South Korea’s hospitals under pressure as cases surge

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South Korea’s hospitals under pressure as cases surge

South Korea says it has registered more than 4,000 new coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period – a record daily number.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum has described the situation as worse than expected and said emergency measures should now be considered in and around the capital, Seoul.

Hospitals across the country are said to be rapidly filling up with serious and critical cases and the prime minister urged older people to have their Covid booster jabs.

South Korea has seen a sharp rise in infections since the country began gradually lifting restrictions earlier this month as part of a “living with Covid-19” plan.

Read Also: Kasoa: 26 suspected internet fraudsters arrested

In other news: Europe faces 700,000 more Covid deaths by March – WHO

Europe and parts of Asia could reach 2.2 million Covid deaths by March next year, the World Health Organization has warned.

It says another 700,000 more people could die from the disease by March 2022, based on current trends.

It’s been 623 days since the health body declared Covid a pandemic in March 2020, and the region has already recorded 1.5 million deaths.

Covid is currently the top cause of death in Europe, it says.

It also warned that 49 countries in the region will reach “high or extreme stress” in intensive care units by March.

Read the full story here.

In other news:

New Zealand to reopen to vaccinated visitors

In the first phase of re-opening, fully vaccinated New Zealand citizens and residents who are currently in Australia will be allowed to return from 16 JanuaryImage caption: In the first phase of re-opening, fully vaccinated New Zealand citizens and residents who are currently in Australia will be allowed to return from 16 January

New Zealand has unveiled its plans to reopen its borders and allow foreigners to enter the country next year.

Fully vaccinated visitors can enter from 30 April, and will have to self-isolate for seven days upon arrival.

More New Zealanders will also be allowed to travel home from early next year under similar rules.

The move eases strict curbs that have locked out many citizens and tourists since borders were slammed shut at the start of the Covid pandemic.

Announcing the staged re-opening plans earlier this week, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said they were “the safest approach to ensure risk is carefully managed”.

Read the full story here.

Source: BBC

2022 Budget not equitable- NDC Communicator

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2022 Budget not equitable- NDC Communicator

A Communications Team Member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Peter Akwesi Mensah says the 2022 budget (Agyenkwa Budget) is not equitable as being portrayed by the NPP-Government.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, reading the 2022 budget in Parliament on Wednesday 17th November 2021, said government has decided to place a levy on all electronic transactions.

According to him, Electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments and inward remittances will be charged at an applicable rate of 1.75%, which shall be borne by the sender except inward remittances, which will be borne by the recipient.

He also said the Government has suspended 50% benchmark values on selected general goods and the 30% on vehicles to make the measure more efficient and targeted.

Read Also: Govt’s E-levy system best bet for development –Derek Oduro

Speaking on Atinka TV‘s morning show, Ghana Nie with Ekourba Gyasi simpremu, Mr Peter Akwesi Mensah explained that irrespective of whatever job anyone does, they will pay the 1.75% E-levy.

“The Government said that it needs GH7 Billion from this tax; these taxes are not equitable as being said. Irrespective of the type of job you do, they will deduct the 1.75% and so if we are talking about equability, it does not fit in there,’ he said.

He said the problem with the country is the mismanagement of the economy, saying the government does not manage the taxes well when they are collected.

Mr Peter Akwesi Mensah said if the taxes are managed well, the NPP-Government wouldn’t have introduced the above taxes.

He said the country was losing about GHC35 Billion because the NPP-Government refused to manage the taxes well, saying that the government wouldn’t have introduced the 1.75% E-Levy tax if it saved the said amount.

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
Writer’s email: [email protected]

I have been underrated for too long – AK Songstress

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I have been underrated for too long – AK Songstress

Talented vocalist, Akosua Kwakye, known in showbiz as AK Songstress has expressed worry over how Ghanaians have ignored her talent and craft unlike her other colleagues who have enjoyed much attention from the public.

Speaking in an interview with Roman Fada on Atinka Fm’s Drive Time Show on Monday, November 22, 2021, the Reggae/Dancehall artiste said since her emergence as a professional artiste, she has received little support from the media and key industry players.

