Ghana Broadcasting Corporation

The 32nd African Cup of Nations ends this evening with the grand finale set between the Teranga Lions of Senegal and the Desert Foxes of Algeria. The match promises to be spectacular. After 28 days of action, 51 matches played, 101 goals scored and the 24 nations now whittled down to two, it would be a case of repeat or revenge for two indigenous coaches who have both played for their national teams. The match would be the fifth Nations Cup final to have two African head coaches and the first time since 1998. The Senegalese coach Aliou Cisse missed a decisive penalty in the final of the Mali 2002 AFCON against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon. In that same year, he captained the team at the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan. After a stunning zero-one victory over reigning world champions France on Match Day one, the team went all the way to be the first ever African country to qualify to the quarter-final of the FIFA World Cup. The 43-year-old is hoping his current team can do better tha...

On 18th July every year, the World remembers the deeds of a great icon, Nelson Mandela who impacted lives across the globe despite his own vicissitudes whiles alive. The late Nelson Mandela devoted his life to the service of humanity as a prisoner of conscience, a human rights lawyer, an international peacemaker and the first democratically elected president of a free South Africa. In recognition of his contribution to the culture of peace and freedom, in November 2009, the UN General Assembly declared 18th July “Nelson Mandela International Day”. Resolution A/RES/64/13 recognises Mandela’s values and his dedication to the service of humanity in: race relations, conflict resolution, promotion and protection of human rights, reconciliation, gender equality and the rights of children and other vulnerable groups, the fight against poverty and the promotion of social justice. The resolution acknowledges his contribution to the struggle for democracy internationally and the promotion of ...

The Special Prosecutor Martin Alamisi Burnes Kaiser Amidu seems to have disappointed a lot of his admirers and for that matter people who had so much confidence in him and therefore recommended his appointment to the high office of Ghana’s first Special Prosecutor.  As a former Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice from January 2011 to January 2012 many people hailed Mr. Amidu’s appointment by President Akufo-Addo to occupy the revered office looking at his pedigree.  The office of Special Prosecutor was established under Act 959 of Ghana’s Parliament in response to the overwhelming number of Ghanaians who had denounced the canker of corruption that had eaten deep into the fabric of public life. It then became necessary to establish an independent non-political body with the capacity to lead the fight. Nearly three years into his appointment, Mr. Amidu has barely prosecuted a single case.  He has just filed a single case against the Bawku Central MP, Mahama A...

Free Secondary Education in Ghana or anywhere in the world has nothing to do with affordability. President Akufo-Addo once said that, “Whatever we can do…wherever we can find the resources…we should and we MUST do it”. The prevailing national statistics on literacy are disconcerting. Research has shown that an educated population will keep a healthier environment and improve personal hygiene which has a correlation with better health outcomes within the population, especially for women. Thus, Free SHS is a laudable equal opportunity policy which when properly executed will also bridge social status gaps within two to three generations. Currently, the Ghana’s gross tertiary enrolment ratio is an appalling figure when compared with South Korea’s minimum of 97 percent for both genders. With Free SHS, Ghana can hopefully attain this status within the period of the Education Strategic Plan, 2018-2030. Free SHS is therefore now part of basic education which means it is compulsory for a ...

The arrival of the Chief Executive Officer of Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah popularly referred to as MAM 1 to the country is indeed good for government agencies, such EOCO, BNI, the Police Criminal Investigation Department, Interpol, Bank of Ghana and the Securities and Exchange Commission which have for months been attempting to resolve the issues surrounding the Menzgold business. Customers as well are somewhat happy that the man at the centre of the Ponzi scheme is in town to aid in the repayment of their deposits. Unconfirmed reports say about sixteen thousand Ghanaians have their hard-earned money locked up with the gold dealership firm. Even though it is unclear how the case will travel and when depositors will receive their money estimated at ¢1.68 billion, his arrival in the jurisdiction is a positive sign. The agencies involved in the case especially EOCO earlier this year issued a statement urging the public to help in the confiscation of property belonging to NAM 1 and his...

Over the last ten years, Ghana has been declared polio-free. Unfortunately, the virus has resurfaced in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital and this is very sad. Poliomyelitis also known as Polio or infantile paralysis is a highly contagious viral infection that can lead to paralysis, breathing problems and even death. It is caused by the Polio virus and the vast majority of infections present no symptoms. Pregnant women are more susceptible to polio. Most people affected by Polio do not become noticeably sick and when symptoms appear, they differ depending on the type of Polio. The Polio virus usually enters the environment in faeces of someone who is infected. In areas of poor sanitation, the virus easily spreads from faeces into the water supply chain or by touch and into the food we take. The virus can be prevented through vaccination. It is good the Ghana Health Service has declared a public health emergency in Tamale following the detection of the virus there. This will allow ...

