Minerals & Sustainability” of the Mining processing value chain from environmental extraction to annihilate harmful chemicals, to best practices, formalization, incentives for explorations, driven trade channels all the way to digital transactions and Gold Reserve Management.

Ghana Gold Expo has been leading the way in the African context of driving a new avant-garde thinking and action across the Gold and Mineral industry holistically.

Steven Blessing Ackah, Executive Director of ViewTag Ghana Gold Expo The Governing Council of Ghana Gold Expo, organizers of the Ghana Gold Mining Week 2022 have issued a press statement indicating preparation towards the upcoming 2022 Mining Week on the 1 -2 April, Atlantic Hotel Takoradi Ghana.

The Governing Committee by Honorable Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah- Western Regional Minister Hon. Abu Jinapor- The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Meriku Duker, Mr. Martin Ayisi, and the Executive Director of Ghana Gold Expo Mr. Steven Blessing Ackah have said that the Expo is on the state of the Mining Industry in Africa and how Ghana can increase its Potentials for sustainable development as the government provides enabling policies, incentives for Mining Explorations, sustainable technologies and environmental regulations.
The theme for the Mining Week 2022; THE POTENTIAL OF MINING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. Having the President of the Republic of Ghana as the Keynote Speaker.

Activities are as follows

1. Mining Policy Forum and Responsible Sourcing Traning Conference.
2. Mining Tour and Aircraft Surveillance
3. Conservation Mine and Reclamation Awards
4. Mining Exhibitions and Gulf Tournament

During the Mining Policy Forum segment, key experts will discuss, deliberate, and showcase the cases of success on Mine tailings and Environmental Impact, Mining investment and Exploration strategies, Reclamation and Conservation road map, and Sustainable Development Programme in the mining communities.

The Mining Week is convened by View tag-Ghana as a policy advocacy body that focuses mainly on Promoting Zero Mercury and Cyanide (Responsible Gold Production) in mining. It provides a platform to advance against the application of the deadly chemical in mining by the Minamata Convention on Mercury/ Cyanide and other chemicals.

Mr. Ackah stated that, as part of the Mining week, the team will develop a report which would include insights and recommendations from diverse stakeholders, both local and international focus on the theme of the year.
We believe that the platform will attract industry representatives as we connect leaders and Investment to the Mining sector.

About 2021 Ghana Gold Expo Mining Week Report.

The Bank of Ghana (BOG) as represented by Mr. Stephen Opata, the Director of Financial Markets presented on the central bank as a catalyst for the formalization of Artisanal Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM).

The report also analyzed strategic steps and measures to be put in place to eradicate the use of mercury among Artisanal Small Scale Gold Miners (ASGMs), due diligence procedures, monitoring and transparency in ASGM activities, and water treatment strategies that Water Commission, Environmental Protection Agency and Minerals Commission can jointly adopt to clean our water bodies.

The report will highlight presentations by the World Gold Council, The Ghana Chamber of Mines, Minerals Commission on Mining Exploration, LBMA and other speakers. It also covers a presentation of a Gold Gift to the Vice President, Dr. Mahamud Bawumia.

What is expected

The event has the support of the Government of Ghana, through the Western Regional Coordinating Council and with the partnership and support of international agencies like Aurum Monaco, Forbes Monaco, Gold Fields Ghana, Bank of Ghana, Minerals Commission, Veola Ghana, Gold Coast Refinery, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and other stakeholders in the mining industry.

It is expected that the Ghana Gold Expo Mining Week will attract government Ministries and agencies, Mining companies both small and large, Mining Support Services, Embassies, and Diplomatic Missions in Ghana; global financial institutions; representatives from the LBMA, World Gold Council, Forbes, and other notable brands.

The event will receive the Western Regional Minister as the host, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources as Guest Speaker, and many other speakers and diplomatic envoys.

