Author: Krobea

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo left Accra on Sunday for a three-state visit to the United Arab Emirates, Germany and the United Kingdom. According to a statement from the Presidency, the visit to the UAE is at the invitation of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. Ghana’s leader is expected to hold bilateral talks with the Crown Prince on Monday “with the aim of renewing and deepening the ties of co-operation and friendship between the two countries”. President Akufo-Addo will later travel to Germany as he…

Police are surrounding a Hong Kong university campus after a fiery overnight stand-off with hundreds of protesters inside. Dozens of protesters tried to leave after sunrise but turned back as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. The police said tear gas was fired because “a large group of masked rioters…suddenly charged at cordons”. In the afternoon, another group of protesters tried to run from the campus but many were arrested. The group of around 100 tried to leave Polytechnic University by a tunnel entrance, but as police fired tear gas, a number were detained. Others from the group then…

The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, says Ghanaians should exercise patience in calls to have ambulances parked in front of the State House distributed to health facilities across the country. He says government is awaiting more of the ambulances before starting distribution. About 98 ambulances have been parked for weeks in the face of shortage of such medical supplies in some of the country’s major health facilities. The lack of ambulances in some key health facilities in the country is said to be one of the causes of high mortality in rural areas. The National Ambulance Service despite having 130…

Arsene Wenger has been unveiled today as FIFA’s new Chief of Global Football Development. The illustrious French manager was welcomed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino to the world football governing body’s headquarters in Zurich. Wenger will be chiefly responsible for overseeing and driving the growth and development of the sport for both men and women around the world. He will also be the leading authority on technical matters, both as a member of the Football and Technical Advisory Panels involved in The IFAB’s review and decision-making process on potential changes to the Laws of the Game, and as chairman of…

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has disclosed that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) will still have a private firm to partner it despite the cancellation of the deal with the Power Distribution Services Ghana Limited (PDS). Addressing Parliament on Wednesday, Mr Ofori-Atta said the government cannot overstate the importance of learning from past mistakes. He said the nation’s major power-distribution company still needs a private partner in order to make it more viable. “Mr. Speaker, considering ECG’s current distribution systems losses of 24 per cent, comprising 13 per cent commercial and 11 per cent technical losses, government is…

Next year will see the coming into existence of a new bank, National Development Bank (NDB), the Minister of Finance has revealed. Ken Ofori-Atta says already feasibility study for the establishment of the bank, specifying its rationale, mandate, business model, legal and regulatory framework, ownership, governance and sustainability has been been completed. He made this known in Parliament on Wednesday, November 13 when he delivered the 2020 economic statement and financial policy of government. He said $250 million has been secured from the World Bank for the start of operations of NDB in 2020. “The National Development Bank as envisioned…

Ghana’s economy has grown by the double since 2017 when Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo became president, the Minister of Finance has said. He said economic growth rebounded strongly from 3.4% in 2016 to an average of 7% under the Akufo-Addo-led government while year-on-year inflation has fallen from 15.4% in December, 2016 to 7.6%. This inflation rate, according to Mr Ofori-Atta, is the lowest in 27 years. He made this known on Wednesday while delivering the 2020 budget statement and economic policy of government in Parliament. It is in fulfilment of Article 179 of the constitution and Section 21(3) of the…

Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Abena Dapaah says government has resolved to re-engineer landfill sites across the country as part of its sanitation drive. She says most of the landfill sites will be made to look like grounds where even weddings can be held, starting from next year. She made this known while speaking to 3FM’s Winston Amoah ahead of the Minister of Finance’s presentation of the 2020 budget statement and economic policy. Ms Dapaah said her sector expects to receive enough budgetary allocation to pursue some of its projects such as ‘One Household One Toilet’ and the…

In a major step in the fight against Ebola, the World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the world’s first ever vaccine against Ebola. The drug, called Ervebo and manufactured by MERCK pharmaceuticals, was being used in an experimental phase in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But now the WHO says there is sufficient evidence that shows that the vaccine works. It means the world now has the first ever drug to prevent Ebola. A WHO prequalification is granted only after a drug passes important safety and efficacy tests. But this vaccine has already been in use since last year to…

A river near the inter-Korean border has turned red after being polluted with blood from pig carcasses. South Korean authorities had culled 47,000 pigs in an attempt to halt the spread of African swine fever (ASF). Heavy rains caused blood to flow from a border burial site into a tributary of the Imjin River. African swine fever is highly contagious and incurable, with a near zero survival rate for infected pigs, but it is not dangerous to humans. Local authorities dismissed concerns that the blood could cause the spread of African swine fever to other at-risk animals, saying the pigs…