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Bia East MP makes cash donation for road maintenance

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Mr Richard Acheampong, the Member of Parliament for Bia East Constituency in the Western North Region, has made a cash donation of GHC10,726 to the Adabokrom branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) for the maintenance of Adabokrom to Debeiso road.

The road had been in a deplorable state, making driving difficult on that stretch, especially at night

Mr Acheampong told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the donation was in response to an official request from the executives of Adabokrom GPRTU branch.

He noted that he liaised with the District Assembly’s ’s works engineer to carry out evaluation for works to begin on the road.

The gesture, he explained, formed part of his commitment to improve upon road networks in the constituency.

Mr Acheampong pledged his commitment to fix all other roads to help enhance economic activities, while guaranteeing the safety of motorists and road users.

Mr Isaac Asante, Secretary, Bia East District GPRTU and Trustee of Adabokrom Local Chapter of the Union, in an interview with the GNA, thanked the MP for the swift response to their request.

He mentioned the Adabokrom-Debeiso-Nkrankwanta road that linked Dormaa West and Adabokrom to Camp junction as some of the deplorable roads in the area and called on management of Roads and Highway Authority to initiate steps to fix them.

He said a contractor was working on the Adabokrom to Debeiso before the 2020 general election, but had left the site soon after the election.

He appealed to the authorities to find appropriate means to bring the contractor back to site to complete the work on that stretch of the road.

Make lands available for farming activities – President Akufo -Addo urges chiefs 

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The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appealed to chiefs and other traditional leaders to make lands easily available for large scale agricultural activities in the country. 

As custodians of the land, the chiefs have responsibility to release lands to facilitate large-scale commercial farming under the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) phase II project. 

President Akufo-Addo made the appeal at a round-table discussions with members of the National House of Chiefs in Kumasi. 

The meeting with the traditional authorities was to discuss and deliberate on the active involvement of chiefs in the second phase of the PFJ II project. 

It was initiated by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture headed by Mr Bryan Acheampong. 

The President indicated that agriculture remained the fuel that empowered all activities in Ghana, and it was important to position it firmly to play its leadership role in national development. 

He said despite the devastating effects of COVID-19 on global economies, the government had continued to strive hard to ensure economic sustainability through various interventions. 

Nana Akufo-Addo noted that the huge cost of paying for land upfront discouraged agriculture in the country and for this reason, the Government was moving away from the state land acquisition for agriculture purposes. 

He told the chiefs that unlike the past where governments acquired lands under the executive instrument for agricultural purposes, under the PFJ II, the government was going to look at a new policy direction to that effect. 

He explained that traditional authorities continued to serve as catalyst for development and played pivotal roles in the implementation of government programmes and policies. 

The President said through government policies and interventions in the agriculture sector, the fortunes of the country had begun to turn around systematically towards the micro -economic stability, despite the challenges of climate change. 

He stressed the need for the chieftaincy institution to continue to be indispensable and play an active part in the historic government project by releasing lands for the PFJ II farming activities. 

Present at the meeting were Mr Simon Osei Mensah, Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng, Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mr Kennedy Kankam, MCE for Asokore-Mampong, amongst others  

It was chaired by Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II, President of the National House of Chiefs. 

Bawumia proposes three policies on campaign tour in Krachi East 

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Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has announced some three policies he intended to implement if given the power by the governing Party delegates to contest as Flagbearer and eventually as the President in 2025. 

The policies are “One Constituency- One Godfather and mother”, “One Constituency-Ten appointment” and One Constituency-One welfare office,” which he intends to adopt to neutralise the discontentment between the base and the top of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).  

Dr Bawumia announced his intention in an address to delegates of the governing New NPP in the Krachi East constituency of the Oti Region ahead of November 4 election to elect a Flagbearer of the party to contest the 2024 general election.  

He explained that the three policies would be implemented to ensure that party members in every constituency were taken care of since they worked hard and brought the party into office. 

He said he had observed that when the party formed the government some constituencies did not get appointments from the over 7,000 privileged positions offered by the President and this slowed accelerated development, especially in the orphan constituencies. 

Dr Bawumia said he would ensure all Ministers and Chief Executives Officers would adopt one constituency to themselves and ensure that developmental projects were implemented in their respective adopted constituencies. 

He said he would create a welfare office in every Constituency for party members to have access to party support, including financial assistance. 

He said in his government all 275 constituencies in the country would have the opportunity to be represented in government. 

“Party loyalists tell me that when the party is voted into power to form a government, they are left out in the processes of governance,” he said, adding that was why he was coming up with the policies, which he believed if effectively utilised, the party and the government would be well integrated. 

Babies will get Ghana Card numbers middle of September – VEEP  

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– Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, a flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has announced that newborns would be issued national identification numbers by middle of September 2023. 

He said the move followed the successful integration of databases of the Births and Deaths Registry, the National Identification Authority and the Ghana Health Service. 

