Author: Krobea

Deadly attacks against soldiers are common in northern Mali Five Malian soldiers have been killed by suspected Islamist militants on Tuesday in the northern city of Timbuktu, BBC Afrique reports. According to an official statement, the soldiers were killed in a raid carried out at dawn on a camp in the remote Gourma Rharous area about 120 km (75m) from Timbuktu. Officials have blamed the deadly attack on what they describe as “a terrorist group”. Ten of the attackers have reportedly been killed by French soldiers while they tried to retreat after the raid. French soldiers are part of a…

The Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP) wants government to provide the details of the power purchase agreements (PPAs) reviewed within the past three months. At a Joy FM-organised event on Monday, April 17 to mark 100 days in power, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia indicated that government has saved $300 million after reviewing and prioritising PPAs. But in a release to assess government’s performance in the energy sector in the first 100 days, ACEP stressed that: “The government will have to provide further details and clarification on specific projects that have been reviewed and prioritised. “This will provide think…

The Minority in Parliament is demanding an investigation into a recent trip to Dubai by members of the Addison Committee, which reviewed the AMERI deal. The trip is said to have been sponsored by AMERI. “What comes to us as a shock is that a three-day trip was extended to a week for reasons known to members of the committee,” Minority’s Spokesperson on Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson, said at a press conference on Tuesday, Aprl 18. “Strangely, the [Energy] minister’s brother who is a Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuogon, who is not a member of the committee, joined…

The Minority in Parliament says it will petition the Financial Services Authority of the United States of America for a conflict of interest situation involving Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. The Minority says this will follow a full-scale parliamentary inquiry, it is demanding, into the issue. At a news conference on Tuesday, April 18, Minority’s Spokesperson on Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson, explained that an April 3 bond issued by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning was subscribed to by Franklin Templeton Investment Limited’s Trevor G. Trefgarne, who is a friend to Mr Ofori-Atta. According to the former Deputy Minister…

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has the intention to have further meetings with Ghana’s living ex-presidents, a communiqué from the presidency has stated. A landmark meeting between the president and his living predecessors was held at the Flagstaff House on Tuesday, April 18. The purpose of the meeting was for President Akufo-Addo, who was sworn in on January 7, 2017 as John Dramani Mahama’s successor, to seek the views of the former presidents “on some governance-enhancing measures his administration intends to take”. The president had expressed that intention at his swearing-in. “I am in the unique position of being able…

More than 100 iPhones have been found in a single backpack after people at the Coachella music festival in California tracked their missing handsets, local police have said. Revellers had used the Find My iPhone app, which shows the location of a linked phone on laptops or other devices, Indio Police said. And a suspect had then been “followed” through the site and detained. Several phones had been returned immediately, the police added. ‘Chatter’ And the rest had been handed to lost property at the festival site. Police had already dedicated extra resources to the festival after “chatter on social…

Nigeria’s airport in the capital, Abuja, has reopened six weeks after it was closed for urgent repairs. Henrietta Yakubu, a spokesman for the aviation authority, said repair works were completed 24 hours ahead of schedule. An Ethiopian Airlines flight was the first to land on Tuesday morning. Flights had been diverted to Kaduna, 160 km (100 miles) from the capital, and some international carriers refused to operate the new route. Those airlines are now taking bookings for flights later this week. The runway was supposed to be upgraded in 2002 – it was built in 1982 and was only meant…

Art plays an integral part in shaping society and conserving history, and thanks to art, Africa’s glorious past has stayed intact. The inscriptions, carvings and paintings in the tombs of ancient Kemet made it so. What would Africans know of their past if not for these wall carvings, paintings and statues such as the Olmec? Ghana today does not have a national gallery, according to a renowned artist, Prof Ablade Glover – something he calls a sacrilege.  He says every society has a native-given creativity, unfortunately we have our creative thoughts westernized and thus resulting in our underdevelopment. Art gravitates…

An Argentine football fan has died of head injuries – two days after being pushed from a stand by an angry crowd who thought he was a rival supporter. Emanuel Balbo, 22, had reportedly quarrelled with a man during Saturday’s derby between his Belgrano team and the visiting Talleres in the northern city of Cordoba. Witnesses said the man had shouted that Mr Balbo was a disguised Talleres fan. He was then pushed over the edge of a stand, video images showed. He fell onto concrete stairs from a height of about five metres (16ft). He was taken to hospital…

A Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Koku Anyidoho, says it is unfortunate for Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to do politics on Easter Monday. According to Mr Anyidoho, by his action, Dr Bawumia has disturbed Christians in solemnly observing the day after Jesus Christ’s resurrection as such. The Vice President had earlier in the day addressed a town hall meeting to mark 100 days of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government, which he is a chief part of. The meeting was put together by Accra-based Joy FM. Speaking on TV3’s News 360 in an effort to have…