http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum?group=1 Simple:Press Forum Version 4.0.4 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/la-palm-launch-food-culture-festival/#p181 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/la-palm-launch-food-culture-festival/#p181 [/caption]The LA Palm Royal Beach hotel in Accra will be heating up the city with what it describes as a week of food, arts and entertainment. The plush hotel, which is one of the finest international hotels in the West African sub-region, is organizing the first ever Italian food and culture festival. The one-week event is scheduled to take place from September 10 and will run till September 16, where all kinds of Italian dishes and the best of Italian culture will be on display. The festival, among other objectives to treat the hotel’s wide range of clientele, is anticipated to exude the feeling of being at an authentic Italian neighbourhood street festival in Italy without leaving Accra. At the festival’s launch on Thursday at the La Palm Beach Hotel, General Manager, Mino Miseo, said the festival is aimed at exposing Ghanaians and other nationals in Accra to Italian culinary and arts. It is also aimed at promoting culture exchange and networking, whiles fostering ethnic sensitivity and diversity. According to him, the ceremony will be the first of his outfit’s planned series of cultural and food exhibitions. He thus emphasized that the September event “will feature authentic Italian food and music, all in a family-friendly atmosphere. There will also be raffle draws aimed at assisting some charitable organizations.” The launching ceremony was however attended by a number of the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel officials as well as the inky fraternity, including BEATWAVES.The festival will kick-start with a grand opening at the hotel’s Adae Kesse Hall on September 10, at exactly 6:30pm. This will feature live band performances from the Italian Folklore Group and Ghana Dance Ensemble, among others. Besides the array of Italian dishes and that of Ghana, there will also be a photo exhibition of famous tourist sites in Italy and Ghana. To crown it all, there will be a raffle with attractive prizes which include spending savoring moments at any of the Golden Beach Hotels. The hotel’s Damba Hall will subsequently host the festival from September 11 to 16 every night, with a variety of interesting activities. The festival, which is intended to be an annual event, is being sponsored by Alitalia, DHL, Architect Farcomeni & Associate Co. Limited. Source: Daily Guide ]]> Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:01:49 +0000 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/glo-dribbles-ghanaian-celebrities/#p180 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/glo-dribbles-ghanaian-celebrities/#p180 [/caption]It was all joy and excitement when news came last year that about 17 Ghanaian celebrities ranging from musicians, movie stars and soccer stars have been signed on as brand ambassadors for the new mobile Telecommunication entrant to Ghana; Globacom to throw their already made respective images, behind the Nigerian based company. The celebrities namely: Nadia Buari, Van Vicker, Junior Agogo, Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Reggie Rockstone, Jackie Appiah, Ayigbe Edem, Asem, Wutah, Tinny, Serifatu, Irene Logan, Paapa Yankson, Amakye Dede, Pat Thomas and Becca (who was unveiled separately). They were reportedly signed for between GH¢50, 000 and GH¢ 100,000. Though this was a positive development for the celebrities involved and the showbiz industry in general, both Glo and the ambassadors refused to disclose the exact amount in the deal. This gave room for speculations, several unanswered questions, and countless controversies. The whole hullabaloo started when high life singer Amakye Dede was sidelined in the first phase of branding. The ‘serious’ singer was conspicuously missing on the several giant billboards mounted in town with huge pictures of stars introducing the new brand. At the time, Amakyi Dede said on Peace FM’s “Entertainment Review”: “Glo have signed me and as far as I am concerned, they have not given me any letter saying they have terminated my contract. So for me, I know I am still with Glo. They took pictures of all of us so if they have decided not use my picture, it is their own problem”. As at the time of filing this report, after several months, Amakye Dede’s picture had still not been used.[caption id="attachment_29076" align="alignright" width="230" caption="Abrantie Amakye Dede, has been left out of the Glo glory."][/caption] It’s been one year since the Glo endorsement deal was signed, and almost all the celebrities have not received full payment of their money. According to a source at Glo, most of the celebrities were paid 75% of the full amount and the remaining 25% paid before the end of the contract. Interestingly, Amakyi Dede, Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Pat Thomas, Paapa Yankson and others who were signed on for one year, ended their contract with the Nigerian based telecommunication company in June this year, but are yet to receive the 25% remaining. Speaking on Peace FM’s “Entertainment Review” last Saturday, September 4, 2010 Amakye Dede said: “Since June when my contract expired, they have not been able to pay me the 25% remaining up till now. They called me, Pat Thomas and Paapa Yankson, and