Muntari Clash with Sports Minister

Sulley Ali Muntari has been engaged in an angry exchange of words with the Minister of Sport of the country in the full view of the rest of the playing body of the Black Stars.

Alhaji Muntaka Mubabrak Mohammed, the new government appointee, has confirmed that the incident took place at the Black Stars team last week Wednesday before the weekend’s World Cup qualifier against Benin.

The Inter Milan player clashed with the minister in a rift over the bonuses as the minister met the Black Stars over money for the World Cup qualifiers.

While the minister claims he had insisted that the bonuses be maintained at US$8,000 as the players wanted US$10,000, insiders say government had proposed to reduce it to US$6,000 per win.

Mohammed is reported to have warned the Black Stars that they will be replaced by the national U-20 team if they reject the offer to reduce the bonus which launched him into the confrontation with Muntari.

The angry exchange of rhetoric so soured relations that Muntari dared the minister to bring the Black Satellites to play against Benin instead of the Black Stars

Mohammed said: “Yes an incident took place at the Novotel Hotel while I was discussing the bonuses issue.

“The captain and other senior players in the squad came to apologise to me over the incident and now the issue is closed.”

Despite claims by the minister that the issue has been resolved the strained relationship was evident on Sunday when Muntaka inspected both teams.

His handshake to the Inter Milan player was not firm as he did with the other players and Muntari also looked away as the minister approached him.

Source:
ghanasoccernet.com

Apologize to former President Kufuor-ANUF

Kumasi, March 31, GNA – The Asante United Front (ANUF), a pressure group, has asked the Osu Traditional Council and the Ga-Adangbe Youth to retract their threats to eject former President John Agyekum Kufuor from a private office accommodation at Ridge in Accra and to apologize to the nation.

This, it said, was necessary for unity and cohesion in the country. The Front, in a statement signed by its spokesman, Mr Yaw Boateng, in Kumasi, said it found the open demonstration towards the former President by the two groups as both “unfortunate and unbecoming.” The Constitution of Ghana, the ANUF noted, allowed “citizens to live” wherever they chose within the country, adding, “it is unthinkable for any group of people or an individual to arrogate to himself the power to decide where a fellow citizen should settle and make a living out of the environment.”

It warned that if the Osu Chiefs and Ga-Adangbe Youth persisted in their campaign, it could be forced to organize series of demonstrations to bring pressure on Government to return acquired lands by the State in other regions to their lawful owners.

The statement said people should not forget that Accra owed its present status to the hard work of all Ghanaians and, particularly, to the natural resources from other parts of the country outside the national Capital.
Source:
GNA

Why Nigerians Are Investing in Ghana by Veep

Ghanaian Vice-President John Dramani Mahama has attributed the increasing exodus of Nigerian businessmen and other investors into the country to what he called a safe, secure, politically stable democratic environment in place in Ghana.

He said it was reassuring that in this period of global economic meltdown, Ghana continued to see an increase in interest in foreign investors willing to invest in the country.

Mahama spoke at the weekend in Accra, Ghana at the launch of a Nigerian company, eTransact, which is engaged in electronic payment system.

“All over the world, investors are sensitive to the business and political environment and would only put their capital in environment that they consider safe, secure and conducive. I believe that the current spate of interest of the investor community is the result of what we have been able to achieve collectively as a nation since the adoption of the 1992 Constitution- a safe, secure, politically stable democratic nation in which the rule of law is faithfully upheld,” he said.

By investing in Ghana, the country’s vice-president said eTransact was introducing into the country a facility that in today’s IT driven world had become very imperative for economic growth.

“The use of any electronic transactions platform would reduce the need for cash and would enhance the creation of credit by the financial sector. It would also reduce the huge outlay we spend on currency printing at the moment,” Mahama said.

The launch held at the State House, Accra, Ghana was attended among others by the Ghanaian Minister of Commerce Haruna Idrissu; Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Paul Acquah; Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the country, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro; bank executives and captains of industry in Ghana and their counterparts in Nigeria.

The Global CEO of eTransact Valentine Obi said eTransact Ghana was set up to provide cutting edge innovative financial switching and electronic payment solutions for the Ghanaian financial sector.

He described the company as a pan-African organisation with operations in four other African countries and the United Kingdom.

Obi said most African countries were deeply cash-based economies with over 60 per cent of money outside the banking system, disclosing that eTransact was out to take African payment system to the next level.

According to him, the mission of eTransact is to provide secure, convenient and cost effective means to make and receive payments.

Harnessing the power of internet, mobile phone, ATM and POS terminals, Obi said eTransact is positioned to be the leading global financial switching solution in Africa and worldwide.

Acquah, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, said the country’s financial sector remained healthy following some transformation it had gone through.

He said the sector had been built on a set of legislation and regulations that had established a framework for the development of a modern banking and financial services industry.

