Category: General

Aflao (VR), April 04, GNA- Torgbui Adzonugaga Amenya Fiti V, Paramount Chief of Aflao Traditional Area has urged Border Security (BORSEC) officials to always project the country’s good image in the performance of their duties.

That, he explained could be done through diplomacy and professionalism in their dealings with people travelling in and out of the country.

Torgbui Fiti made the call when Mr Maxwell Koffie Lugudor, Municipal Chief Executive for Ketu South led Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi, Comptroller-General of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) together with his entourage caledl on him.

The Comptroller-General was in the Municipality to visit the Aflao, Kpoglu and the Akanu Borders to observe processes there following the reopening of land borders and to motivate BORSEC officials to put up their best to safeguard the country’s eastern borders.

“The Paramount Chief said officers of the GIS especially, the Agency mandated to regulate and monitor entry and exit of people through the country’s frontiers ought to be mindful of their critical roles of creating the right impressions about Ghana in the minds of visitors as they served as first points of contact and by their conducts the country and its people would be rated.”

He gave an instance, where during one of his visits to the USA, he was detained and questioned at the airport without suspecting anything because of how tactical the officials there went about the process saying, “You’re doing well but you must relook at your approach.”

Torgbui Fiti called on the Comptroller-General to provide personnel with the right logistics including motorbikes and tents to facilitate their work saying, most of the time, “your men serve under harsh conditions.”

He lauded the reopening of the land borders and appealed to the government for bilateral negotiations to get Presidents of neighbouring countries to open their borders to enable free movement of people to neighbouring countries for trade to restore livelihood of border residents in particular.

Mr Takyi indicated that negotiations were ongoing to have Ghana’s neighbours to open their side of the border for free movement of citizens in the region and disclosed that government had devoted lots of money into retooling all security agencies to improve their work.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Hassan el Shahat came off the bench to score and secure the final CAF Champions League quarter-finals place for title-holders Al Ahly of Egypt at the weekend.

He side-footed an Ahmed Abdel Kader cut-back into the net from close range on 71 minutes to ease the anxiety of the Cairo Red Devils coach, South Africa-born Pitso Mosimane.

Ahly began the match, which kicked off late on Sunday and finished just past midnight, needing a point to reach the knockout stages while Al Hilal had to win to avoid elimination.

Home and away victories over Ahly enabled Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa to win Group A with 16 points, followed by Ahly (10) and Sudanese sides Hilal and Al Merrikh (four each).

Finishing second means record 10-time champions Ahly will be drawn against a group winner other than Sundowns in Cairo on Tuesday.

Raja Casablanca of Morocco won Group B, Esperance of Tunisia topped Group C and Wydad Casablanca came first in Group D.

Raja, Esperance and Wydad have won nine Champions League titles between them and whoever faces Ahly over two legs will be involved in a tie sure to trigger huge media attention.

Mosimane, the second most successful coach in CAF club competitions with six titles, is not concerned about finishing second in Group A.

“We won the last two editions of the Champions League despite finishing second in our group each time,” the 57-year-old told reporters.

Ahly have not impressed lately as they strive to become the first club to win the Champions League three consecutive times.

Red Devils struggling

The Red Devils are struggling in the attacking third, managing only three goal attempts on target against Hilal in a match that kicked off late so players could observe the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

While footballers can get permission to break the daily dawn-to-dusk fast, most observe it and then eat and drink before matches.

While the Ahly attack is not functioning optimally, Wydad gave a lesson in clinical finishing to Angolan visitors Petro Luanda as they triumphed 5-1 in a clash of already-qualified sides.

Petro resistance to a wave of red-shirted attackers lasted only 11 minutes, and by half-time it was 3-0 to the two-time African champions.

After a fourth Wydad goal, Portuguese Pedro Pinto pulled one back for the visitors before Libyan Muaid Ellafi completed the humiliation with an exquisite chip over Brazilian goalkeeper Wellington Lima.

The near-capacity crowd in the 65,000-seat Stade Mohammed V created an incredible atmosphere as they sang and clapped, while endlessly jumping up and down, with some waving huge flags.

Arch rivals Raja were much less spectacular 24 hours later, with a single goal from Marouane Hadhoudi earning a 1-0 win over Algerian visitors Entente Setif at the same ground.

Recent supporter misbehaviour condemned Esperance to playing in an empty stadium near Tunis, but they still defeated Algerian outfit Chabab Belouizdad 2-1 in a match to decide the Group C winners.

