April 25, 2023

‘It’s a joke to praise Mahama for paying his electricity bills after refusal to return his ex-gratia’ – Wontumi

Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Ashanti Region, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has described the recent praise showered on former President John Dramani Mahama for paying his own electricity bills as a joke.

According to him, it is not something worth celebrating, as the former President has received an ex-gratia payment which is more than enough to cater for his needs.

Chairman Wontumi further stated that ordinary Ghanaians also pay their electricity bills, and therefore, it was not necessary to praise Mahama for doing the same.

He added that it was hypocritical for Mahama to receive such a large sum of money and then turn around to pay his own bills and expect praise for it.

“It is a joke to praise John Mahama for paying his electricity bills when he has refused to return the ex-gratia he has collected from the state.

“An old man like him pays his own bills and wants us to applaud him, so, what about small boys who are not rich like him but also pay their bills? Small boys also pay their light bills so we must rather ask Mahama to return his ex-gratia to the state.

“You must be ashamed of yourself. Even 30 years old are paying their own rent and light bills. Why should a grown man like you still depend on the state when you have collected ex-gratia more than any living or dead President in Ghana?” wontumionline.com quoted him to have said in an interview.

TWI NEWS

Samuel Dubik Mahama, the Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), recently confirmed that former President John Dramani Mahama has been paying his own electricity bills.

Mahama in an exclusive interview with TV3 in 2022 said that all he receives from the government is his monthly pension and that all other bills the state must cater for have not been attended to since he left office in 2017.

Source: Ghana Web

April 25, 2023

‘It’s just a matter of time’ – Michael Essien speaks on ambition to become a top coach

Ghana legend, Michael Essien is confident that very soon he will be counted among the top coaches in the world

He believes that he will be part of the next general of retired footballers who will take over coaching.

“I think it’s just a matter of time before you start seeing our generation of footballers becoming top-level coaches [in Europe],” Michael Essien said in an interview with DW.

The hardworking trainer who is now working on earning his coaching badges adds that with patience and hard work he will come by the needed opportunities to make his mark in the field.

“If you are smart enough and you have a passion for the game and still want to do something in and around the sport, the opportunities will come,” Essien noted.

Meanwhile, the Black Stars great has ruled out any chance of entering into politics.

According to him, he hates politics and will never involve himself at any level.

Source: Ghana Web

April 25, 2023

NEUCE paints support KATH for its doctors’ flats facelift

NEUCE Paints, one of the leading paint manufacturers in Ghana is supporting, the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi to repair and paint its doctors’ flats to give it a facelift.

The gesture was as a result of a special appeal made to the company by the Chief Executive of KATH, Professor Otchere Addai-Mensah.

The flats numbering 146 and housed in nine blocks, serve as the main residential facilities for doctors in the immediate vicinity of the hospital, which is the main referral facility in the northern sector of the country.

The flats had not seen any major repairs and painting for close to 20 years now leaving them in a decrepit state.

Plans are also far advanced to get another company to sponsor the painting of the adjourning nurses’ block.

Mr Manuel Oliveira, Commercial Manger of NEUCE Company, on last Monday visited the hospital to supervise the commencement of the painting works, during which he also paid a courtesy call on the hospital’s board.

He told the board that the company was moved to assist in the implementation of the facelift project following a strong appeal made to it by the CEO of the hospital.

Mr Oliveira said the walls of the blocks, which had been severely defaced over the years would be treated before the application of the paints.

Prof. Addai-Mensah, on his part said during one of his numerous rounds of the hospital, he visited the doctors’ flats area and was shocked by the depressing state in which they had sunk because they had not been painted for close to 20 years.

‘As a junior doctor in the early 2000s, I was staying in one of the flats which were in very pristine condition, so I was quite shocked to see the level of deterioration they had suffered due to lack of repairs and painting over the years’, he said.

He said the donation of 174 buckets of high-quality paints by the company had saved management a lot of money as the hospital would now only bear the cost of labour and scaffolds that would be needed for the application of the paints.

In appreciation, Prof. Addai-Mensah, said the board had granted permission to allow the company to use the side elevations for a few of the blocks for branding purposes.

Members of the board lauded the CEO for his intense lobbying drives for external support to improve the operations and facilities at the hospital.

Nana Effah-Apenteng, the board chairman, commended the company for its timely assistance and said the gesture would mark the beginning of a long and mutually beneficial relationship between the hospital and the company.

Mr Fredrick Oppong, Estate Manager of KATH, who took members of the board and the company around the project site, said the first phase of the project which would be completed between the next two to three months, would cover eight blocks.

However, he said the biggest block, popularly called ‘blue block’ would get its facelift by 2024.

Source: Ghana News Agency

April 25, 2023

I will empower the youth to create sustainable wealth – Dr Bisimpo

Dr Richard Bisimpo, an aspiring candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Biakoye constituency in the Oti Region, said the global economic and demographic patterns deserve more focus on youth empowerment.

He said the process of urbanisation on a global scale made the consideration of the role and situation of youth within the transformative process an increasingly urgent task to some leaders in society.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Dr Bisimpo said the youth were a valuable resource with much potential, which ought to be tapped for nation-building instead of being used in destructive and violent actions.