they told us they will renew our contracts and we told them that we are ready; but they have to pay us the remaining 25% before. They agreed to pay us the money in that same week but from the first week of July up till now, I haven’t heard from them. When you call them, they keep postponing the date of payment”, Amakye said. Gyedu Blay Ambolley also expressed the same sentiment on the program: “We keep communicating with them about renewing our contract and also get our remaining 25%. If these are done and everything is cleared, then we can open a new page, then we move on”, he said. However, Ambolley who traveled outside the country added that he was going to meet with his colleague musicians for an amicable solution. On his part, “Okukuseku” singer Paapa Yankson said: “Just like Amakye and Ambolley, I also have 25% to receive from Glo”. When host Kwasi Aboagye asked him when and how he intends to get his money, Paapa said “I think the money is in Nigeria that is why it is delaying. So I think they are waiting to give us the money in their own time. I have spoken to the Glo people but they keep on assuring you to come next time and when you go they tell you to come next week again. They have been doing this since the 30th of June but we will use dialogue to collect our money. I think that all this is happening, perhaps because Glo has not taken off in Ghana yet”, Paapa stated. Information gathered by peacefmonline.com indicates that all the other Ghanaian Glo ambassadors whose contract ranges between two to three years have also not received their money in full, and they are yet to know if their contract will be extended and when Glo will fulfill their part of the contract. Meanwhile, Glo splashed millions of Naira on its Nigerian ambassadors few days ago, signing new contracts and renewing old ones. Officials of the Globacom in Ghana has refused to comment on the issue. Source: Eugene Osafo-Nkansah/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana ]]> Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:56:00 +0000 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/photo-nana-addo-cries-for-atiwa/#p179 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/photo-nana-addo-cries-for-atiwa/#p179 The spectacle of peeled skin of two New Patriotic Party (NPP) sympathizers nearly moved the flag-bearer of the party, Nana Akufo Addo, to tears when he visited them at the Enyiresi Government Hospital in the Atiwa district of the Eastern region on Sunday. Eleven people sustained various degrees of injury when a Toyota Prado car allegedly belonging to the women’s organizer of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) ran into then at a roadblock at Abomosu last Tuesday, during the bye-election. Nana Akufo-Addo first visited 18-years-old Isaac Agyemang Duah at the regional hospital at Koforidua where he had been referred to, owing to complications in his fractured leg before visiting the other two victims at Enyiresi. After Enyiresi, he went to Abomosu where the gory incident happened, to visit the rest of the injured sympathizers. He assured all the injured people that the party was solidly behind them and would do everything to assist them in their pains. “I heard everything that took place on that fateful day and I have decided to come here myself to have a firsthand knowledge and also sympathize with you and your families,” he said at Abomosu. Daily Guide learnt that the Party had deposited an undisclosed amount of money with the hospital authorities to take care of the hospital expenses and other needs of the victims. The NPP flag-bearer took time to visit the victims after attending the closing ceremony of a two-day orientation work shop for regional party executives from the Eastern, Ashanti and Volta regions at Koforidua. Nana’s presence at the Enyiresi hospital also gave hope to workers on duty and huge relief to the mother of one on the victims who momentarily abandoned the sick people to exchange pleasantries with the flag-bearer. Speaking on Eastern FM, the flag-bearer called for proper investigations into the incident, saying Ghana is too democratically matured to be experiencing these acts of violence during bye-elections. According to him, the violence during the Atiwa bye-election should tell Ghanaians about the nature of NDC.“During the reign of NPP, we had several of such bye-elections but did not hear such disturbances. However, Akwatia, Chereponi and Atiwa elections all under NDC’s tenure had been characterized by massive violence, leading to many people being maimed,” he said. “I believe what happened at Atiwa would be a big wake-up call for all Ghanaians to ensure that NDC does not plunge this country, which is a beacon of Africa, into political violence.” Nana Akufo-Addo explained that Ghana had enjoyed relative peace resulting from a stable democracy and any attempt to dent that image would have serious repercussions on the country. “Everywhere in the world, people see Ghana as the star of Africa in terms of functioning democracy and peaceful investment destination and it is incumbent on the Mills administration to preserve that reputation and not destroy it,” he stressed, adding that the NPP was very much concerned about recent developments in the country. The newly-elected NPP Member of Parliament for Atiwa, Amoako-Atta added that the party will seriously take the matter up. According to him, they had already lodged a complaint with the police and are waiting