Source:
Thisday (Nigeria)

Teachers working in deprived areas must have special incentives

Mampong (Ash), March 30, GNA – Prof Richard Tuyee Awuah, Principal of the College of Agriculture Education, University of Education Winneba, Mampong Campus, has suggested incentives for teachers working in deprived areas.

“Rural areas are generally not attractive to workers so teachers who opt to work in such places must receive special incentives to motive them,” he said. Prof Awuah was speaking at the Mampong Municipal/Sekyere Central Ghana National Association of Teachers Third Quadrennial Delegates Conference at Asante-Mampong.

He said incentives might include motorbikes on hire purchase, allowances and better study leave conditions. Others can be obligatory transfer to an urban area after serving for a period of time, tax relief, establishment of loan schemes with subsidized interest rates and rapid progression along the professional ladder. Prof Awuah said children of teachers could be assisted to access quality education.

“The teacher is the pivot around which quality education revolves. Without the teacher, reforms and the restructuring processes remain mirages,” he said. Mr. Frank Yaw Musah, Mampong Municipal Director of Education, appealed to teachers to be committed and dedicated to win the confidence of stakeholders.
Source:
GNA

Ghana 1-0 Benin Full time!

Scorer: Prince Tagoe (1′)
56min Kwadjo Asamoah for Amoah
73min Asamoah Gyan for Appiah
82′ Vorsah for Muntari
Starting Lineup:
Richard Kingston
John Paintsil, Jonathan Quartey, Eric Addo, Samuel Inkoom
Stephen Appiah/A. Gyan, Michael Essien, Anthony Annan, Sulley Muntari/Vorsah
Mathew Amoah/K. Asamoah, Prince Tagoe.

Kick-off: Sunday, March 29 2009, 17:00(GMT) Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Kumasi.

Source:
GHP

“Let’s make Ghana a better place” – First Lady

Aburi (E/R), March 29, GNA – The First Lady, Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, has called on Ghanaians to rise up to the challenge of making Ghana a better place for all to live in. She said Ghana has great potentials to becoming a great nation and that this could be achieved if all hands are on deck to build it. She was speaking at the 60th Speech and Prize-Giving Day of Aburi Girls Senior High School at Aburi on Saturday. The event was marked under the theme: “Dare to dream, Yes we can”. Mrs Mills, an old student and a former teacher of the school, paid glowing tribute to the founding fathers, teachers and all those who had contributed towards making it a great girls’ educational institution in the country.

Mrs Sylvia Asempa, the Headmistress, said the school moved from 91.7 percent at the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 2003 to 100 percent last year. She said currently, it is rated to be among the best five top schools that feed the universities, adding that out of 378 students presented for the WASSCE last year, 365 qualified to enter the university.

Mrs Asempa said the school achieved such high academic results through innovative policies, strict supervision, improved infrastructure, congenial atmosphere, team work, commitment, dedication and motivation for the teachers.

She said effective motivation of teachers was imperative for the achievement of the national goal to enhance education. “But if the nation continues to live on the slogan that teachers’ reward is in heaven, the youth and human resources of the country will also continue to reap mediocrity,” she held.

Mr Yonny Kulendi, a lawyer, advised the students to avoid alcohol and bad friends because they could destroy their dreams. Deserving students were presented with prizes while the Senior House Mistress, Ms Agnes Wendy Adu, who was retiring after 33 years’ service, was given an Opel saloon car by the school.

Source:
GNA

Kwesi Pratt blasts NDC

Kwesi Pratt Jnr., Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper has accused some elements in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) of repeating mistakes of the previous government just three months into Atta Mills’ administration.

“I am beginning to see what happened in the past, and if they think they can get away with it like the NPP, they lie bad, because the good people of Ghana will resist it. If they don’t stop that I will be first to vote against them in 2012″, he warned.

Addressing hundreds of NDC supporters of the Takoradi Polytechnic chapter of the Tertiary Education Network of the NDC (TEIN) in Takoradi on Thursday, Mr. Pratt said officials in the sitting government must desist from past mistakes and emulate what he termed as the “modest and dignified lifestyle of President John Evans Ana Mills”.

Mr. Pratt, whiles admonishing the modest lifestyle of the president warned against the president getting to slow saying he must step up his actions to achieve the change the Ghanaians called for in December 2008 elections.

“He may be all that he claims he is, but sometimes in government you need to bite a little. Too much nonsense is going on in our country, if Kufuor will not take the Chrysler saloon cars, then he can leave it.”

According to the ace journalist despite the change of government there were still power struggles between the ruling party and the opposition party, due to what he termed as ’square pegs still in round holes’. He cautioned that “Change will not come about with the old machinery and old people still at post,” adding “we need to see urgency in certain areas because the people of Ghana want change and want it now.”

