Free SHS: Double track an innovative strategy – Dep. Minister

Daniel Opare
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The Deputy Minister for Education,  Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, says the Double track system is part of an innovative strategy to augment the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.

The NPP government’s Free Secondary High School (Free SHS) educational policy was an initiative introduced in the 2017 September Presidential administration of President Nana Akuffo-Addo.

The double track system was introduced by the government in order to enable various SHS to take in more students to ensure that all students have access to the Free SHS policy.

The double track system is in two parts Gold and green tracks.

Speaking in an interview with host of Atinka FM’s AM Drive, Ekourba Gyasi, the Deputy Minister for Education,  Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum noted that every new policy needs a strategy that leapfrogs the nation and that with the Free SHS, the double track system was one of the strategies.

“We knew we had to use innovative strategies and the double track is one of them, because from the onset the demand for the free SHS was not known. The demand for the first year was around 365,000 which shot to about 450,000  in the second year. We looked at the progress of the demand and worked with the double track system. In the western world, they do all round school, which is not different from the NPP’s double track”, he explained.

Touching on why government is considering reviewing the Double track system despite its efficiency, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum noted that the policy is a short term strategy which can be re-implemented when the need arises.

He maintained that the double track system is a life saver adding that it came at a time where most students would not have had the opportunity to attend SHS.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu Boatemaa

‘Killer’ pastor was envious of wife’s preaching prowess

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 It has now emerged that one of the reasons why Pastor Sylvester Ofoiri callously murdered his beautiful wife was sheer envy.

According to  General Overseer of Alive Chapel International, Prophet Elisha Salifu Amoako,  who was once a guest preacher at Sylvester Ofori’s church, Floodgates of Heaven International Ministries in Orlando, USA, the young pastor could not fathom why his church members held the view that his wife, Barbara Tommey, was a far better preacher than him.

“He told me that anytime his wife preached, the congregants became  elated and praised her to the high heavens but he (Sylvester) did not receive such good treatment anytime he mounted the pulpit,” Prophet Elisha revealed on Kofi TV on Monday.

Prophet Elisha Amoako said he rebuked him and rather urged him to be happy that God had brought a humble and gifted wife to support his ministry.

The renowned pastor debunked assertions that, Sylvester Ofori is his “spiritual son and mentee”, explaining that the only connection was an invitation extended to him to be a guest speaker at the latter’s church in Orlando five years ago.     

Prophet Elisah Ampoako, further revealed that Sylvester Ofori, was also a notorious alcoholic.

According to him, Sylvester Ofori, overseer of Floodgates of Heaven International Ministries,  was so much addicted to the bottle  to the extent, he could sneak out during church service  to  go drink  alcohol and return “very high”.

Prophet Amoako recounted one nasty encounter  with Pastor Ofori when he went to the latter’s church  as a guest preacher about five years ago.

Prophet Elisha recounted: “ I was once preaching in his church and suddenly he (Ofori) started hitting me hard  while I was preaching. I got confused because I didn’t know what was happening. So his wife, Barbara, looked at me and signaled me that her husband was drunk  and that has been his attitude for some time now. So, his wife took me to his office and lo and behold, he was terribly drunk beyond redemption,” 

Background:

Barbara Tommey was shot and killed Tuesday morning outside an Orlando credit union, and her husband is in custody, police said.

The fatal shooting was reported at the Navy Federal Credit Union on Garden Parks Boulevard, west of John Young Parkway and north of the Mall at Millenia.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is syland-wife.jpg

Orlando police said 27-year-old Barbara Tommey, who worked at the credit union, was shot by her husband Sylvester Ofori.

Police said a search warrant was served at the suspect’s apartment and Ofori was taken into custody.

After her death, a video circulating on social media reveals that Ofori threatened to kill Barbara after Barbara’s brother went physical on him to prevent him from doing more harm to Barbara.

In the video which Barbara’s brother was seen calling Ofori a fake pastor, Ofori replied,” If i don’t kill your sister I’m fake”.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com

Ashaiman: BECE begins with strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols

Daniel Opare
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The various examination centers  hosting this year’s nationwide Basic Education Certificate Examination BECE in Ashaiman, in the Greater Accra Region, have put in place stringent measures to ensure students writing the exams adhere to the covid-19 protocols.

In Ashaiman, some 142 schools made up of 17 public schools and 125 private schools are partaking in this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination BECE.

In all, the number of candidates sitting for the exams in the Municipality is 3,585, with some 2,433 from the private schools and 1,152 from the public schools.