He stated that all babies born in Ghana, once they take them to post-natal or weigh in, would be issued the Ghana Card number and get their birth certificate identification number at the same time. 

Explaining further, Dr Bawumia said the policy was transformational and a game-changer as children would hold these numbers from “this time till death.” 

Dr Bawumia said this at Krachi East constituency during an interaction with the polling station executives, area coordinators, founding members, constituency executives and regional executives. 

He said Ghana Card was increasingly becoming the single source of proof of identity, its unique number serving multiple purposes, from registration for Social Security, as a National Health Insurance Scheme number and an individual’s tax identification number. 

The Presidential candidate hopeful emphasized that the government’s ongoing digitalisation agenda was an ample testimony of its appreciation of Artificial intelligence and the commitment to ensure that the country was not left behind. 

“The NPP government is focused on pursuing digitalisation as part of our economic strategy because the Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us and we must be part of the modern world,” he said. 

Airstrikes kill over 40 in Khartoum’s market as fighting intensifies

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At least 46 people were murdered in airstrikes on a market south of Khartoum on Sunday, September 10, according to activists and a medical organisation.

The attack in Khartoum’s May area, where paramilitary forces were severely outnumbered by the military, left more than 50 people injured, according to a statement from the Sudan Doctors’ Union.

The injured and the deceased were sent to Bachar, which houses the closest hospital. It is one of the newest systems still in use in Khartoum, where around 5 million people are cooped up in their houses without running water or electricity the majority of the day.

The RSF blamed the military’s air force for Sunday’s attack, whiile the military said that it didn’t target civilians, describing the RSF accusations as “false and misleading claims.”

Sudan has been rocked by violence since mid-April, when tensions between the country’s strongmen, army general Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary general by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, burst into open fighting.

The conflict has since spread to several parts of the country. In the Greater Khartoum area, RSF troops have commandeered civilian homes and turned them into operational bases. The military responded by bombing these residential areas, rights groups and activists say.

The number of internally displaced persons has nearly doubled since mid-April to reach at least 7.1 million people, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

Following the earthquake, calls to Morocco are free.

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All French mobile phone operators are offering their customers free calls and text messages to Morocco, which has been hit by a violent earthquake, the French Minister for Digital Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot announced on Sunday.

“Following the tragic earthquake, calls and text messages to Morocco will be free for customers of the operators @bouyguestelecom, @free, @orange and @SFR. Absolute solidarity with the victims, their families and loved ones”, wrote the Minister on his X (ex-Twitter) account.

SFR will be joining the other operators whose customers are already benefiting from free calls to Morocco from “this evening at midnight”, he added.

Morocco was hit on Friday evening by a devastating earthquake that killed at least 2,000 people.

Morocco’s earthquake survivors have requested further assistance from authorities.

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A lady in sobs. Following Friday’s earthquake, nothing remains of the community of Imine Tala in Morocco’s southwest.

With little help from authorities, people had to rely on themselves for search and rescue activities on Sunday (Sep. 10).

Hada, a local, laments that the remains of the bridegroom, his wife, and his sister are buried beneath the debris. “There was no one around to retrieve the bodies. We request that you make our concerns known to the authorities. We request that the road be unblocked.”

According to government numbers revised late Sunday, the quake killed at least 2000,122 people.

The 6.8-magnitude quacked wiped out entire villages in the hills of the Atlas Mountains.

“People are very depressed here, the village of Imine Tala is completely demolished,” one unnamde villagher reveals. 

Moroccan rescuers use their bare hands to dig for survivors.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Marrakesh hotel is not providing shelter to earthquake victims in Morocco.

“There is no one left to help. The cliff fell on them. The people are still under the rubble and no one can remove the stones, and the authorities haven’t yet sent the equipment to remove them, as they haven’t done so for three days. You can smell the corpses everywhere. It’s a shame the authorities haven’t helped these people.”

In other parts of the country, the Moroccan Red Crescent and army lead the rescue effort.

West of Imine Tale in Amziz, other survivors have found refuge in tents.

“In the areas in the high mountains the road is difficult, and we hope the government and the civil society will be able to bring aid to those villages which are difficult to reach because they have nothing there, so in God’s will they will receive aid,” Mostafa Ushun says.

In addition to Spain, Morocco announced on Sunday it had accepted aid from Britain, Qatar, and the UAE.

The North African country’s strongest-ever left over 2,400 injured.

Friday’s quake struck 72 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of the tourist hub of Marrakesh, wiping out entire villages in the hills of the Atlas mountains.

On Sunday (Sep. 10) an aftershock of magnitude 4.5 rattled the same region.

Gabon’s Prime Minister thinks two years is “realistic” for a restoration to civilian administration.

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Gabon's interim Prime Minister Raymond Ndong Sima reacts during an interview in Libreville on September 10, 2023. A two-year transition before the free elections promised by Gabon's new military rulers is a "reasonable objective" the new prime minister they appointed told AFP in an interview on September 10, 2023. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

A two-year timetable for free elections announced by the military that deposed President Ali Bongo in Gabon is a “realistic goal,” the interim Prime Minister told AFP on Sunday.