Source: Modern Ghana

Accra, April 4, GNA – Mr Emmanuel Frimpong, Executive Secretary, Ghana Tourism Federation (GHATOF) is optimistic Ghana will generate huge revenue from Agenda 111 through medical tourism to support the economy.

He said “if the Agenda 111 is achieved, it will increase the number of health facilities in the country, and this will give the tourism sector the opportunity to promote medical tourism which is a phenomenon that recently has generated huge revenues for countries that are taking advantage of it.”

Mr Frimpong, reacting to the State of the Nations Address delivered by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, noted that no country in the West African Sub Region had taken advantage of medical tourism and so Ghana could set the pace through the Agenda 111.

Agenda 111 is a project by the government involving designing, procurement, construction, equipping and commissioning of 101 district hospitals, seven regional hospitals, two psychiatric hospitals and the redevelopment of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.

He said the construction of Creative Arts Senior High School, at Kwadaso, if done properly, should be able to impact on the sector positively, saying “we cannot have a tourism sector that is buzzing and growing without the Creative Arts.

Mr Frimpong said the Creative Arts was central to tourism and played an integral role in everything done within the sector and cited the success of the “Year of Return.”

“If the school is completed it will help train interested students who will come out as professionals to support the sector. It will also help create jobs and generate revenue for the country.”

He said the upgrading and equipping of the TVET institutions was also another laudable initiative by the government to help meet the skill needs of the tourism and hospitality sector.

“One major challenge of the tourism and hospitality sector is having the right people at the right places. And in this sector most people begin from the scratch, very much unscaled and unfortunately there is no clear pathway to career development. So, if these institutions are equipped, we will be able to churn out skilled personnel who will help the sector.”

“We need to believe in Ghana and be inspired by Ghana. We all have a role to play, and no individual person can help the country bounce back. So as a sector, a federation and private sector, we have confidence in the country and believe that if we do the right thing, we will be able to come out stronger than before,” he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Award-winning Ghanaian singer-songwriter Gladstorm Kwabena Akwaboah Jnr has hinted at releasing a World Cup song.

The ‘Obiaa’ hitmaker took to his Twitter to make the announcement.

According to Akwaboah Jnr, he is set to release a World Cup which he said will be a globally accepted project.

“Imma make a World Cup song… It will be bigggg across the world…. I’m a god in action right now!!!” he captioned his tweet.

Akwaboah Jnr will be the second African to produce a World Cup-themed song for the upcoming global football competition which will be held in Qatar late this year after Nigeria’s Davido who featured in the official anthem.

Meanwhile the national football team of Ghana, the Black Stars will look forward to making history in the competition.

Ghana will play in Group H alongside South Korea, Portugal, and 2010 arch-rivals, Uruguay.

Source: Modern Ghana

Renowned actor, Majid Michel has said ‘weed’ is a God-made plant which he believes there is nothing with it if legalised.

“I’ve done drugs before; I’ve indulged in drugs before. I’ve done hard drugs. I don’t mean weed. I don’t see anything wrong with ‘weed’, it was God-made. It was created by God,” he stated in a recent interview.

Speaking in the interview, the actor, while recounting hard drugs he did in the olden days stated that he never saw anyone overindulge in ‘weed’.

“I’ve never heard of anybody who has overdosed on weed… I’ve done things out of weed. I’ve done cocaine and LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide).

“I’ve done other drugs that if I told you right now, you’ll not be able to pronounce. These were years back and I didn’t struggle to overcome it,” he said.

The actor added that although weed is made by God for medicinal purposes, one is not expected to be violent after taking it.

He recommended brewing and drinking weed as compared to the regular style of smoking.

“Maybe because of the smoke… maybe that’s why health-wise, it is advisable for people to brew and drink it because that is not wrong at all. You drink teas, don’t you,” he said.

Despite his support for the legalization of the substance, Majid Michel urged government to take full responsibility before taking such steps.

“I am for it completely but then again before anything is legalized, the government wasn’t ready to take responsibility and must exhaust the consequences that come true with the legalization of ‘weed’ before the decision is made.

“Before the government decided to pass a law for the legalization of weed then they must make sure that they have exhausted all possible avenues by learning from countries that have done it,” he suggested.

Source: Modern Ghana

Accra, April 4, GNA – Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has extended facilitations to all Muslims in Ghana and around the world on the beginning of the month of Ramadan.

In a post on his social media handles, Dr Bawumia wrote: “I extend my best wishes to all Muslims in Ghana and around the world as we commence the month-long Ramadan fast.”

“Let us seek God’s favours for ourselves, families, friends and loved ones.”

