Category: General

Accra, May 17, GNA - ActionAid Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation, has appointed Mr John Nkaw as its new Country Director.

A statement by the Board Chair of ActionAid Ghana, Nana Yaw Okyere-Aduachie, said Mr John Nkaw’s appointment took effect on 1st May 2022.

He succeeds Sumaila Abdul-Rahman who resigned from office in August 2021.

Until his recent appointment as Country Director, Mr Nkaw served as Head of Programmes, Campaigns and Innovation and Interim Country Director of the Organisation.

In his new role, he would lead the work of ActionAid Ghana by coordinating the work and strengthening its partnerships to ensure greater positive impact of programme interventions on the lives and livelihoods of people living in poverty.

Mr Nkaw joined ActionAid Ghana in March 2019 as the Head of Programmes and served as Interim Country Director from September 2021 to April 2022.

Prior to joining ActionAid Ghana, he had worked with Oxfam Ghana, SEND Foundation of West Africa (Now SEND Ghana), USAID Partnership for Education: Evaluating Systems, and the Ghana Aid Effectiveness Forum (AEF).

Mr. Nkaw holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with Political Science, Master of Arts in Development Studies from the University of Ghana, and Master of Public Administration in Public Policy from University of Texas at Austin.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Reports indicate that Nollywood actor, Leonard Chimezie Onyemachi has passed on.

The actor has been battling kidney failure over the last four years.

Popularly known as Leo Mezie, the actor passed as a result of complications from kidney surgery that he underwent a week ago.

Reports say he passed on in an Abuja-based hospital on Saturday, May 14, 2022.

Chioma Toplis, a Nollywood actress took to her Instagram page to confirm the unfortunate incident on Monday.

“Actor Leo Mezie is dead. He died on Saturday in Abuja while recovering from a kidney transplant. His corpse has been moved to Umuahia his hometown. RIP Leo,” her post read.

Leo’s illness hit the public when an appeal for funds was made on his behalf to take care of his medical bills.

His condition caught the attention of many when he began to deteriorate in stature.

Source: Modern Ghana

Accra, May 17, GNA - Madam Phiona Okumu, Spotify’s Sub-Saharan Africa Head of Music, says they are committed to giving Ghanaian artistes the needed worldwide exposure, and also aid them to connect more with the new audiences around the world.

According to Madam Okumu, programmes like RADAR and EQUAL were targeted at giving Ghanaian artistes and musicians from other African countries the exposure to sell their culture.

Recently, rising Ghanaian music sensation Black Sherif was among six African megastars who joined Spotify’s RADAR programme, while Gyakie and Amaarae have also been named in Spotify’s EQUAL campaign.

Speaking in an interview with GNA Entertainment, Madam Okumu said her outfit was poised to introduce more programmes like EQUAL to make sure that there was more gender balance in the Ghanaian music industry.

 ”Our commitment to advancing the culture of music in Ghana can be seen in the various projects, we have undertaken with various Ghanaian artistes, including Black Sherif, Gyakie, Amaarae, among others.

  “If you look at the charts, you would find out that there is not a lot of representation of female artistes, so this is what we are looking to change with EQUAL and so far we have done one with Gyakie and Amaarae,” she said.

She said there were more plans to get more new Ghanaian artists on their RADAR platform, which seeks to give artistes more highlights and visibility.

Speaking on whether Spotify had plans for some big acts in Ghana, Madam Okumu said their relationship with Stonebwoy, Sarkodie, among others, had been great so far, having worked on lots of their projects.

“We have plans for all the artistes who want to work with us and where it makes sense to do specific collaborations, by all means that would happen. 

“The commitment of Spotify to African music is very obvious. The fact that we are able to support someone like Black Sheriff, having him on billboards in Nigeria and in South Africa,” Madam Okumu said.

She added that Spotify has a lot to contribute to Ghanaian music in the coming years which would help sell Ghanaian artists all over the world.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, May 17, GNA – The State has closed its case involving the 14 alleged murderers of Major Maxwell Adams Mahama.

The Prosecution presented 14 witnesses, who testified before the High Court and were cross examined by the lawyers for the accused persons.

Police Chief Inspector Samuel Agyarkwa was the last prosecution witness to testify before the court presided over by Justice Mariam Owusu.

Lawyers for the accused person told the court that they intended to file a submission of no case on behave of their clients

Fourteen persons are standing trial at an Accra High Court over the killing of Major Mahama, who was an officer of the 5th Infantry Battalion, Burma Camp.

The late Major was on duty at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region when on May 29, 2017, some residents allegedly mistook him for an armed robber and lynched him.

The mob had ignored his persistent plea that he was an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces.

The accused persons are: William Baah, the Assembly member of Denkyira-Obuasi, Bernard Asamoah alias Daddy, Kofi Nyame a.k.a Abortion, Akwasi Boah, Kwame Tuffour, Joseph Appiah Kubi, Michael Anim and Bismarck Donkor.

Others are John Bosie, Akwasi Baah, Charles Kwaning, Emmanuel Badu, Bismarck Abanga and Kwadwo Anima.

The Court has given the lawyers two weeks to file their submission.

The case has been adjourned to May 30.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, May 17, GNA – President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has conveyed the condolences of the Government and people of Ghana to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the death of that Kingdom’s Ruler.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed AL Nahyan, President of UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, who had rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2014, died last Friday.

He was 73.

He has since been buried in line with Islamic tradition and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has been elected as his successor by the Federal Supreme Council of the UAE.

President Akufo-Addo, who called on the UAE’s Ambassador to Ghana on Tuesday to condole with the Emirates, expressed grief over the death of Sheihk Khalifa, who he said was a great friend of Ghana.