He alleged that the opposition NPP was still controlling some regional security councils in the country, which to him was unacceptable and dangerous to the prospects of the ruling National Democratic Congress.

Mr. Pratt also charged President Mills and the government to be responsible enough to reduce the complex lexicon used to describe the economy to the barest understanding of the ordinary Ghanaian, saying “Hungry people do not care about inflation, they do not care about interest rates, they do not care about GDP, micro and macro economic indicators, what they care for is food,” he pointed out.

Source:
The Chronicle

Kufuor and 17 others receive awards

Kumasi, March 29, GNA – Former President John Agyekum Kufuor and 17 others were on Saturday honoured by the Sports Union of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi for their immense contribution to sports development in the country.

A citation accompanying a shield which read, “Your tenure of office saw Ghana achieve a breakthrough in most sporting disciplines due to the institution of proactive programmes”, was received on behalf of the former President by Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia.

It added “We commend you for the motivation you gave Ghanaian athletes which gingered them to strive for excellence in their fields of endeavour”.

The 17 other award winners included technocrats, corporate institutions and students were also honoured for their varied roles in raising the standards of sports at the KNUST and the nation in general. They were also presented with certificates, plaques and souvenirs. Professor Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwah, Vice-Chancellor of the KNUST in a speech read on his behalf at the ceremony, praised the Sports Union for instituting the awards.

He said sports has the potential of changing the future of the youth for the better and called on corporate bodies to invest in it. Mr Kwaku Prempeh, Head Coach of the University appealed to student-athletes to be disciplined at all times for the realization of their God-given talents.

Dr Opoku-Prempeh on behalf of the awards winners thanked the University for the honour done them and said it would urge them on to strive for greater heights. 29 March 09

Source:
GNA

Asantehene visits Black Stars at training

Kumasi, March 29, GNA – Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, at the week-end defied heavy rains to give moral and spiritual support to the senior national team, the Black Stars during their training session at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.

The Stars play their Benin counterparts in a FIFA World Cup/Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Sunday. The Asantehene was accompanied by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, Mr Kofi Poku Manu, Ashanti Regional Minister and officials of the National Sports Council (NSC) and Ghana Football Association (GFA).

No sooner had the Asantehene arrived at the stadium when the rains started but he stood his grounds, defied the downpour and interacted with both the handlers and the playing body. Otumfuo Osei Tutu told the team that the whole of Asanteman and the entire nation were solidly united behind them and expressed confidence that they would not disappoint.

He said he recognizes the tremendous contributions of the Stars through their dazzling performances on the football pitch which he noted has made them to lift high the image of the country. The Asantehene advised the players against complacency and asked that they approach all the qualifying matches with seriousness, determination, dedication and strong sense of discipline. Skipper Stephen Appiah said they had been inspired by the Asantehene’s visit and were not going to let the nation down. “We have every reason to believe that with Otumfuo’s support we would go to places”. Appiah said the players and their handlers were well-focused on the job they had on their hands and appealed to the fans to back them with their prayers.
Source:
GNA

Interim Management Committee soon to handle Hasaacas FC

Sekondi, March 29, GNA – An Interim Management Committee (IMC) would soon be formed to replace the Management Committee of Sekondi Hasaacas Football Club headed by Nanabanyin Eyeson. The proposed nine-member IMC would comprise of three representatives each from the Patrons and Supporters Union, while the present Management of the club would have two representatives and the Old Players Association one representative.

Mr Andrews Kweku Arthur, a spokesman for the Patrons of Hasaacas who announced this at an emergency meeting at Sekondi on Saturday said the formation of the IMC is to end several weeks of wrangling, accusations and counter accusations between the Management and a section of the Supporters Union known as, the Concerned Supporters group. The impasse, he noted has in no small way contributed to the abysmal performance of Hasaacas in the on-going Premier League adding that decisive measures have to be taken to ensure absolute peace if the Club was to remain among the elite League in the next soccer season. Representatives of the various stakeholders would have to be presented to the club’s Patrons within one week.

At the meeting, some leading members of the concerned supporters group accused some top management members of the club of bribing them with three thousand Ghana cedis “to keep their mouths shut”. “One thousand cedis of the bribe has already been paid with the remaining amount was to be paid next Wednesday”. Salu Ahmed, a member of the “Extra O” branch supporters union said he personally collected the money in two installments at the Excell Beach Resort and Fijai Junction on the 24th and 27th March.

A conversation between a leader of the concerned supporters group and a top management official over the bribe and mode of payment that was recorded was played at the meeting to give credence to the accusations of bribery and malfeasance. Relegation threatened Sekondi Hasaacas is currently at the bottom of the league table and the supporters pledged to work hard to reverse the trend if the Patrons evolved measures to ensure sanity in the club’s management.
Source:
GNA

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