He urged the youth of Biakoye constituency to use their numerical strength to vote for him on May 13, promising to tackle unemployment.

He said his top campaign agenda would be youth in apprenticeship, awarding best teachers, supporting brilliant, but needy students, placing delegates on allowance, tractor service would be available to assist delegates and agro-chemical warehouses to assist farmers in the area.

GNA gathered some track records from the aspirant which included, two-bedroom self-contained apartments built for the Kwamikrom E-block, donated Mathematics set for BECE candidates, Kwamikrom community received ICT equipment from the aspirants.

He also supplied computers to clinics in Biakoye constituency, over 1,500 to 2,000 fertilizers are supplied to farmers yearly in the Biakoye.

The aspirant upgraded of Kwamikrom clinic and working to establish a bank in the district, brought national under 17 coach and chief scout to select young talented players and again brought sinostone cassava processing company to the district are some of his contributions.

Source: Ghana News Agency

April 25, 2023

Yendi Municipal Assembly hands over school block to GES

The Yendi Municipal Assembly has handed over a GHS296,500.00 three classroom block funded from District Assembly Performance Assessment Tool (DPAT) to the Yendi Ghana Education Service (GES) and the people of Tibibado in the Yendi Municipality of Northern Region.

The Tibibado Municipal Assembly (MA) primary school, which comprises office and store is furnished with ceiling fans, 116 dual desks, marker boards, and connected to the national electricity grid.

The new primary school has enrolment of 174 pupils made up of 94 boys and 80 girls and serving Tibibado, Makango, Jatodo, Boliyado communities.

Alhaji Hammed Abubakari Yussuf the Yendi Municipal Chief Executive who handed over the school block said more than 250 communities in the Municipality were requesting for establishment of schools in their communities, but they decided to construct the school for the community because they had put up a swiss classroom block with local materials proving that they had interest in their children’s education

He said another three-classroom block would be added to accommodate class one to class six pupils.

He advised them to live in unity for more development projects and not to allow the youth in the community to use the classrooms in playing games in the night because of the lights.

Alhaji Hammed urged them to cultivate the culture of maintenance by taking good care of the school and inform the Assembly in terms of maintenance challenges.

He appealed to them to assist the teachers whenever the need arises, reminding them that all the professionals in the country were taught by teachers and one of their children could occupy a high position in the country in the future.

Mr. Sule Mohammed the Yendi Municipal Director of Education who received the keys on behalf of the community urged the community members to send their children to school and promised to post more teachers to the school to make teaching and learning more effective.

He advised the parents to provide their children with school uniforms, pencils, books, pens among others to make them feel happy to learn.

The Director also urged them to cooperate with the teachers to learn more to become future useful citizens.

He appealed to community members to support teachers with accommodation to enable them to stay there to teach.

Obor Tibiba Bincbem Samoah chief of Tibibado promised to take good care of the school block and appealed for potable drinking water and a good road for the area.

Source: Ghana News Agency

April 25, 2023

GIFEC Administrator engages DTC trainees in the Central Region

The Administrator (CEO) of GIFEC, Mr. Prince Ofosu Sefah, has engaged some trainees of the 4th Cohort of the Digital Transformation Centres (DTC) Project as part of a monitoring exercise in the Central Region.

He visited the training Centre at Awutu Breku in the Awutu Senya District of the Region, where training was ongoing for 30 participants, which included Senior High School graduates, Women Entrepreneurs, Youth and School Teachers in Basic ICT Skills, Cybersecurity and Entrepreneurship.

Mr. Sefah spoke about the mandate of GIFEC and the various Programmes being implemented as part of the goal of bridging the digital divide between served and underserved and unserved communities.

He said the DTC project was being implemented in partnership with the International Telecommunications Union and Cisco, and with funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.

The Administrator expressed appreciation to the trainer and trainees for their efforts, and advised the trainees to maximise the use of the skills acquired through the training.

He said the extent of availability of knowledge and tools to the youth in the world currently, if used properly, presented the youth with the opportunity to be more efficient, effective and smarter in our endeavours.

Mr. Hisham Idrissu, the Centre Trainer, said the purpose of the training was to transfer ICT knowledge to participants to create their own businesses or to enhance their existing businesses.

He expressed the hope that trainees would take advantage of the knowledge and skills gained to better their lives.

Mr. Frank Osei, a trainees and a teacher, expressed his appreciation for being included in the programme as lessons in ICT and Cybersecurity had exposed him to the vulnerabilities of using the internet and pledged to share the knowledge with his students.

Mr. Sefah was accompanied by some support staff to inspect the newly-constructed ICT Centre in Senya Breku and briefly engaged the Heads of the Senya DA Basic A and B Schools on the impending operationalisation of the Centre.

The DTC is in its final year of execution and is targeted at training 14,000 citizens, including Women Entrepreneurs, School Dropouts, School leavers, Head Porters, Teachers, Students, Youth and Persons with Disability in courses such as Get Connected, Entrepreneurship, Introduction to Cyber Security and Introduction to Internet of Things.

In this current cohort, 4,335 beneficiaries are being trained in 155 Community ICT Centres across the country.

Source: Ghana News Agency