“A great friend of Ghana and a distinguished servant of his people has gone to meet his maker.

“The entire people of Ghana and their government join me and my wife and family in expressing our sincere condolences and deep sympathies over the loss of this eminent ruler.

“May his soul rest in perfect peace in the bossom of the Almighty,” President Akufo-Addo wrote in a book of condolence opened in honour of the late Emirati ruler.

Born in 1948 in the UAE city of Al Ain, Sheikh Khalifa came to power in 2004 in the richest emirate Abu Dhabi and became the head of State of the Emirates.

He succeeded his father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, the founder of the Emirates, to become the second president of the UAE.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Effia (W/R), May 17, GNA – Dr. George Peprah, Medical Superintendent at the Takoradi Hospital has urged the public not to hesitate in reporting stroke cases, especially whenever they observed symptoms of the disease to save the situation.

He bemoaned the situation where most stroke cases got to the hospitals late coupled with the lackadaisical attitudes of health officers and the lack of CT scan facilities in the communities across the country.

Dr. Peprah, who was speaking at a church service held by the Takoradi branch of the Pentecost International Worship Center (PIWC) emphasised that the sooner a stroke victim got to the hospital, the sooner they would get lifesaving treatment.

“Stroke survivors have the best outcomes when they receive treatment in 4 – 5 hours or less. A clot-boating drug called tissue plasminogen activator may improve the chances of getting better but only if they get help right away,” he stressed.

He pointed out that there was a silent epidemic of stroke in Ghana which was not receiving enough attention because it is non-infectious.

He indicated that stroke and heart attack, both cardiovascular diseases were the diseases killing Ghanaians and were driven by hypertension.

Dr Preprah defined stroke as a medical emergency, and said prompt treatment was crucial and that prompt action could reduce brain damage and other complications.

“Major risk factor of stroke is hypertension and common among the African origin. We are so busy that we do not get time for our health but I advise members to check frequently their wellness or health status, especially for hypertension,” he stated.

He mentioned the two types of strokes, as ischemic stroke which occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is interrupted or reduced, preventing brain tissue from getting oxygen and nutrients, thereby killing the brain cells in minutes, and hemorrhagic stroke which occurs when a blood vessel in the brain leaks or ruptures.

He mentioned risk factors like high blood pressure, diabetes, and lifestyles such as lack of exercise, bad eating habits, tobacco abuse, excessive intake of alcohol, and obesity.

Dr. Peprah also noted that many Ghanaians may want to exercise and therefore, cautioned that exercise must be prescribed as a medicine by a physician since it might have certain consequences that could also affect one’s health.

Touching on the management of the disease, he cited acute management which could reduce brain damage, and long-term management which could control blood pressure and sugar level.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, May 17, GNA – Organisers of the 2022 National Academy of Students’ Achievement Awards Ghana (NASAAG), have opened nominations for the third annual NASAAG Awards, for students to nominate themselves and be nominated in their fields of endeavour.

The awards are a platform to empower, support and connect winners to experts in the fields of entrepreneurship, leadership and academia.

Mr Riffath Yakub Abubakar, President and Executive Chairman, NASAAG, said, their goal was to elevate the scope of students through inspiration and innovation to enhance human capital to solve societal challenges.

He said this year’s edition is made up of three categories being the Students Hall of Fame; with 39 awards to grab, the Non-Students Hall of Fame; with four awards available and Honorary Hall of Fame; also, with six awards.

The Students Hall of Fame category comprises of students from the Senior High School to the tertiary level, whilst the Non- Students Hall of Fame would be students in the industry category.

Applicants must be students from certified public and private institutions and must show prove of achievements and success chalked in their academic, leadership and innovations by producing images, videos, documents, profiles and artistic contents.

The awards scheme would have two structured modules to determine the winners, and these would be the Academy Jury Vote (AJV), which carry 40 per cent score and Public Endorsement Vote (PEV) with 60 per score.

Application and nominations officially had started and would end Friday, July 8, at 1200 hours and applicants are directed to submit nominations at https://nasaag.com/nominations/.

Winners and runners up would have a mentorship in career and capacity development. Awardees of ‘Student Personality’ and ‘Student Entrepreneur’ of the year would take way undisclosed cash prizes.

In a similar vein, the 2022 NASAAG Campus Summit Tour had been launched with the aim of grooming and mentoring students in their career path, corporate work ethics and entrepreneurship on regional basis.

The Summit would help in shaping and exposing students to the nature of job market and to meet the standard requirements of the global job market.

It begins this May and ends in July with tertiary institutions in the Central, Ashanti, Northern and the Greater Accra Regions being the focus for phase one.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ace Ghanaian Reggae artiste Black Rasta said some Members of Parliament behaved like infants when he was hauled to parliament’s Privileges Committee.

It is recalled that the ‘Barack Obama’ singer was dragged to Parliament after he allegedly stated that most MPs smoked marijuana.

He was then invited by the Privileges Committees to defend his claims.

“Parliament should apologize to me, of course, yes, you brought me here and wanted to embarrass me. You should have been in parliament to see what was happening. When I was passing, some minister stretched his leg and said where are you going? They were doing all that, they were infants. Some of them,” he said.

Speaking on Joy Prime this morning, he indicated that his statement about marijuana was a plea on the legislative arm of government to legalize the usage of the substance.

“Though a strong advocate for the legalization of marijuana, Blakk Rasta indicated, “I don’t smoke! Parliament invited me and I said 80% of them smoke marijuana. The content of the whole thing was that marijuana should be legalized; please let it happen because you guys are those making the law,” he stated.

Source: Modern Ghana