Mahama should come clear on extension of Free SHS to private schools-Lecturer

Daniel Opare
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A Political Science Lecturer at the Methodist University College, Dr Bonsu Osei-Wusu, has challenged Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama to come clear on the extension of the Free SHS policy to private schools as stated in their manifesto.

He was of the view that although the NDC has promised a lot in their ‘People’s Manifesto’, it is not possible to implement most of the promises, particularly education.

Speaking with Nana Owusu Nkrumah on Atinka TV’s Morning show, Ghana Nie, Dr Bonsu Osei-Wusu opined that there will be complications in trying to implement most of the things promised by the NDC, challenging John Mahama to explain how the party intends to fund the extension of free SHS to private schools.

“The money government spends on government schools cannot cater for those in private schools, because those in private schools pay feeding fee, and so if you say you are extending free SHS to the private schools, does it mean they will pay only the fees for them or pay for them as it is being done with public schools? They should come and answer these question,” he said.

He also noted that before the NPP government said it would implement the Free SHS policy, the NDC opposed it, stating that it was not feasible and therefore it becomes questionable if they say they will extend something which they claimed was not possible to private schools.

“Before free SHS, the NDC said it was not feasible. When the free SHS came, they complained that it was too expensive and that government was using all its money to fund it and had neglected other areas; if you are saying only the free SHS is expensive and now you want to extend it to private schools and tertiary it is questionable,” he said.

Commenting on the 50 percent off tertiary school fees, Dr Bonsu Osei-Wusu quizzed, “Even 10 percent of tertiary fees is more than the school fees of SHS, and now you are saying you are going to pay 50 percent and add laptop and tablet. Does it mean that the 50 percent off school fees will also be extended to private schools?”

Dr Bonsu Osei-Wusu suggested that instead of providing laptops and tablets to tertiary students, the NDC should rather focus of supporting tertiary institutions with accommodation since that has become their major problem.

“Did they consult the tertiary institutions on that, because the major problem of tertiary institutions is accommodation, and if you look at the University of Ghana alone they are about 40, 000. Due to free SHS, those who will come the first year is expected to be more and if you want to give everybody a laptop. I believe if you use the money to solve accommodation issues, it will be better and the students will appreciate it more than the laptops because some are still struggling with accommodation,” he added.

On other sectors, he said both have been presidents before so people can weigh the two parties to determine what they can do and vote for any based on their strength.

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori

MTN Ghana invests over GHS 100 million in covid -19 support activities

Daniel Opare
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The CEO of MTN Ghana Selorm Adadevoh says the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be far reaching than was anticipated at the beginning of the year.

Mr. Adadevoh says the company has invested a lot of resources which is estimated to cost around GHS100 million to guarantee the safety and protection of staff and customers and to support government to cope with the global pandemic.

Speaking at the 2020 edition of the Annual Media and Stakeholder Forum, the CEO of MTN Ghana, announced that MTN Ghana along with the MTN Ghana Foundation has done a lot to make life more comfortable for its various stakeholders.

MTN invested about GHS 29 Million to provide the required measures to keep staff and the working environment safe. An additional GHS 72 Million have been spent on interventions that have impacted Customers whilst GHS 6 Million have been spent on initiatives to support government.

Specific interventions carried out by MTN Ghana include:

·        Supply of PPE for all MTN frontline staff

·        Provision of relevant tools to enable about 90% of staff work from home

·        Provision of 45 buses to transport MTN frontline staff to their work locations

·        Boosting Network resilience (50% increase in international bandwidth, 100 new sites); to support work from home, online school, entertainment and other digital activities.

·        Provision of Free access to over 200 educational websites for several educational institutions                                                                           

·        Offer of Free MoMo P2P transfers up to GHS100 daily from March till date

·        Provision of Free access (zero rate) of the Smart Workplace portal for government workers

·        Donation of GhS5m worth of PPEs for frontline health workers and 4 PCR machines

·        Donation of digital equipment to Noguchi Memorial worth GHS42,000; and

·        Distribution of 85,000 face masks to various hospitals and clinics nationwide

·        Two-month behavioral change campaign urging people to wear face mask. (Be Wise and Wear it for me campaign).

Selorm Adadevoh also used the opportunity to confirm that MTN Ghana was on track to become a digital operator by the end of 2023.

The MTN Editors and Stakeholder Forum is held across the country annually to engage senior media practitioners and stakeholders of the business to share insights into the business operations for the year and for the future. 

Similar virtual forums will be held with the media in other parts of the country.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com

Elizabeth Ohene writes: Finding best insults

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I wrote an article for the BBC back in 2010 that I called Flying Insults. This is how I started that article: “This is a difficult subject for me. But there is so much bad language flying around in Ghana these days it is impossible to ignore the subject of insults. It is in the area of political and public discourse that things appear to be getting out of hand.”
I would crave your indulgence if I lift portions from that article as I try to write about insults in our political sphere today, 10 years later. As the French would say, plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.