Finally, the mining week shall cover the Diplomatic Mining Field trip with foreign envoys and participants visiting some mining sites in the Western region through the unflinching support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration,

Source: Ghana Web

Accra, Jan. 26, GNA – Regulators and mining firms must learn from the outcome of investigations into the ‘Appiatse Explosion’ to forestall future occurrence, Mr Chris Griffith, Chief Executive Officer, Gold Fields Limited, has said.

Describing the explosion as a “tragic accident,” he said regulators of the mining sector must use the outcome to improve certain areas of the regulatory regime to enhance safety.

Mr Griffith, who was addressing journalists at a media engagement session in Accra on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, said mining companies must also use the outcome of the inquiry to improve internal safety standards.

“Even before we know the outcomes of the investigation, we will be looking at our own standards to ensure that we are compliant to whatever regulations are in place and to make sure that we do the very best we can until such time that we get the answers,” he said.

Mr Griffith said the mining companies would work collectively with the Government to come out with remedial actions to forestall the recurrence of such tragic explosions.

Fourteen people were killed and more than 170 injured in the explosion, which occurred on Thursday, January 20, 2022 at Appiatse in the Prestea-Huni Valley Municipality.

Preliminary investigations by the Police had indicated that a truck carrying explosives to the Chirano Gold Mine, about 140km away from Appiatse collided with a tricycle at the Appiatse section of the Bogoso-Kumasi highway.

The accident reportedly caused fire, leading to the explosion about 15 minutes later.

The Government has since commenced investigations to unravel what caused the disaster.

Mr Griffith said safety was paramount to the operations of Gold Fields, adding that the Company had a strong regulation and safety standard to guarantee the safety of employees and communities in, which it operated.

He said the Company had not recorded any fatalities at its mines in the last decade and that it had targeted zero fatalities, zero serious injuries, and zero serious environmental incidents as part of its 2030 targets.

“We place value on safety. We have made it clear that we will not mine if we can’t mine safely.

“Over 700 days without one employee losing a shift in Tarkwa is a testament to how the team is doing,” Mr Griffith said.

Mr Joshua Mortoti, Acting Executive Vice President, Gold Fields West Africa, described the Appiatse disaster as an “unfortunate incident.”

He said the existing regulation on the transportation, storage and handling of explosives in the country “is really solid,” adding that the disaster would further improve regulatory systems.

“We are keen to learn from the investigation report to understand what happened and the additional steps we can take going forward,” Mr Mortoti said.

Gold Fields is a globally diversified producer of gold with 10 operating mines and projects in Australia, Ghana, Peru, Chile and South Africa.

The Tarkwa, Damang, and Asanko mines in West Africa constitute 35 per cent of the Company’s total Group production.

The company has been operating in Ghana for 29 years, with the Tarkwa Mine as its flagship mine and the single largest gold producer in Ghana.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Preparatory works on the proposed site at Bogoso-Kojokrom for the resettlement of the displaced victims of the Appiatse explosion is about 90 per cent complete.

The victims are to be resettled at the new site, beginning tomorrow Wednesday, January 26.

“We will move them to the new place because where there are a lot of health concerns,” Dr Isaac Dasamani, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Prestea Huni-Valley, told the GNA.

“The plan is that tomorrow we will start sending some of the relief items to the site and ensure that we prepare the site adequately for them.”

“There is water available, washrooms available and we have put a lot of security measures in place,” he added.

The new temporary site is expected to accommodate about six hundred people.

This is because some of the victims have moved to stay with their relatives in neighbouring communities.

The MCE was confident that the work done so far was enough to accommodate the over six hundred people while working on the rebuilding project.

He explained that the mounted tents at the site would be shared according to households, adding that a family would receive either a bigger or smaller tent depending on the size.

A bigger tent, he said, could accommodate about 15 people while the smaller tents could only take six people.

The idea, the MCE said, was to provide the avenue for the people to do their cooking, adding items such as coal pot, charcoal and others would be provided.

He said a tent had been designated to serve as a clinic, where nurses would be stationed to see to the health needs of the people.