for their response before further actions. Source: Daily Guide ]]> Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:48:09 +0000 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/gbcs-volta-radio-throws-out-akufo-addo-you-cant-be-on-our-station/#p178 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/gbcs-volta-radio-throws-out-akufo-addo-you-cant-be-on-our-station/#p178 Management of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation’s Volta Star Radio has literally thrown out the 2012 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, by refusing him access to the state-run radio station. The NPP’s 2012 Presidential Candidate begun a regional based ‘thank-you’ tour exercise to show appreciation to the entire NPP family across the country that made it possible for him to be re-elected as the party’s flag bearer to lead them into the 2012 general elections. He has so far been to the Central, Eastern and Ashanti regions and is scheduled to visit the Greater Accra and Western regions respectively, after his trip to the Volta Region today. According to monitored reports gleaned from JoyFM, Nana Addo was scheduled to be in the studios of the state-run Volta Star Radio on Tuesday morning, September 7th. However, quite strangely and for no readily apparent reason, the NPP flagbearer was told the station could not host him, this is in spite of assurances that the NPP was ready to pay for the cost of airtime. Meanwhile, the Volta Regional branch of the opposition NPP led by its Chairman, Mr. Ken Nuworsu, in an interview with JoyFM, described the incident as unfortunate and a disgrace, condemning it in no uncertain terms. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana ]]> Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:45:37 +0000 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/ghana-is-on-google-map/#p177 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/ghana-is-on-google-map/#p177 Almost all Ghanaian geeks already know that Ghana is one of the 30 African countries now on Google Map and if you did not know, well now you know. Yesterday when I told a friend about the fact that Ghana was now on Google Map, he just looked at me and said ‘Ghana is on Google Map…and so what? If you are asking the same question, here are five benefits of us being on Google Map. 1. Better search results for places - Most Ghanaians use Google as their choice search engine, with Google Maps, if you are searching for a place, city, town or village in Ghana, chance at that you will get the most accurate results as well as the exact geographical information. 2. Easy location of businesses. Google Maps users can easily find local businesses within the country. This could be a burger place in Dansoman, a garage in Takoradi, a hairdresser on KNUST campus or even Aunty Muni’s waakye. Any business anywhere in Ghana can add their own business listing for free via the Google Maps Local Business Centre. Businesses can also improve their websites and help customers locate them by installing the Maps API. 3. Power up your mobile phone. With almost all mobile phone networks in Ghana providing internet services, with Google Maps for Mobile you can easily find map information whilst travelling or driving…once your handset is data enabled. So you do not need to tell your friend who is attending your grandfather’s funeral at your village that ‘when you get to the first junction turn right, then count six t-junctions and turn left, under the tree ask of Tanokrom and then turn left’….the typical Ghanaian ‘Traveller’s Guide’ you give your friends is toooooo ‘colo’. 4. Useful for institutions and organisations. Google Maps can be invaluable to governments, NGOs, universities and entrepreneurs, who need to visualise, plan and market the areas and projects that they work on. 5. Power up your online experience. Ever thought about creating your own map for a specific event like a wedding so you can share it with friends? You can do this using the popular, easy to use ‘My Maps’ feature, which allows users to add their favourite locations and destinations to Google Maps and include their photos, comments and reviews about each place. So now you have five reasons to try out Google Maps Source: Mr BBB (Blogger By Birth) ]]> Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:30:16 +0000 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/rawlings-in-court-over-oil-deal/#p176 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/rawlings-in-court-over-oil-deal/#p176 The names of President Mills and his political godfather former, President Jerry John Rawlings, popped up last Thursday at an Aflao Circuit Court presided over by Francis Obiri. Their names came up over a fake crude oil deal in which some three persons have been arraigned for defrauding a businessman to the tune of 2800,000 CFA. The three, Torbgui Nyatefeko Zogbla, farmer, Ibrahim Saed, footballer and Torbgui Awuvi Badagbor, farmer, have been charged with conspiracy to commit crime and defrauding by false pretences. The suspects, in their quest to defraud the complainant, introduced someone to him as a brother of ex-President Rawlings and later sent him to a place they claimed was the Castle where they intended meeting President Mills. Sergeant Awuni, prosecuting, said the complainant in the case is a trader and lives at Agbodeka in Togo while the first and third suspects live at Beat ‘9’ and Akosah Park, suburbs of Aflao. The second suspect is a