The President had what I call a face to face moment with a delegation from the Catholic Bishops Conference as he urged them and everybody else who has been calling for a clean campaign devoid of insults to be specific and call out those who insult.

In other words, if Elizabeth Ohene insults Kwasi Anyomi Ohene, call her out and don’t say people should not insult.

President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo cited the example of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flag bearer, former President John Mahama, endorsing a reference to Akyem Sakawa.

Mr Mahama has since then spoken on the subject and far from offering an apology for his choice of words, or hiding behind a claim of his words being misrepresented or taken out of context, he felt he was only matching President Akufo-Addo boot for boot in the area of insults.

According to Mr Mahama, President Akufo-Addo long ago lost the right to complain about insults because he had insulted and regularly insults people. Mr Mahama cited as evidence to back his claim that while in opposition, Akufo-Addo had called the then President Atta Mills Dr Dolittle and since becoming president, he calls his opponents naysayers and Jeremiahs.

Closer look

Being something of an expert on insults, I have been taking a closer look at these insults. President Mills was called Dr Dolittle. I start with the literal, obvious meaning of the word, Dolittle. So I break up the offending word; a President was being accused of doing little, he was not busy solving Ghana’s problems.

Since President Mills is sadly no longer with us, one has to be careful and not say anything hurtful about him, but I don’t think a description of little activity during his presidency can be taken as an insult.

In other words, it is like saying Elizabeth Ohene is 75 years old; it is not an insult.

Then it occurred to me that maybe Mr Mahama was taking the literary reference of Dolittle in George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion in which we have the characters of Eliza Dolittle and her father Alfred Dolittle.

Granted that this is a play that premiered in London in 1913, there isn’t much in there to get upset about the Dolittle father and daughter characters.

So, I moved to the more popular rendition of the play, in the film, My Fair Lady, based on Pygmalion. That was a beautiful musical and the Dolittle characters were charming. Calling someone after them would not constitute an insult.

It is like saying an article written last year which had no reactions will bring the house down when the same article is published today.

I later discovered there has been a Dr Dolittle Family/Adventure film released in January 2020, but whatever happened in that film cannot be part of the present conversation.

Naysayers

President Akufo-Addo calls his critics Naysayers and Jeremiahs. According to the dictionary, a Naysayer is a person who criticises, objects to, or opposes something.

The dictionary provides a sentence to illustrate the usage of the word: “He continues to win despite the many naysayers”.

Another example might be: The Free Senior High School (SHS) has been introduced and is working despite the many naysayers. Or the Electoral Commission (EC) compiled a new voters register despite the many naysayers. Can’t see any insult in there.

Akufo-Addo calls his critics Jeremiahs. Here are the meanings of Jeremiah in the dictionary: A major Hebrew prophet of the seventh and sixth centuries and I might add the first name of a former president of the country and a popular first name of many boys since then.

Another meaning says: A person who is pessimistic about the present and foresees a calamitous future. Every press conference held by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the past three and a half years will qualify to be adjudged as such. I thought this precisely was what Mr Mahama had been saying. An insult?

Rough

Maybe Mr Mahama is a man of very sensitive disposition and cannot bear what is called the rough and tumble of politics and that is why he regards Dolittle, Naysayer and Jeremiah as insults.

What about Mr Mahama’s reaction to the President complaints? Akyem Sakawa. President Akufo-Addo is an Akyem. Elizabeth Ohene is an Ewe. There is no argument.

I go to Google to get this meaning of the word sakawa: a Ghanaian term for illegal practices which combine modern internet-based fraud with African traditionalist rituals. The rituals, which are mostly in the form of sacrifices, are intended to spiritually manipulate victims so that the scammer’s fraud is successful.

Flag bearer Mahama is happy to cite an ethnic group and bundle them up as people who perform illegal, Internet-based fraud? And these people combine the fraudulent practice with traditional rituals? And this will match Dolittle, boot for boot, to borrow his terminology? Or will Sakawa be on the same wavelength as Jeremiah?

While he was President, Mr Mahama used to provide the best copy for insults that could be used against him. If someone called Candidate Mahama a dead goat, that would be considered an insult. And if you are looking for an Akyem Sakawa correlation, you should hear Candidate Mahama: “when it comes to unleashing violence, no one can beat us to that”.

And here was Candidate Mahama in the Volta Region during the voter registration exercise. He said the Volta Region people had been specially targeted for military invasion. Earlier during the 2016 election he had said ‘his northern brothers’ such as Bawumia had no future in the New Patriotic Party (NPP). He knows how to insult without even trying.

Mr Mahama has shown he is a walking, breathing, laughing insult.

