Author: Krobea

National Chairman of the People’s National Convention (PNC) Bernard Mornah has chided Parliament for considering a bigger chamber. He described the decision as “meaningless” and a misplaced priority. “They should [rather] be thinking about sending resources to their constituencies.” He was commenting on a proposal by the Parliamentary Service Board to have a 450-seater chamber for Parliament. He was speaking on TV3’s Midday Live on Thursday, July 4. Among reasons adduced for the proposal is the fact that the current 275-seater is too small. “Why don’t you make it a 1,000-seater for our present conditions?” Mr Mornah, who contested the…

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has selected August 24, 2019 as date on which to elect its parliamentary aspirants for next year’s elections. The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party on Thursday. By the decision, all aspirants are to be nominated by one person and seconded by four members who must be former executives or former appointees of good standing. Nomination forms will cost GH¢2,000 with males asked to file at GH¢25,000. Females are to file at half-of-the-males’ fee. Furthermore, aspirants would have to be endorsed by one party member…

North Korea has accused the US of being “hell-bent on hostile acts”, despite a recent agreement between the two countries to resume nuclear talks. Pyongyang’s delegation to the United Nations said on Wednesday that the US was “obsessed with sanctions”. This comes days after the countries’ leaders held a historic meeting in the heavily fortified demilitarised zone (DMZ) which divides the two Koreas. Donald Trump became the first sitting US president to set foot in the North. And after talks that lasted for almost an hour, the pair agreed to set up teams to resume stalled negotiations on denuclearisation. But…

Samsung is being sued by Australia’s consumer watchdog for allegedly making misleading claims about the water-resistant properties of its phones. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleges Samsung’s adverts made “false” claims about using its phones while swimming and surfing. The ACCC said it had reviewed more than 300 Samsung adverts before launching its legal action. Samsung told Reuters it would defend the case and stood by its adverts. Deep probe In its statement, the ACCC said Samsung adverts depicted phones being exposed to seawater and swimming pools and claimed that this would not affect the device during its…

Chelsea have appointed former midfielder Frank Lampard as their manager on a three-year deal. Lampard, 41, has left Championship side Derby County to take over at a club where he spent 13 years as a player. He succeeds Maurizio Sarri, who left Stamford Bridge in June to take charge of Italian champions Juventus. Lampard led Derby to the Championship play-off final, where they lost to Aston Villa, in his first season as a manager. The former England international made 648 Chelsea appearances, winning 11 major trophies with them. He takes over with Chelsea under a transfer embargo after the club…

Majority Leader in Parliament Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu says he is yet to get details of the financials as regards the construction of a 450-seater chamber for the legislative. He, therefore, denied reports that $200 million has been estimated for the project. He was addressing journalists on Thursday on widely spread reports on the cost of the proposed project, particularly that GH¢72 million has already been allocated while the Chinese government has offered a grant of $40 million. The Suame Constituency MP, who is also the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, insists consultations as regards funding are ongoing on the proposed project. He…

A relative of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has been rescued from kidnappers after a gun battle in the northern city of Kano, police say. Officers raided a hideout where Musa Umar had been held since his abduction two months ago. Kano police spokesman Haruna Abdullahi is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that Mr Umar was rescued unhurt, arrests were made, and arms and ammunition found. A police officer quoted by the agency said 11 members of the kidnap gang had been arrested and one was killed during the gunfight. The officer, who asked not to be named,…

A Zimbabwean lawyer has filed a court challenge to the government’s decision to ban the use of international currencies in the country. Godfrey Mupanga says the government’s monetary policy is unreasonable, illegal and unconstitutional. He argues that the finance minister does not have the power to amend the law. Last week authorities reintroduced the Zimbabwe dollar, ten years after an economic crisis forced it to switch to using foreign currency. Mr Mupanga also suggests that the economy is not strong enough to support the reintroduction of the Zimbabwe dollar. Zimbabwe is facing its worst crisis since 2008. Authorities say a…

The second edition of Connect FM’s Street Rap Battle took off at Effiakuma in the Western Region with great performances from 14 underground rap artistes. After close to three hours of performances, Effiakuma proved to be the cradle of rap music in Sekondi-Takoradi as the competitiors put up feet-tapping and head-nodding performances. The underground rap artistes stepped up to show what they are made of. Four of them participated in the first edition with one – Yaw King – even making it to the finals. With rap beats of their choice, the artistes dazzled the crowd with one lyrical bar…

The Black Stars will play Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles in the maiden Round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations. A 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau in their final Group F game ensured that the Stars play the runners-up of Group E. Tunisia picked the runners-up position in their group after drawing all their group games. They were second to Mali, who are yet to lose in the tournament. Ghana and Tunisia, with six titles between them, will face off on Monday at the Ismailia Stadium, where the four-time champions drew their two opening games. That match will be the final…