Total number of girls sitting for the exams from the private schools is 1,288 with 615 from the public schools.

Whiles 537 representing boys from the public schools and 1,145 from the private schools.

Our checks at the various centers, saw some strict adherence to the covid-19 protocols, with the provision of veronica buckets and detergents for students, whereas temperature guns to screen students were also seen at various centers.

Students who turned up at the centers without nose masks were either given some or asked to go buy one.

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com


Bongo MP sure of victory at December polls

Daniel Opare
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The incumbent Member of Parliament for Bongo Constituency, Edward Abamgbire Bawa has assured the parliamentary aspirant of the New Patriotic Party who doubles as the District Chief Executive of Bongo of winning all the ten polling stations at his own electoral area.

The Member of Parliament made this known at the inauguration ceremony of the constituency and zonal campaign teams in Bongo.

Hon Edy as he is affectionately known, revealed that the ‘adopt a branch concept,’ which is championed by former President and flagbearer of NDC, John Dramani Mahama is working for good and with the zealous nature of the campaign team, he is assured of victory for NDC in the upcoming elections.


Speaking at the function, the Member of Parliament stated that as a legislator, he has outperformed the District Chief Executive because in rankings he got 9th as new entrant in parliament among the over 120 new entrants whereas the District Chief Executive had 84TH position out of the over 200 District Assemblies accessed by the UNICEF District League Table (ll).


Edward Bawa also used the opportunity to call on all constituents to vote massively for the National Democratic Congress come December 7th 2020 because the New Patriotic party had failed Ghanaians with their ‘heaven-on-earth’ promises such as the free senior high school, one village, one dam, one district one factory and the one constituency, one billion United States dollars which were all scam.


Inaugurating the campaign team, the Regional Treasurer of NDC charged the campaign team members to use all available means to send the good message of John and Jane to the electorate, the message of the Big push, the message of health for all and the message, Edwuma pa must get to the electorate in good time for them to make informed decision.

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com

Pastor who murdered his wife was always drunk during church service

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Prophet Elisah Ampoako, General Overseer of Alive Chapel International, has revealed that , Sylvester Ofori, the pastor who shot and killed his wife, Barbara Tommey, a week ago in Orlando, USA was a notorious alcoholic.

According to him, Sylvester Ofori, overseer of Floodgates of Heaven International Ministries, was so much addicted to the bottle to the extent, he could sneak out during church service  to  go drink  alcohol and return “very high”

Prophet Amoako recounted one nasty encounter  with Pastor Ofori when he went to the latter’s church  as a guest preacher about five years ago.

Speaking on Kofi TV on Monday, Prophet Elisha recounted: “ I was once preaching in his church and suddenly he (Ofori) started hitting me hard  while I was preaching. I got confused because I didn’t know what was happening. So his wife, Barbara, looked at me and signaled me that her husband was drunk  and that has been his attitude for some time now. So, his wife took me to his office and lo and behold, he was terribly drunk beyond redemption,”  

Barbara Tommey was shot and killed Tuesday morning outside an Orlando credit union, and her husband is in custody, police said.

The fatal shooting was reported at the Navy Federal Credit Union on Garden Parks Boulevard, west of John Young Parkway and north of the Mall at Millenia.

Orlando police said 27-year-old Barbara Tommey, who worked at the credit union, was shot by her husband Sylvester Ofori.

Police said a search warrant was served at the suspect’s apartment and Ofori was taken into custody.

After her death, a video circulating on social media reveals that Ofori threatened to kill Barbara after Barbara’s brother went physical on him to prevent him from doing more harm to Barbara.

In the video which Barbara’s brother was seen calling Ofori a fake pastor, Ofori replied,” If i don’t kill your sister I’m fake”.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com

Tema: Suspected cable thief electrocuted

Daniel Opare
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A suspected cable thief has been electrocuted at Tema Community 4.


The suspect who was found hanging this dawn by residents in a mini telecommunication transformer .


Clad in a ‘tie and dye’ T-shirt with a blue trouser and a polythene bag containing some tools, the suspect who is yet to be identified by the police, is said to have been seen a night before the incident roaming around the vicinity.


The police have since arrived at the scene to carry the body to the morgue, while investigations continue.

