Author: Krobea

The Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations (GUTA) has welcomed government’s intervention for businesses in the throes of the coronavirus directives. “The intervention is not only timely but also appropriate in the sense that the issue is not only of health but also of serious adverse effect on every sphere of life; leaving the entire global community in an atmosphere of uncertainty to which everyone can attest to,” said a statement issued on behalf of GUTA by General Secretary Alpha Shaban. It, however, asked for places on the various committees for the leadership of GUTA in order to ensure that the…

Staff of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (GARH) who were put under mandatory quarantine after coming into contact with Nana Osei Boansi Kuffuor, father of popular musician Obour, have all tested negative. Awaiting a test on coronavirus, Nana Boansi Kuffour, whose travel history is said to have been concealed from management of GARH by his family, died at the facility. He died on Friday, March 27. His test results later came out positive, according to officials, prompting an immediate shutdown of the emergency unit of the Hospital while all the staff who came into contact with the deceased were quarantined.…

Former President John Dramani Mahama says the country’s economy has revealed that it is fragile following the “stress test” it has been subjected to by the coronavirus pandemic. He, therefore, called for the need for authorities to be prudent in the management of the sector going forward. Mr Mahama made these remarks on Tuesday, when he made available relief items worth millions of Cedis for distribution to 20,000 households in Ghana. The gesture is his own way of mitigating the effects of the lockdown on many Ghanaians. He said Covid-19 management requires that there is strict prioritization in government’s borrowing…

Bishop Gerald Glenn, the pastor of New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Virginia has died, the church announced on Sunday. Glenn had tested positive for coronavirus, according to a video posted by his daughter Mar-Gerie Crawley. Despite warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to avoid mass gatherings and maintain social distancing, Glenn said in a sermon on March 22, “I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus,” and announced he was not afraid to die. It was the next day that Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam issued his executive order banning all public and private gatherings…

As part of the global and national effort in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Philipa Baafi Foundation, owned by ace female gospel musician Philipa Baafi of ‘I go dance’ fame, has gifted some relief items to the government of Ghana and some deprived communities in Accra. President Nana Akufo-Addo in his fifth Covid-19 address to Ghanaians announced that 400,000 individuals in Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Kasoa – where a partial lockdown has been imposed – were to benefit from social intervention programmes such as free food. The Ministries of Gender, Children and Social Protection and Local Government and Rural Development,…

Ghana’s coronavirus case count is now 636. This is 70 more than the previous figure of 566. Seventeen have, however, fully recovered. Among the latest cases confirmed, 605 have been categorised as “mild disease” and are on treatment, according to the Disease Surveillance Department of the Ghana Health Service (GHS). Significantly, there is none in a critical state despite two categorised as “moderate to severe cases”. There are eight deaths. Ghana first recorded its two index cases of coronavirus on Thursday, March 12. Since then, the number has reached 636. Most of the cases, precisely 268, were recorded as a…

Ghanaian actress Fella Makafui has cleared the air on a viral post which claimed she disrespected the President of Ghana by describing his cloth as cheap. Social media was set ablaze after President Nana Akufo-Addo addressed the nation on the progress made in the fight against the novel coronavirus last Friday, April 10 as the actress was alleged to have described the president’s clothing as cheap in a Facebook post. This generated a lot of backlash on social media, forcing the reaction from the YOLO actress. Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen, Fella denied owning the Facebook account though admitting…

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday, April 13 approved the disbursement of SDR 738 million (about US$1 billion) to be drawn under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF). The disbursement will help address the urgent fiscal and balance of payments needs that Ghana is facing, improve confidence, and catalyze support from other development partners. The COVID-19 pandemic is already impacting Ghana severely. Growth is slowing down, financial conditions have tightened, and the exchange rate is under pressure. This has resulted in large government and external financing needs. The authorities have timely and proactively responded to contain…

I recently asked a few married men whether ‘husband snatchers’ do really exist. They confidently nodded in the affirmative. I probed further, “Can you be snatched!?” They nodded even more assuredly. Then, I punched, “Do wife snatchers exist?” Most nodded in the negative, admitting that a wife who would allow herself to be snatched was only an accomplice. I smiled and asked whether they think their wives could be snatched. A few insisted not answering while most concluded the only way to come to terms with their wives being ‘snatched’ is to walk out of the marriage. I clapped— for…

There seems to be no clear-cut understanding as to whether persons in the creative arts industry are part of a proposed stimulus package to be given by the government. While the Creative Arts Council is collating information from some creative industry persons to be submitted to the government, the Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister has disclosed that the package is for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). It emerged last week that the Creative Arts Council headed by Mark Okraku Mantey was collating information from creative persons who have been affected by Covid-19 to be submitted to the government for support.…