On August 30, the army deposed Ali Bongo Ondimba, who had been in power for 14 years, seconds after he was pronounced re-elected in a poll that the military and opposition both judged fraudulent.

General Brice Oligui Nguema, the transitional President, promptly vowed to relinquish control to civilians through elections at the conclusion of a term he did not specify.

Raymond Ndong Sima, a civilian appointed Prime Minister by the military last Thursday, said: “It’s a good idea to start with a reasonable objective and say: we hope to see the process completed in 24 months, so that we can return to elections”, adding that this period could be “slightly longer or shorter”.

Mr. Ndong Sima, 68, was appointed head of the transitional government by General Oligui Nguema. He was previously a leading opposition figure to Mr. Bongo.

The coup d’état on August 30 took place in a matter of moments and without any bloodshed.

The military putschists, who enjoy the support of the vast majority of the population and the opposition, claim to have acted to “preserve human lives” after a fraudulent election and to put an end to the “bad governance” and “corruption” of which they accuse the Bongo clan.

On Saturday, Mr. Ndong Sima announced the composition of his government, appointed by General Oligui and comprising former ministers of the deposed president, members of the former opposition and civil society figures previously hostile to Mr. Bongo and his family, who had ruled the country for over 55 years.

The transitional charter put in place by the military prohibits members of the provisional government, including Mr. Ndong Sima, from standing in the forthcoming elections, but does not explicitly exclude General Oligui from running for the presidency.

General Oligui has also promised a new constitution, to be adopted by referendum, and a new electoral code, with the participation of “all the living forces of the Nation”.

“The principle announced by the military “is that there is no longer any opposition or majority, so we are taking people from all political families”, commented the Prime Minister.

“The people who are going to (…) prepare various texts, will discuss this aspect of things, i.e. the duration (of the transition), and who is really entitled to run and not to run,” explained Mr. Ndong Sima.

“It would not be a good idea for the military to run, for them to be impartial and objective arbiters of the election”, he felt, however.

Hands free?

General Oligui Nguema’s appointment to the Presidency of the transition and to the military committee that forms his close team, of officers in charge of most of the same sectors as Mr. Ndong Sima’s ministers, raises the question of the autonomy and room for manoeuvre of his civilian government.

“It’s nothing new to have heads of departments working alongside the President (of Gabon), acting as an interface between the President and the ministerial departments,” Mr. Ndong Sima said.

“Will my hands be free? That, I can’t say at the moment, we’ll see” and “it will depend on what the military want to achieve”, he felt, adding: “If they want to achieve a satisfactory result, it will be in their interest to leave their hands free to those they have called”.

Even Norway’s national team coach believes Inter Milan superstar Lionel Messi to defeat Manchester City attacker Haaland to the Ballon d’Or in 2023.

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Erling Haaland is a strong contender for the Ballon d’Or in 2023, but even Norway’s national team coach believes Lionel Messi should win.

Manchester City striker Haaland scored 52 goals in all competitions last season, helping his club win a Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup triple. His achievements have put him in contention for his first Ballon d’Or.

Given that he works with the prolific 23-year-old at international level, Norway manager Stale Solbakken would be expected to side with Haaland in any debate over the best player on the planet, but when asked for his pick, he told VG: “If you ask me who I think will win, I’ll say Messi, thanks to his World Cup victory. It is still having an effect.”

  • Erling Haaland Manchester City 2023-24GettyWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?Haaland is not paying too much attention to the race for prestigious individual accolades and has told France Football when asked if he is capable of pipping Messi to a major honour: “It’s a trick question. I’m definitely up there. Am I the best? Maybe. I know I can still improve a great deal. I’m still young. But yes, I believe I have a chance this year.”

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Marrakesh hotel is not providing shelter to earthquake victims in Morocco.

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A hotel in Marrakesh owned by Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is not providing refuge to victims of Morocco’s deadly earthquake.

On Friday, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake devastated the rocky High Atlas area.

Nearly 2,000 people have died as a consequence of the natural catastrophe, and many more have been injured or are still missing.

Lionel Messi is among those who have sent condolences to the region.

According to reports, Ronaldo has made the Pestana CR7 Marrakesh hotel open to individuals in need of refuge, but the hotel has stated that this is not the case.

A hotel spokeswoman told Liberation that “this is fake information.” All of our current customers have made usual reservations.”

The old town area of Marrakesh – which is a UNESCO World Heritage site – has been hit hard by the powerful earthquake.

Several buildings and walls have collapsed, while narrow alleyways are making it difficult for the injured to be escorted to safety.

Town squares have been converted into makeshift emergency shelters housing food, water and beds.

The Morocco national football team have been doing their bit to aid the rescue efforts, with players donating blood to help support victims.

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