Additionally, he said an entertainment room fixed with Television sets would also be designated to provide entertainment for the people.

The MCE said the concentration was on how to provide the people with basic amenities to make their life comfortable and assured that the assembly would do everything to achieve that.

Dr Dasmani said the reconstruction of the Appiatse community would start in earnest as soon as all the necessary protocols, including further consultations with relevant state agencies, were completed.

Also, arrangements were being made to get the bodies of the deceased released to their relatives for burial.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa, Mr. Kobina Tahir Hammond, popularly known as K.T Hammond has threated Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif that he will be sacked if Black Stars head coach Milovan Rajevac is not sacked.

Already, the Ministry in charge of Sports has recommended to the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to review the performance of the national team head coach at the 2021 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.

Today in Parliament, legislators had a discussion on the performance of the national team and agreed that it was not only poor and disappointing but a letdown.

Speaking on the floor, KT Hammond charged Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif to see to it that coach Milovan Rajevac is sacked or he will be shown the exit door.

“Ghana is the only place that if we are going to play God has to be our goal keeper or striker. God has soo much to do that he is always being called. Mr. Sports Minister sack the coach if you haven’t done that already or you yourself will be sacked. Let us not waste money on bad coaches of that caliber, it is not good,” the MP for Adansi Asokwa shared.

Expressing solidarity to Ghanaian coaches, KT Hammond recommended that locally trained coaches should be given the chance to handle the Black Stars.

“Let us get our locally trained coach to partner the boys,” he added.

Ghana at the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon only managed to pick one point after playing all three matches in Group C.

The poor performance meant that the Black Stars exited the tournament at the group stage, extending the team’s failure to win an AFCON title to 40 years and still counting.

Source: Modern Ghana

– Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Afful Boakye Yiadom, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, is leading a special “bush operation” to arrest four suspects who allegedly shot and killed a gold buyer.

The attack occurred on Monday, January 24, 2022, when the gold dealer now deceased, was transporting gold from Attabrakoso towards Huu, in the Western Region.

A news brief from the Police said the suspects made away with about 324 grams of gold.

It said they also took away unspecified amounts of money together with some mobile phones and fled into a nearby bush.

The brief appealed to gold buyers to be on the lookout for the gang.

“Any suspicious gold dealer(s) should be reported to the Police for a possible quick arrest,” it said.

The brief called on the public to aid investigation with any information concerning the robbery.

Source: Ghana News Agency

In our series of letters from African writers, Algerian-Canadian football journalist Maher Mezahi, who is in Cameroon to cover the Africa Cup of Nations, reflects on how the recent deaths of fans at a stadium has left him with mixed feelings about the tournament.

When I was first asked to do a piece about my impressions about the tournament in Cameroon, I had wanted to compile a list of the things that make it so special and sets it apart from other major football competitions.

I was planning to celebrate African football.
After all, Afcon is a special tournament, adored by everyone on the continent and intrinsically linked to pan-African values.

The first two in 1957 and 1959, for example, were used in part as a statement against apartheid in South Africa.

Players, fans and journalists have all spoken about how it is closer to the true spirit of football, rather than the more sanitised and corporate tournaments elsewhere.

There is also the warm and friendly atmosphere as well as the pride that Afcon creates in all countries across the continent.

A carnival of superfans

Amongst the positive things are the medical protocols to deal with Covid-19, including pulmonary scans.

These are among the strictest in world football and intended to prevent any medical emergencies.

On the terraces, everyone lauds the carnival-like atmosphere that African football supporters manage to generate.

Recognisable super fans are present at every biennial championship.

Take Tunisia’s “Reda The Elephant”, who covers his belly in body paint and has the best goal reactions, or Ivory Coast’s “Petit Bamba”, who orchestrates the National Elephants’ Supporters Committee dance moves.

“The atmosphere is so pure,” says Alex Cizmic, an Italian freelance journalist, who has often been amazed at the relaxed atmosphere around the teams.