Ghana/Atinkaonline.com

Ghana Waiting to Exhale: Letter from a Contempt Prison Graduate

Daniel Opare
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Amb. Alhaji Abdul-Rahman Harruna Attah, MOV

It is good for public officials to be given some form of protection. Judges, nurses, police, in-flight attendants, public transport drivers/conductors and others, all fall within this category. As annoying, unfair and unjust as some of them may be – and often are – without that kind of protection, public service would cease to function. Just imagine a court room without the strictures of contempt. It is not for the judge alone but society as a whole. With the courts, they can go after you inside or outside of the chamber where a case is being heard and slap contempt on you. By this same principle, those who find themselves enjoying this protection are expected to be so above reproach that a citizen or the general public would have no excuse to hold them in contempt. It is a two-way highway of responsibility and accountability…

Going down memory lane, I can still remember when and how the court of appeal, acting for a lower court, decided I should be incarcerated for 30 days for a contempt accusation brought against me by the lower court, which had in fact refused to take that drastic action when the accusation was laid before it in a case of libel/defamation. This was such a minor infraction, if ever there even was one, to merit a custodial sentence. It was a purely civil case of the media facing the wrath of a powerful political personage.

Our law courts archives have countless contempt precedents for reference. Mine was a celebrated case for two reasons: One, the office of the personality who wanted me to be taught a lesson and two, the question of how to interpret the freedom of expression.

Immediately after sentencing that late August morning, over 20 years ago, at about 11am, a police constable was at hand to cuff me for the journey to begin my sentence of 30 days. The handcuffs remained that way to early evening, all because my lawyer was dashing all over the courts to file stay of execution pending appeal. It was a day of drama! No judge wanted to have anything to do with it and eventually it had to get to the chief justice. It did, but my lord had also disappeared from the court premises. With much sadness, regret and pain on his face, the lawyer bid me farewell as the security van started me on my journey to the Nsawam medium security prison. No wonder I ended up with blistered wrists,  

A week later, back I was at the appeals court to plead for bail again pending appeal. The two elderly judges of the panel of three, refused bail and once more, I was driven off in the company of heavily armed prison guards to Akuse local prison where I had been transferred after a sojourning for a few days at the medium security prison. I served the full 30 days and years later, I can now look back and even chuckle at it all. The lady who wanted me to be taught a lesson, had had her day and rumours had it that as reward, the two elderly judges were nominated for the supreme court. Not much can be said now as they have long since been called to their maker, before whom, they must be accounting

This morning, all eyes and ears will be on our courts where a remarkable contempt case is being heard in one of them: The case in which a politician, who should know better, was blatantly in contempt in a case involving him and other parties in land litigation. 

Almost four years ago, to the day, another case, a carbon-copy of the one being heard today, was enacted in the chambers of the highest court. As precedents go, the court hearing today’s contempt case would not have far to go. The so-called Montie 3 docket, judgement and sentencing are there to guide the court. The politician has since apologized, so did the Montie 3, which was not enough to tamper justice with mercy. Even an institution like the Catholic Church, which trades in mercy and such holy things, jumped into the fray and backed the court to insist on its pound of flesh. God is not an entity to be used in partisan politics, so today He is looking on from on high to hear what His representatives on earth are saying on this one…Christian Council, Peace Council, Bar Association and all the other institutions baying for the blood of the Montie 3 four years ago, where are their voices today? Where are their cries of self-righteous indignation? Has Nana Akufo-Addo got such a hold on their consciences?

But leaving the deity out for the moment, the issue is what decision would be handed down this morning. There’s been much speculation in the public domain that in this particular case, there is enough room to suspect collusion between the judiciary and executive, making the case moot even before it has been settled. The politician would be let off altogether or with only a mild slap on the wrist. Should that be the case, who will cite me for contempt if I adopt the Dickensian expletive of shouting out loud that the law is an ass! Not only that, I would also wail openly about how the Ghanaian judiciary can be cited as being in contempt of Ghanaian democracy to satisfy partisan political ends…Ghana is waiting to exhale.

PS

There was another individual involved. I have judiciously left him out of this narration as his “documents” could provide another version.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com

Libya government resigns after Benghazi protests

Daniel Opare
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The rival government in eastern Libya has submitted its resignation after a number of protests over deteriorating living conditions and corruption.

At the weekend demonstrators in the city of Benghazi set fire to strongman Gen Khalifa Haftar’s headquarters.They also clashed in his stronghold of Al-Maj for the first time.

Libya has been torn by violence since long-time ruler Col Muammar Gaddafi was deposed and killed in 2011 by Nato-backed forces.

A spokesman for Gen Haftar said the administration backed peaceful protests but would not allow “terrorists and the Muslim Brotherhood” to hijack them.