footballer and lives in Togo. The prosecutor explained that somewhere last year, Zogbla a friend of the complainant’s, invited him to his house where he met Saed and Badagbor and introduced them to the complainant as his business partners who dealt in crude oil. They therefore asked the complainant to invest 1,500,000CFA in the crude oil business so that within five months, his money would double. Two weeks later, the complainant brought the said amount which was received and a document titled STE I.G.C LTD, written in French, acknowledging receipt of the said amount and indicated it would be doubled to 3000,000 CFA within five months. Later, they called the complainant and gave him a letter headed ‘Official Recognition by the National Petroleum Authority’ and dated April 3, 2009, assuring him that their business was on course. They later took the complainant to the Registrar General’s Office in Accra where only the suspects went inside the offices and returned to tell the complainant that all was well. They later went to the house of one Michael Soussoudis where he was allegedly introduced to the complainant as the brother of former President Rawlings. Mr. Soussoudis is reported to have cautioned the suspects to do genuine business. The suspects again asked the complainant to give them 600,000 CFA to enable them to go and see some powerful people at the Osu Castle. After giving them the said amount, he was taken to a place in Accra alleged to be the castle. He was however made to stand by the roadside of the alleged castle with Zogbla and Badagbor, while Saed went inside. He later returned to tell them he had finished arranging everything. On his return, he gave the complainant a photograph of President Mills and a recorded CD of his swearing-in ceremony at the Independence Square. They later made the complainant an advisor to the company and additionally gave him several letters, day after day, some headed, ‘Issue of Concern,’ ‘Alert Note,’ which were allegedly signed by Stanley Bannor, Chief Executive of Ministry of Energy and allegedly copied to Mr. Soussoudis and the first and second suspects. The letters indicated widespread shortage of fuel. These letters, the police said, were intended to convince the complainant of the reason for the delay in their inability to get the crude oil. Zogbla later took an amount 200,000 CFA from the complainant with the excuse of getting a land for him at Aflao for a building project so that when the complainant visited, he would have a place to sleep. The complainant however became suspicious after several excuses were given by the suspects about their inability to get the crude oil on time, so he reported the issue to the Aflao Police. The police later arrested the first suspect who mentioned Badagbor and Saeed as member and group leader respectively.During interrogation, they admitted to the offence but said the amount involved was 600,000 CFA.Police investigations, the prosecutor noted, indicated that all documents they used were fake. Their investigation however confirmed STE.I.G.C to be a duly registered company in the names of Saeed and one Riguim Bilao who dealt in civil engineering, plumbing and road construction. At the court, the suspects pleaded not guilty to all charges and have been admitted to bail in the sum of GH¢12,000 with three sureties each. They are to re-appear at a later date. Source: D-Guide ]]> Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:17:35 +0000 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/21-insurance-companies-owe-gh505-million/#p175 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/21-insurance-companies-owe-gh505-million/#p175 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:06:33 +0000 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/top-musicains-sing-for-yvonne-nelson/#p174 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/top-musicains-sing-for-yvonne-nelson/#p174 [/caption]Some of the crème de la crème of the music industry have come together to support Ghanaian actress Yvonne Nelson on her campaign against Glaucoma. The musicians, comprising MTN Ghana Music Award winner, Sarkodie, Ayigbe Edem, Sherifa Gunu, Trigmatic, Irene Logan, Fresh Prince (4x4) and a number of others, have recorded a single to that effect. The song is basically to create awareness about the disease and educate the public on the steps to take not to fall victim to the disease. Glaucoma is an ailment that occurs over a period and causes damage to the optic nerve head, with corresponding loss of visual function. Untreated glaucoma gradually results in total blindness because of the irreversible damage it causes. Over 600,000 Ghanaians are reported to be suffering from glaucoma. The leggy actress lost her grandmother as result of the disease, hence her quest to embark on such a campaign. She announced the campaign some months ago and hopes to launch it very soon. Yvonne Nelson has confirmed that the musicians have recorded a single for the campaign. “We have recorded the song but the engineer is still working on it in the studio. I was impressed and shocked at the lyrical content,” she told NEWS-ONE. She said the idea of recording a song was to send her Glaucoma message to all level of society. “It is one easy way of getting to the grassroots even though I will be going to some of these remote areas for screening processes.” She added that there will also be a video for the song. This, she described, would be an all-star