Author: newsfilegh

The West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo) says it has “successfully completed” the cleaning and inspection of its 20” offshore pipeline from Badagry in Nigeria to Takoradi in Ghana.  The Internal inspection of the 569 km offshore pipeline was completed on Sunday February 23, 2020, almost one month ahead of the scheduled completion date of March 20, 2020, the company announced on Thursday. A press release by WAPCo said significant amount of data was successfully gathered during the inspection and will be analyzed over the next couple of months to further provide critical insights and assurance of the overall…

The government will from March 2020 withdraw the military component of its anti-illegal mining taskforce, Operation Vanguard, from the field. The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining suggested that this is because, so far, over 1,000 small scale miners have been vetted and cleared to mine under environmentally friendly laws, Citi News reports citing its sources. To continue effective monitoring, mining guards and 144 drone pilots have been deployed to monitor the approved miners. Operation Vanguard started as a Military-Police Joint Task Force set up in 2017 to combat the operations of illegal miners in Ghana. The taskforce is regularly in…

Joy, fun, excitement and celebration are but a few of the words that describe the feelings of hundreds of music lovers who thronged the Paga Motel in the Kasena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region to witness the album launch of  Hubert Addi, a visually-impaired teacher who contemplated suicide in the past.  Mr. Addi discovered his musical prowess at a tender age and has defied his disability to pursue the dream to become a great musician who uses the messages in his songs to touch people’s hearts and to draw them closer to God. Over the past 10 years,…

Global search engine, Google, has awarded a US$1.93 million in funding for media-related projects across Africa, Middle East and Turkey. Among the beneficiaries is Ghana’s first and most popular news portal, GhanaWeb, which has won the first Google News Initiative GNI Innovation Challenges for its novel GhanaWeb Reporter project which will inject new ideas into the global news ecosystem. GhanaWeb is the only company from Ghana to receive the highly sought-after award along with eight African countries including Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Morocco. The GhanaWeb Reporter is an application for both Android and iOS devices that…

Iran’s vice-president has been diagnosed with coronavirus, state media have reported, as the country struggles to stop the spread of the disease. Masoumeh Ebtekar is among 254 people infected with the virus in the Middle Eastern nation, where 26 people have been killed. The vice-president for women and family affairs is better known internationally as the English-language spokeswoman for the hostage-takers who seized the US embassy in Tehran in 1979, sparking a 444-day diplomatic crisis. Iran’s deputy health minister tested positive for the virus earlier this week, hours after appearing visibly unwell at a press conference during which he denied…

Some regional chairmen of the National Concern Drivers Association have reiterated calls by their national executives on President Nana Akufo-Addo to order the urgent release of their fellow drivers who were “just hired” to drive trucks at galamsey sites. The demand is also premised on claims that “big names” involved in the act have rather been left off the hook. In a statement to the media, they insisted that the drivers were never involved in any illegal mining activity, neither did they own any of the excavators used at the site. They have therefore threatened that if their colleagues are…

The Member of Parliament for the Kpando constituency, Della Sowah, has expressed excitement over the completion of the Avertikope six-uint classroom block, a project she inspected Monday. The MP believes the completion of the project will augment the existing gap in the basic education infrastructural deficit in the area. Her visit follows earlier tour of the constituency to inspect similar projects which are at various stages of completion. These include the 3-unit JHS at Dzigbe, Dzewoe, a 12-unit 2-storey at Dafor, a 12-storey unit at St. Thomas Tsakpe, a 6-unit classroom block at Bame and a kindergarten and day care…

The official website for the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) which was found to have cost the state some $108,510,  has not been functional for a long while now. Procurement issues, relating to the redesigning and maintenance of the website were found by the Chief Justice’s committee which heard the petition for the removal of former EC Chairperson, Charlotte Osei, were some of the reasons for her removal from office. The CJ’s committee found that  two contracts totaling $108, 510 dollars –  $32,510 for re-designing  and  $76,000 for maintenance – were unilaterally awarded to DreamOval Ltd by Charlotte Osei in…

Officials of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) have busted a Ghanaian taxi driver based in The Netherlands for allegedly trafficking in a narcotic drug. The suspect, Oppong Kwaku Owusu, 52, was arrested at the Departure Hall of KIA while going through departure formalities to board a flight back to his base in The Netherlands. He was pulled aside by NACOB officials on suspicion of having ingested some foreign substances, but he denied vehemently. However, a search in his carry-on bag revealed three large parcels of a substance suspected to be a narcotic drug, for…

Guinea’s President Alpha Condé has refused to meet a delegation of West African leaders as the country heads towards a referendum that could allow him run for a third term, reports Radio France Internationale (RFI). A delegation of heads of states from the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), was scheduled to visit Guinea on Friday, RFI reports quoting high-ranking sources. It was to be led by Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou and was to include Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari, Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo and Burkina Faso’s Roch Marc Christian Kaboré. Guinea has been plunged into political crisis over…