The writer, Elizabeth Akua Ohene, for the avoidance of all doubts and just in case there is anybody out there who is unaware, is a card-carrying member of the NPP. She is a founder member of the party and served as a Minister of State in the John Kufuor Administration and is currently the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the NPP.

Source: Graphiconline

GNUTS congratulates Akufo-Addo on his appointment as ECOWAS Chair

Daniel Opare
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The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Ghana National Union of Technical Students (GNUTS) has congratulated President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on his appointment as the Chairman for the Economic Community of West Africa States last Monday 7th September, 2020.

“The entire student body and the Leadership of GNUTS wish you well in this new role. We are very hopeful and confidence in you that you will deliver. We pray the Lord Almighty grant you strength and grace for this Mandate,” the GNUTS stated.

President Akufo-Addo was elected at the 57th ECOWAS summit, held in Niamey, the capital of Niger.

West African leaders gathered in the Nigerien capital, Niamey for the 57th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the ECOWAS.

Akufo-Addo on Monday, September 7, 2020 led the Ghanaian delegation to the 57th ECOWAS summit.

This year’s summit will discuss matters pertaining to the COVID-19 situation in West Africa, the ECOWAS Single Currency Programme, and the political impasse in Mali.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, Senegal’s President Macky Sall and Gambia’s President Adama Barrow were among other leaders who traveled to Niamey for the Summit.

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com

100-year-old man goes scuba diving for Guinness record

Daniel Opare
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An Illinois man is seeking Guinness World Records recognition as the world’s oldest scuba diver after he took a plunge into the water to celebrate his 100th birthday.

Bill Lambert of Rockford suited up Monday, two days after he turned 100, and went for a 27-minute scuba dive in South Beloit’s Pearl Lake.

The world’s oldest scuba diver record is currently held by British diver Wallace Raymond Woolley, who took a dive in 2019 at the age of 96 years and 3 days.

Lambert said he went diving in Mexico at age 98, but the dive was not submitted for Guinness recognition.

The diver, who had to stay underwater for at least 20 minutes to qualify, said he is hoping to beat his own record by diving at age 101 next year.

UPI

Parties asked to adhere to vigilante laws ahead of elections

Daniel Opare
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Executive Secretary for the National Peace Council (NPC) George Amoh, says although the country’s laws have disbanded vigilante groups, political parties have regrouped these persons into other groups.

He called  on the political parties to strictly adhere to the roadmap adopted to help eradicate political vigilantism from the country as it goes to poll Dec 7.

This statement by the Executive Secretary for the National Peace Council comes after a member of the Governing Board of the NPC, Apostle Kwadwo Opoku Onyinah, advised political parties that were still engaging the services of vigilantes to disband them before the December 7 elections.

Speaking on Atinka FM’s AM Drive, with host Ekoirba Gyasi, the Executive Secretary for the National Peace Council (NPC) George Amoh, said these groups belonging to the parties have been regrouped into decent groups and are still operating.

According to him, the National Peace Council is reminding the political parties that the law has already disbanded these groups and so all parties should be cautious in their dealings with such groups of persons.

He urged all political parties engaged in the regrouping and renaming of these groups to desist from the act.

Executive Secretary for the National Peace Council (NPC) George Amoh, says although the laws have disbanded the vigilante groups, political parties have regrouped these persons into other groups.

He called  on the political parties to strictly adhere to the roadmap adopted to help eradicate political vigilantism from the country, especially at the county goes to poll Dec 7.

This statement by the Executive Secretary for the National Peace Council comes after a member of the Governing Board of the NPC, Apostle Kwadwo Opoku Onyinah, advised political parties that were still engaging the services of vigilantes to disband them before the December 7 elections.

Speaking on Atinka FM’s AM Drive, with host Ekoirba Gyasi, George Amoh, said these groups have been regrouped into decent groups and are still operating.

According to him, the National Peace Council is reminding the political parties that the law has already disbanded these groups and so all parties should be cautious in their dealings with such groups of persons.

He urged all political parties engaged in the regrouping and renaming of these groups to desist from the act.

“I urge all  political parties still harbouring any vigilante groups or their remnants after the ban through the passage of the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act, 2019 (Act 999) to take immediate steps to complete the disbandment process before the December 2020 general election”, he added.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu Boatemaa

US-based Ghanaian Pastor allegedly kills wife

Daniel Opare
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A woman 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.

Investigators said the shooting was captured on surveillance video.

“You can tell that she’s trying to get inside (the credit union). Unfortunately, he shoots her,” Police Chief Orlando Rolon said. “You can tell she was surprised by what was happening.”

A witness who only provided a first name of Lisa told News 6 she saw the whole thing as she was waiting outside before the bank opened.

“I’m shaken up right now, I’m still shaken up,” she said.

She said she saw the worker come outside to move her car before she was shot.