video as it would have a number of Ghanaian and Nollywood actors. Among them, she noted, would be Majid Michel, John Dumelo, Eddie Nartey, Jackie Appiah, and number of others including Chika Ike and some of her pals from Nigeria. Source: Daily Guide ]]> Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:04:46 +0000 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/maradona-plans-mega-birthday-bash/#p173 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/maradona-plans-mega-birthday-bash/#p173 Diego Maradona is planning a 50th birthday party in Naples next month, despite owing the tax man there 37 million euros. The controversial former World Cup winner spent seven seasons at Napoli, heralding the greatest period in the club's history in which they won two Italian league titles. And having been fired as Argentina coach following their disappointing World Cup campaign, Maradona now wants to return to his second home to have a fiesta. "Neapolitans, I invite you to my birthday," he said in Monday's La Gazzetta dello Sport. "In life I've had it all: a family I adore, a brilliant career and now I want for nothing, and certainly not money. "My only desire is to return to Naples to once again embrace the town and the people who have never forgotten me."Maradona wants to organise a high-profile friendly match to celebrate his birthday, with former team-mates Bruno Giordano and Brazilian Careca already apparently confirmed as taking part. Napoli themselves have made no official comment but in June club president Aurleio De Laurentiis claimed he was "waiting for Diego". However, were Maradona to return to Naples it's not clear how local authorities would react due to his mammoth tax bill, which includes 23.5 million euros in interest. Police have already seized two watches and a pair of earrings from Maradona on his previous visits to Italy. In 2006 they took two watches worth 11,000 euros and last year a pair of earrings he was relieved of were sold at auction for 25,000 euros. Source;.. ]]> Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:45:46 +0000 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/asamoah-gyan-has-big-boots-to-fill-at-sunderland/#p172 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/asamoah-gyan-has-big-boots-to-fill-at-sunderland/#p172 Record buy Asamoah Gyan of Ghana has some big boots to fill on Wearside, according to former Sunderland star Gary Bennett. Gyan completed his £13m move from French side Rennes on deadline day as Black Cats boss Steve Bruce finally landed the man he wants to replace Kenwyne Jones, who joined Stoke for £8m last month. Sunderland’s new signing came to the fore at the World Cup, scoring three goals as Ghana reached the quarter-finals before bowing out on penalties against Uruguay. But Bennett, who was at the World Cup in South Africa working in the Football Supporters’ Federation Fans Embassy, says Gyan is a very different kind of player to targetman Jones. “Gyan looked an excellent player in the World Cup,” said Bennett, who played more than 400 games in 11 years at Sunderland in the 1980s and 90s. “He certainly caught the eye in South Africa and he was the one everyone was talking about from the Ghana team. “But he’s got big boots to fill at Sunderland now Kenwyne Jones has left, because there aren’t many players like him around. “Kenwyne was very good in the air, strong, athletic – on his day he was unplayable. “But, of course, what all Sunderland fans will tell you is that we didn’t see Kenwyne at his best often enough. Source: Ghanasoccernet ]]> Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:30:15 +0000 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/u-17-womens-wcup-ghana-0-1-canada-ghana-stumble-against-canada/#p171 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/u-17-womens-wcup-ghana-0-1-canada-ghana-stumble-against-canada/#p171 Ghana's hopes of getting their campaign at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup off to flier failed as the Black Maidens lost 1-0 to Canada in Arima. Though often looking the better side, the Black Maidens threatened first as Alice Danso's effort from the left flank was met with a fine save by Canada's Sabrina D’Angelo after 18 minutes. The North Americans barely had an effort at goal as Ghana captain Beatrice Sesu had three chances in quick succession, all shots from distance. Canada resorted to playing on the break and it paid off though against the run of play. From a corner-kick after a counter-attack, Haisha Cantave nodded in to put Canada in the lead. And that goal separated both sides till the final whistle in their Group D opener. Ghana will be eager to get their first point on Thursday when they take on Brazil, who beat the Republic of Ireland 2-1 in the other group game. Source: Ghanafa ]]> Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:28:37 +0000 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/ghana-is-short-of-midwives/#p170 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/ghana-is-short-of-midwives/#p170 Dr. Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyira, Director in-charge of Human Resource for Health Development of the Ministry of Health (MOH), has advocated the training of more midwives to improve the midwife patient ratio which now stands at 1:7,200. This means that the health sector needs an additional 8,000 midwives to fill the gap if maternal health is to be developed to an appreciable standard. Existing Midwifery training facilities would therefore have to be expanded to admit more students for training whiles other interventions for capacity building for practicing midwives are also put in place. Dr. Appiah-Denkyira was speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting in Kumasi on the development of a proposed Bachelor of Science in Midwifery Programme to be run by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). The Programme is due to state in the 2011/2012 Academic year and would train midwives to perform midwifery functions more effectively and efficiently as members of the health-care team. It is also designed to train midwives to serve as potential workforce for further development as researchers in reproductive health issues. Key areas of the programme to be run under the course include; Clinical Competencies, Community Midwifery, Management and Research, Independent Practice and Domiciliary Midwifery. Dr. Appiah-Denkyira expressed concern at the high maternal mortality rate especially among women in rural communities, noting that this was a disincentive to meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on health by 2015. Ghana’s maternal mortality rate currently stands at 560 per 100,000 live births while only 43 percent of births in rural areas are assisted by skilled providers due to inadequate access to obstetric care. The Director indicated that with the training of adequate midwives, the nation would benefit tremendously as it would enhance access to trained birth attendants, emergency obstetric care, surgical interventions as well as avoiding deaths or disability from complications of pregnancy and child-birth. Mrs. Victoria Bam, Head of Nursing Department, KNUST, proposed to the University to endeavour to admit 30 percent of the Midwifery students as sponsored students from deprived areas when the Programme starts. This, she said, would go a long way to improve retention of midwives in deprived communities while also increasing access to quality maternal care in those areas. Source: gna ]]> Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:23:35 +0000 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/shs-now-to-reopen-on-sept-27/#p169 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/shs-now-to-reopen-on-sept-27/#p169 The Ghana Education Service (GES) has rescheduled the opening date for all Senior High Schools (SHS) from September 11 to September 27, 2010. By this directive all continuing students of Senior High Schools are to report for school on September 27, 2010. Initially, boarding students were supposed to report for schools on September 11 with the day students reporting on September 13. The reason for rescheduling the opening date is due to the fact that most of the Senior High Schools would be used to train facilitators for the upcoming 2010 census, the President of conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools, Mr. Samuel Ofori-Adjei, confirmed to the Daily Graphic. He gave an assurance that the 40 weeks for the academic year would be covered; adding that the two weeks that would be missed would be catered for in the second and third terms.“There would not be any loss in contact time,” he emphasized. At a press conference on the 2010 computerized placements, the GES said efforts were being made to ensure that first year students were in school for the commencement of the 2010/2011 academic year by October 15, 2010. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana ]]> Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:21:04 +0000 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/footballer-and-four-others-grabbed-for-sakawa/#p168 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/footballer-and-four-others-grabbed-for-sakawa/#p168 [/caption]A 22-year-old footballer, Jasper Etoh of Dynamite Football Club, has been arrested by personnel from the Commercial Crime Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters. He was arrested together with four others suspected to be involved in internet fraud known as sakawa. The four, Ebenezer Odonkor Martey, 26, seaman, Chris Opare, 27, Yeboah Solomon, 22 and Randolph, 19, all students and the footballer, according to the Director General of CID, DCOP Prosper Agblor, were arrested upon a tip-off at Baatsona, off the Spintex Road in Accra while browsing. The police, who suspected they were scouting for foreign victims, arrested them and recovered a lap top computer and a central processing unit (CPU).The Director General called on the public, especially foreigners, to be careful about making friends on the internet since they may be dealing with fraudsters. The police boss indicated that now, the sakawa boys are using broad band and they meet in their rooms where they scout for unsuspecting victims, instead of the internet cafes. He therefore appealed to landlords to be careful about renting their properties to young men without any due diligence. DCOP Agblor said his men were yet to delve into information contained in the computer and the CPU, adding investigation into the activities of the footballer and his cronies is ongoing. Source: D-Guide ]]> Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:12:09 +0000 http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/untouchable-chaps-at-gfa-to-sing-shakiras-zaminamina-blues/#p167 Updates http://www.ghananewsnow.com/forum/updates/untouchable-chaps-at-gfa-to-sing-shakiras-zaminamina-blues/#p167 The Auditor General has