The Vice President prayed that the sacred period of devotion would also bring peace, unity and prosperity to the nation.

The month of Ramadan is a 30-day fast, which Muslims worldwide devote themselves to Allah through prayers and fasting.

It is a month of intense devotion and commitment to the principles of love and sacrifice to duty.

Muslims, therefore, strive to live by the aforementioned values in Ramadan and beyond, to serve humanity better.

Vice President Bawumia wished all Muslims ‘Ramadan Mubarak”.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Political satirist and musician, Kwame A Plus has made some revelations about popular socialite, Abena Korkor.

According to him, Abena Korkor was arrested and jailed in the United States for allegedly peddling drugs.

Abena Korkor has on a few occasions admitted that she was jailed for 18 months in New York for trafficking heroin to pay for her Ukraine Medical School admission.

As usual, many turned her ordeal down as they thought was just one of her rants.

In the light of the very recent feud, A Plus has confirmed that indeed the mental health advocate spent months in prison with two of his good friends.

In his quest to put her check following her recent social media misbehaving, A Plus made the unfortunate revelation on his Instagram page.

“Abena Korkor sold cocaine in America and was jailed. She was in the same jail as my friend. Ask her if I am telling lies. She was in the same jail with two of my friends. If she thinks I am lying, she should drag me to court for defamation.

“Abena Korkor is a witch. For someone who is able to swallow cocaine, you should be scared of her. As for her followers, they don’t tell her anything sensible. You see that her big belly, it is storage and that where she swallows and keeps all her cocaine,” he said.

He went on to advise Abena Korkor to ponder over her future, follow her conscience and quit smoking.

Source: Modern Ghana

Former title-holders Renaissance Berkane of Morocco, Simba of Tanzania and Al Ittihad of Libya filled the three quarter-finals places up for grabs in the CAF Confederation Cup at the weekend.

Berkane edged ASEC Mimosas of the Ivory Coast 1-0, Simba trounced Gendarmerie Nationale of Niger 4-0 and Ittihad drew 0-0 with Orlando Pirates of South Africa.

Other former title-holders, TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Al Masry and Pyramids of Egypt, Al Ahly Tripoli of Libya and Pirates had secured last-eight places ahead of the final matchday.

A draw in Cairo on Tuesday will decide the quarter-finals line-up with the second seeds — the four group runners-up — hosting the first legs on April 17 and travelling the following weekend.

Apart from the Simba scoring spree, headed by two-goal Crispin Mugalu in Dar es Salaam, goals were scarce with eight matches producing just 11.

Most final-matchday interest centred on Group D with Berkane, Simba, ASEC and Gendarmerie all in contention for top-two finishes.

Home advantage proved decisive, although there was little to choose between Berkane and ASEC with DR Congo-born Chadrack Lukombe converting a 28th-minute penalty.

Gendarmerie held Simba for 62 minutes, then collapsed as Malian Sadio Kanoute broke the deadlock before Congolese Mugalu netted twice and Saidu Hamisu conceded an own-goal.

The biggest surprise was the failure of Pyramids, runners-up and semi-finalists in the last two editions of the second-tier African club compeitition, to top Group A.

Dramatic win

They had to settle for second place behind Ahly Tripoli despite a dramatic 1-0 win over Zanaco of Zambia in Cairo with Islam Issa grabbing a final-minute winner.

Ahly forced a 0-0 draw away to record three-time Confederation Cup winners CS Sfaxien of Tunisia in Rades and pipped Pyramids on head-to-head records.

The Libyans could face compatriots Ittihad in the quarter-finals after their Tripoli neighbours enjoyed considerable luck when holding Pirates in Soweto.

Goalkeeper Muad Allafi struggled when the ball was in the air while Pirates’ leading scorer in Africa this year, defender Bandile Shandu, fluffed a great chance by shooting tamely.

Drawing lifted Ittihad to 11 points in Group B, two behind Pirates but one ahead of JS Saoura from Algeria, who finished with a 2-0 away win over Royal Leopard of Eswatini.

After sensationally eliminating 2021 runners-up JS Kabylie of Algeria on away goals in a play-off, Leopard lost all six group games.

They were handicapped by having to stage home matches in South African city Mbombela because no stadium in the tiny kingdom of Eswatini meets international standards.

Masry surrendered top spot in Group C to Mazembe after falling 2-0 in the southern Congolese mining hub of Lubumbashi with Adam Nzali scoring twice.

It was an encouraging outcome for Mazembe, who have won 11 CAF titles but recently lost many of the ageing stars who made the Ravens a powerful international force during the past decade.

Source: Modern Ghana