The Senior National Football Team, The Black Stars, was woefully and unexpectedly eliminated from the on-going edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON on Monday. They were smashed by Tunisia, on 5-4 penalty shoot-out after a one all draw game at full time. Ghana has won the AFCON on four occasions, first in 1963 when the Black Starts met Sudan in the finals and won by 3 goals to nil on 1st December, 1963, in Accra. The Stars then produced another splendid performance during the next tournament in 1965, which saw them beating Tunisia by 3 goals to 2 on 21st November 1965. Ghana, for the records, has also come up as runners-up five times in 1968, 1970, 1992, 2010 and 2015. For 37 years, the nation has not had the feel of the most prestigious soccer trophy of the continent. This is against the backdrop of the huge resources that is pumped into the preparation and participation in AFCON tournaments. After winning the trophy on its first appearance and subsequently winning the second...

History they say, has a funny way of repeating itself, that is why yesterday’s peaceful demonstration organized by the Group calling itself Coalition for Social Justice speaks volumes. The sheer size of the crowd, and the sea of red that participated in the event and number of identifiable groups that took part are indeed indicative that Ghana’s democracy has come of age. Twenty-four years ago, the sitting President, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo led an anti-government demonstration in opposition to the Value Added Tax (VAT) introduced under the then Jerry John Rawling’s Administration. The protest march dubbed ‘Kumi Preko’ literally meaning “You may as well kill me” is said to be one of the biggest ever to have rocked the city of Accra with an estimated 100,000 people. The event which was initially billed as a peaceful protest somewhere along the line turned violent. Unidentifiable assailants shot live bullets into the crowd resulting in the deaths of a few protesters. This time round...

Monetization and Influence peddling in Ghanaian politics did not start today.  It has been with us in various forms since the country attained independence. In the just ended limited voter registration we saw politicians and political parties spending huge sums of money to hire buses to convey prospective voters or young people who have attained 18 years to District offices of the Electoral Commission to register their names to enable them to vote in elections. As the District Assembly election and political parties gear up to organize their primaries to elect parliamentary candidates, we should expect patronage or monetary influence to be on the upsurge. The question is why do people spend huge sums of money to pay their way to political office and how do they expect to recoup such expenditure when they get into office? This, no doubt is the root cause of corruption which is high in the country these days. It is against this backdrop that we commend the stakeholder consultation...

Africa has taken another bold step towards the promotion of economic growth with the official launch of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, AfCFTA. The Accord establishing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement entered into force on 30 May, 2019 for the 24 countries that had deposited their instruments of ratification. This date marked 30 days after 22 countries had deposited their ratification instruments with the African Union Commission Chairperson as stipulated in Article 23 of the Agreement. The 22-country threshold was reached on 29 April 2019 when Sierra Leone and the Saharawi Republic deposited their instruments of ratification with the depositary. Since then, more countries have deposited their instrument before the 12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union on the AfCFTA in Niamey, Niger. The 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2012, adopte...

The purported plan of Parliament to construct a new 450-seater chamber has outraged a session of the Ghanaian public. Some commentators described the move as insensitive, unnecessary and a waste of state resources. They asserted that there are more pressing needs of the nation for the law makers to be thinking of how to help address them, instead of seeking for their own comfort. Some civil society organisations have also issued strong worded statements urging the House to reconsider its decision. While “CDD-Ghana acknowledges the vital constitutional roles of Parliament and the need for the House to be adequately empowered and resourced to discharge its responsibilities effectively, it does not believe the construction of a new and expanded chamber at an estimated cost of 200 million dollars is reasonable or justifiable at the present time”. CDD-Ghana reminds the lawmakers that in “the face of the numerous basic needs facing communities across the country, including lack of safe an...

The Black Stars of Ghana yesterday brought back smiles to the faces of Ghanaians with an impressive two nil win over the Djurtus of Guinea Bissau in the last round of “Group F” games. As sweet as the victory was, it gave Ghana a smooth passage to the one-sixteenth stage of the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON ongoing in Egypt. It is the 7th successive time Ghana has made it from the group stage of the AFCON since 2008.  Admittedly, Ghana has had a difficult start to the competition against all odds.They were held to a pulsating two–two draw in the opening game against the Squirrels of Benin, a match the Stars were highly tipped to win.The Ayew brothers, captain Andre and Jordan combined to score one goal apiece to cancel out Beninois striker Mickael Pote’s brace. The anti-climax on the evening was a red card to defender John Boye for delay tactics at a time the Stars were leading two-one. As if that was not enough, the four-time African champions were held by the Indomitable Lions o...