“The next thing I knew, he raised his hand with the gun in it, and he shot her,” she said.

“The guy was walking behind her. I don’t know if she knew he was there or not,” Lisa said. “I started running and as I’m running, I hear three or four more shots.”

Lisa said she’s sad and shaken up, yet spoke highly of the worker who lost her life.

“She was always very nice when I came into the bank,” Lisa said. “She’s very nice, very nice.”

clickorlando.com

FC Nordsjælland: Michael Essien gets coaching job in Denmark

Daniel Opare
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Former Ghana and Chelsea star Michael Essien has been appointed a Player-Coach at Danish top flight club FC Nordsjælland for the 2020/2021 season.

In a statement, Nordsjælland said Essien will assist Head Coach Flemming Pedersen and participate in training sessions.

Essien who has also spent time at Chelsea as part of his training to become a qualified coach will start his new role on Thursday.

In a Tweet, the former Real Madrid and AC Milan loanee said delighted to have joined Nordsjælland as part of the process to obtain his full coaching licence from the English FA.

“I am delighted to have joined FC Nordsjaelland coaching staff as part of my development towards my full coaching licence,” the 37-year-old posted on Twitter.

“I will also be assisting the players on and off the pitch as part of my role.”

Essien joins compatriot Mas-Ud Didi Dramani (Transition coach) as Ghanaians on the coaching staff of Nordsjælland.

A club statement said: “Essien will join the staff in an assistant role and participate in the training alongside the players to help implement the drills and ideas in the best possible way as well as contribute with new input to coaching group evaluations of the training session afterwards.”

Head Coach Flemming Pedersen said he was looking forward to working with Essien.

He said: “In the coaching staff we’ve experienced Michael Essien as both curious and hungry for knowledge before and after the training sessions, but at the same time also contributing and giving among the players during the training. His career and experience speak for themselves, but when you add his humble and giving personality, this is an exceptional opportunity for us to get a person added to the staff who can help make our environment, even more, developing for our players and also add valuable input to the coaching team and be our hand on the training pitch. We are very much looking forward to welcoming Michael to FCN”.

Essien has also been welcomed by the club’s sports director Jan Laursen.

“Michael left a very positive impression here during his visit and we continued the dialogue with him after he had left,” Laursen said.

“We felt, he was excited by what he experienced here through our philosophy, the people he met at the club, and that our environment inspired him.

“At the same time, Michael’s visit gave us a clear impression of how much a coaching staff member on the pitch, as an active part of the training with the players, can contribute and add.

“That part we are really looking forward to further developing, and we are very happy that it can happen through and with such a football- and human capacity as Michael Essien is.”

Nordsjælland is owned by Ghana’s Right to Dream Academy which was founded by Englishman Tom Vernon in Accra.

Source: Graphic Sports

COVID-19: Komfo Anokye CEO tests positive

Daniel Opare
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The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Oheneba Owusu-Danso has allegedly contracted the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Atinkaonline.com has learnt.

It has been reported that he is receiving treatment at a special ward inside the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

Although unconfirmed by the hospital, a report by Pulse.com indicated that the CEO is responding to treatment.

He joins the number of Heroes of health professionals who have been committed in the fight against covid-19 and have tested positive for the virus.

It has also been noted that the about 200 workers of the hospital who tested positive and have recovered are back to work.

Meanwhile, Ghana has recorded 143 new cases of coronavirus, making the total number of recorded cases 45,012.

Out of the total number of recorded positive cases, 43,898 have recovered with 283 deaths.

However, Ghana has 831 active cases.

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com

Photos: Massive demo against Mahama over "Akyem Sakawa" jibe

Daniel Opare
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Three divisions of Akyem – Abuakwa, Bosome, and Kotoku in the Eastern Region hit the streets on Wednesday morning to register their displeasure with President, John Dramani Mahama and the NDC over alleged disparaging remarks made about Akyems.

Mr. Mahama, who is staging a comeback, sparked an uproar last week when he shared a Facebook post which described the people of Akyem, the ethnic group of sitting President Akufo-Addo, as ‘Sakawa Boys’— a term largely used to refer to people who engage in internet fraud, dubious or criminal activities.

Mr. Mahama shared on his Facebook an unprovoked blistering attack on the persons of President Akufo-Addo and his Vice Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia by Isaac Adongo, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolgatanga Central, on the Agyapa Royalties deal.

Isaac Adongo had called those working on the Agyapa deal as ‘Akyem Mafia’ and Mr. Mahama amplified the NDC MP’s vitriolic comment on his Facebook page by adding ‘Akyem Sakawa Boys.’

The demonstrators who described themselves as “Concerned Citizens of Akyem Abuakwa, Kotoku and Bosome” are demanding a retraction and an apology from the Former President and the NDC over those comments.

Video Below:

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com

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