“In 2019 in Egypt, I was fortunate enough to attend one of the Uganda Cranes’ training sessions. When it was over, I had a chat with star striker Farouk Miya, who I had never met before,” he recalls in a surprised tone.

“Then I arranged a quick call with his former coach Milutin Sredojevic, who I was in contact with. It all felt very familial.”

And smaller nations have shone.
The Gambia and Comoros were debutants in this edition of the tournament, and they have done their nations proud.

Before The Gambia played their first match against Mauritania, I asked a Gambian friend to write down what he felt as the anthem was playing.

“I felt a real sense of pride, love for country, and honour hearing the Gambian national team anthem for the first time,” he said.

“When the first goal went in, I couldn’t do anything. Deep inside of me I was just proud, knowing what the goal means. It really united our country.”

Abandoned shoes

But in one evening, all of the positive aspects of the Afcon have been overshadowed by a tragedy of unspeakable proportions.

As hosts Cameroon were set to play their second-round match against Comoros at the new Olembé Stadium in the capital, Yaoundé, a bottleneck began to build outside.

At around 19:30 local time, just half an hour before kick-off, thousands of fans were stuck in a crush that ended up killing eight people, including an eight-year-old boy, according to Cameroonian authorities.

I had arrived at the stadium earlier in the afternoon, but even several hours before the match started, the incessant cordoning off of spectators was irritating.

I have been to football matches in seven African countries and every time I make the same observation: there are so many police officers and so little safety.

For a stadium with a capacity of 60,000, it seemed extremely odd that journalists, supporters and everyone who was not a VIP were being ushered in through the same gate outside the campus.

Covid-19 testing and screening for vaccines further slowed down passage into the stadium.

I did not know what had transpired until late in the second half when a colleague nudged me in the ribs and whispered: “There’s trouble outside.”

We ran out, but there was nothing to see.
The only evidence of any problems was a handful of shoes and articles of clothing strewn on the ground.

A few minutes later rumours of deaths began filtering through.

In the press room, journalists began sharing documents that listed the victims as well as videos of the tragedy.

The following morning the Confederation of African Football (Caf) accepted shared responsibility for the incident and presented its condolences to the families.

But matches were not postponed and the tournament is continuing.

I do not think games should have taken place on Tuesday – the day after the tragedy.

It seemed disrespectful to the families, and everyone involved in the competition is still trying to process what happened.

It does not feel like a time to talk about or celebrate football.

Source: Modern Ghana

The Government has tasked a five-member committee to raise funds to support victims of the Appiatse explosion and rebuild the Community.

Members of the committee, which has the founder of Salt and Light Ministries, Rev. Dr Joyce Aryee, as its chairperson were unveiled at the launch of the endowment fund.

The members are: Mr Sulemanu Koney, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Chamber of Mines; Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim II, Chairman of the Forestry Commission Board; Dr Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko, Senior Lecturer, University of Ghana and Mr Phillip Owiredu, Managing Director of Cal Bank.

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Abu Jinapoor, who launched the Fund said apart from raising funds, the Committee also had the task of supervising the disbursement of funds with utmost integrity and transparency for the benefit of survivors of the disaster.

“I am confident that given the calibre of citizens assembled they will execute this task in a fair transparent and prudent manner,” he said.

The Minister appealed to the public to give generously to support the affected persons and “to the people of Appiatse, I say to them a compassionate nation and government stands by you in your time of great needs and adversity.”

Dr Aryee on behalf of members of the Committee expressed gratitude to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for considering the members for what she described as a task of honour.

“Each of us comes with some level of expertise and together our prayer is that God will bind us together and give us a singular mind to undertake this task,” she said.

She appealed to the public to generously donate to the victims and help rebuild their lives.

Fourteen people have so far died with 179 injured in an explosion that occurred on January 20, 2022, at Appiatse, near Bogoso in the Prestea-Huni Valley Municipality in the Western Region.

Source: Ghana News Agency