blown his audit vuvuzela and soon the seemingly untouchable chaps at the Ghana Football Association (GFA) will be singing Shakira’s zaminamina blues. Several millions of Ghana cedis unaccounted for or blown here and several thousands of dollars unretired or blown there, and cumulatively we are talking real cash. An audit of the accounts of the Ghana Football Association has revealed that the country’s FA is a rotten empire where the tributary of lack of transparent financial administration, weak checks and balances and massive ‘chop-chop’ meets with the already overburdened pockets of poor Ghanaian taxpayers. The audit revelation comes at a time when FIFA, the world’ governing football body, has cut the immunity pipe, usually smoked by many Africans FA’s anytime governments seek investigations into their activities. FIFA boss Sepp Blatter gave the green light while responding to enquiries from President Mills in Switzerland as to whether probing FA’s activities could amount to government interference. The audit, which was completed in April 21, this year and covered the period July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2009, was upon the request of the GFA itself. The scope of work covered by the Audit Service included review of budgetary control, cash management, procurement, payroll and management of expendable and non-expendable property. The audit also validated the financial statements for the years ended 30, 2009. During the period audited, Mr. Kwasi Nyantakyi, president of the FA, Mr. Fred Pappoe, vice-president, Mr. Kofi Nsiah, general secretary, Mr. Ismaila G. Amin, accountant, and Mr. R. Agbemawoka were in charge of administrative and financial functions of the GFA. According to the report, contrary to best cash management practices, the paying officer failed to obtain receipts to authenticate total payments of $654,779.66 and GH¢8,050,3621 for goods and services procured by the GFA. “Also, disbursements of $349,100.00 to 31 individuals were not acknowledged,” the audit revealed. The audit revealed payment not acknowledged by recipient included an amount of $20,000 each paid to 14 players of the Black Stars as disbursement of Gold Fields Ghana sponsorship package for the team’s participation in the CAN 2008 tournament, which was paid on January 1, 2008 with payment voucher number 997393406. Again, the audit uncovered outstanding appearance fees paid to one player, nine technical teams, five managements and two GFA guests that were not acknowledged by recipients. The audit recommended that to forestall loss of funds, the payments and subsequent ones properly acknowledged, otherwise the paying officer should be liable for refund of the amount involved. According to the audit report, accompanying receipts totaling, $452,892.16 and GH¢253,009.27 were obtained and management assured the audit team that efforts would be made to properly authenticate the outstanding payment of $550,987.50 and GH¢8,050,367.00 for verification. The audit revealed that due to weak internal controls over cash management, imprests of $316,301 and GH¢165,696.88 granted to 23 officers between July 2007 and April 2009 to undertake various activities on behalf the GFA have not been accounted for, even though the programmes were completed.“As at the time of reporting, an amount of $187,331 and GH¢106,593.88 was accounted for, leaving a balance of $128.970.00 and GH¢59,103.00,” the report stated. The audit recommended that the officers without further delay account for the outstanding amount; otherwise their personal accounts should be debited with the respective amounts. The audit further recommended that management should institute measures that would ensure that impress are properly retired. Again, the audit uncovered that contrary to effective transport management procedure and lax supervision, fuel totaling GH¢12,191.00 purchased during the review period were not recorded in vehicle logbooks to ensure judicious use. “Additionally, officers who used vehicles failed to record journeys undertaken. To prevent misuse of fuel and for effective control over the Association’s vehicle, we recommended that management should improve on its supervisory controls to ensure that fuel issued to drivers are properly recorded in logbooks while officers using vehicle certify journeys they undertake,” the report stated. In contravention to best practices on assets management, the audit revealed that GFA’s management did not maintain an assets register. Some assets of the GFA were not embossed and to safeguard the assets, the audit recommended that all assets be marked with identification marks of the Association and the relevant information on them recorded in a fixed assets register. Apart from that, the audit uncovered that due to the absence of adequate stores records, GFA’s stores transactions were not properly documented and the audit could therefore not determine whether all items procured were receipted and used in furtherance of the programmes of the Association.“Contrary to section 11 (4) of Act 548, the Internal Auditor of the GFA failed to issue reports on internal audit work carried out to management and submit a copy to the Auditor General,” the audit revealed. It, therefore, recommended that management should ensure that the Internal Audit Unit issues reports on its activities and copies submitted to the Auditor-General. Source: The Enquirer ]]> Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:06:27 +0000