Until now, protests against the situation in Libya have focused largely on the capital, Tripoli, home to the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).

Gen Haftar’s forces launched an offensive to seize Tripoli in April 2019 but military support from Turkey helped government forces drive Gen Haftar’s Russian-backed troops back from the frontlines earlier this year.

A ceasefire between Libya’s parallel governments was announced last month.

In early May, a leaked UN report said that hundreds of mercenaries from the Wagner Group – run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close associate of President Putin – were operating in Libya.

Gen Haftar is also backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, while the GNA enjoys the support of Turkey, Qatar and Italy.

Gen Khalifa Haftar

Libya has the biggest reserves of oil and gas in Africa.

Since January an armed group loyal to Gen Haftar has blocked key oil fields, causing power cuts and costing Libya billions of dollars in lost exports.

It was partially lifted last month to allow the sale of oil already stored in terminals, but not the production of fresh supplies.

BBC

NDC will upgrade Sekondi Central Market—Prof. Opoku-Agyemang

Daniel Opare
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Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Vice Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has assured the chiefs of Sekondi in the Western region that the next NDC administration will rebuild the Sekondi Central Market to enhance economic activities in the area.

In addition, she said the Sekondi-Takoradi Cultural Centre would be renovated, while roads in the city would be upgraded in line with the NDC’s infrastructure development plan.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang gave the assurance during an interaction with the members of the Sekondi Traditional Council today as part of her campaign tour of the Western region.

Responding to a number of requests by the chiefs, the Running mate explained that the upgrading of the Sekondi Central Market and roads in Sekondi-Takoradi has been catered for in the party’s manifesto, adding that the those projects would be undertaken with funding from the party’s 10billion dollar “Big Push” for infrastructure development, when it win powers.

“When we promise, we deliver,” she said, and cited many manifesto promises the previous NDC administration fulfilled in the region.

Touching on a request for more jobs for the youth in the area, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) would be  would be prioritised in the region to enable more young people in the region to be technical equipped to access industrial jobs, especially in the oil and gas, and food processing sectors.

Regarding unpaid compensation for lands taken by the State during the Kufuor-led government for projects, the running mate promised that the concerns of the chiefs on that matter would be effectively addressed when the NDC returns to power.

The Running mate called on the chiefs and people of Sekondi to vote for the NDC for meaningful change, indicating that an NDC government would ensure that development in the various sectors of the economy, particularly the oil and gas sector, become more beneficial to the people of the region.

“We assure you that the NDC will pursue a national development agenda without marginalization,” she stressed.

Nana Barima Ekow Gyesa II, acting President of the Sekondi Traditional Council, welcoming the running mate earlier, expressed disappointment that although the present government promised to address their concerns regarding the compensation for lands, job creation and the Sekondi market upgrade, none had been fulfilled.

He believed that since development has to be beneficial to the people, the progress of the oil and gas sector must reflect in the wellbeing of the people, particularly the youth in the region.

“We are optimistic that you will help to address our needs when you win power,” he told the running mate.

Ghana/Atinkaonline.com

NDC is pursuing God’s will to save Ghana- Naana Opoku Agyeman

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Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Vice Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) says the party’s “rescue mission” is the will of God to save the nation from mismanagement.

“We will do the will of God to save this country,” she said, adding that an NDC administration will provide the light that would illuminate the path of Ghanaians and the nation.

Addressing the congregation at the Assemblies of God-Ghana at Anaji in Sekondi, at the start of her campaign tour of the Western region, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, urged Ghanaians to be steadfast in the Lord to grant Ghana quality change in governance.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, who graced the church’s thanksgiving service as part of their ordination event, urged the religious community to pray for the nation for sustained peace and development which would be pursued vigorously by the next NDC administration.

Archbishop Prince Hampel, Chairman of Living Faith Theological Seminary, who chaired the thanksgiving service, commended Prof Opoku-Agyemang for her God-fearing and peace-loving attributes, and prayed for victory for her and her party in the upcoming election.

Earlier, the running mate arrived in the Western regional capital of Sekondi-Takoradi to a rousing welcome by hundreds of residents of the city who lined the streets to meet her.

The residents, who defied a morning downpour, cheered, waved and chanted “change” as the Running Mate’s convoy rolled into the twin=city to begin her four-day tour of the region.

Addressing the ecstatic crowds from the roof of her vehicle at Shama Junction, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang thanked the people for the welcome.

She assured them of quality change that would enhance the lot of Ghanaians and save the country from the present poor governance and socio-economic difficulties.

Ghana l Stinks online.com

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