According to her, she has really worked hard as an artiste and therefore deserves maximum attention and support.

She has released many great songs with videos  but until her latest release, Jonathan which is arguably one of the biggest songs in Ghana, Africa and the world at large at the moment, she was still seen  as an underground artiste.

“I have really worked, I have done many great songs but I have been underrated,” she said.

Disputing the opinions of some Ghanaians who believe that her songs are not good and marketable that is why she has been struggling to get attention, she said the problem has to do with Ghanaians not supporting real talents.


The beautiful songstress who believes her latest song, Jonathan which has been her biggest song so far said it wouldn’t have been bigger l if it was only in Ghana. 

Read Also: GTBank Di Asa 5: Five evicted from competition

In other news: 7 evicted from GTBank Di Asa Season 5 House

season
Seven evicted on Saturday

Seven plus size women competing in Atinka TV’s flagship reality show, GTBank Di Asa Season Five have been kicked out of the competition.

The seven are Baybe, Awura, Rossy, Abi bey, Sexy, HK and Ali Rema.

They were evicted because they had little votes and placed at the bottom of the voting chart.

Their eviction brings down the number of house mates to 53.

Apart from receiving packages from all the sponsors of the show, the seven were given GHC1,000 each to transport them back home.

At the end of Saturday’s show, the best costume went to Obolo while AJ was named best dancer.

The next eviction show will be held on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 at the Sika Hall inside Atinka Media Village.

The GTBank Di Asa Season Five will award the ultimate winner with a brand new salon car.

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Asare-Bediako Addo

Education Ministry denies “chop chop” in laptop contract

Daniel Opare
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Education Ministry denies “chop chop” in laptop contract

The Ministry of Education has debunked allegations of “create, loot, and share” in the Ministry’s contract to procure laptops for teachers in Ghana.

The Ministry of Education in a statement signed by the spokesperson, Kwasi Kwarteng, mentioned that its attention has been drawn to publications making round online in which the writer has deliberately misrepresented the facts regarding the procurement and supply of laptop computers for pre-tertiary teacher unions.

Read Also: Obofour’s church members involved in accident, 4 die on the spot

The statement added that in September 2020, the leadership of National Association of Graduate Teachers, Ghana National Association of Teacher (GNAT), and Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana  CCT with membership strength of 350,000 sought funding from the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Ghana.

Read Full statement from the Ministry of Education Below:

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu | [email protected]

‘Agyenkwa’ budget “lazily crafted” – NDC

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‘Agyenkwa’ budget “lazily crafted” – NDC

A Communications Team Member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Akwesi Mensah says he has never seen a lazy budget such as the 2022 budget (Agyenkwa) in the history of Ghana, describing it a ‘wicked budget’.

According to him, the government does not think about Ghanaians, and has therefore introduced such taxes after the government told Ghanaians that, ‘We are not in normal times’.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, reading the 2022 budget in Parliament on Wednesday 17th November 2021, said government has decided to place a levy on all electronic transactions.

According to him, Electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments and inward remittances will be charged at an applicable rate of 1.75%, which shall be borne by the sender except inward remittances, which will be borne by the recipient.

Read Also: We’ve not asked anyone to break toll-booths- MCE

Speaking on Atinka TV’s morning show, Ghana Nie with Ekourba Gyasi simpremu, Mr Peter Akwesi Mensah said, “I have never seen a government which has introduced such a lazy tax in the political history. I have never seen that.”

Mr Peter Akwesi Mensah also said,”With a government that said it will move Ghana from taxation to production and the same government came to tell Ghanaians that we are not in normal times and then brings this tax at this crucial moment, it is a killer tax.”

Although he said he was not against taxes, he said the taxes should be introduced considering the economic situation of the country and how people will be affected.

Mr Peter Akwesi Mensah noted that since the beginning of this year, the government has introduced about 10 taxes, saying it is not that the government has not gotten enough taxes and therefore has to impose new taxes on Ghanaians at all cost despite the hardship.

“If you look at the taxes the government has taken, it does not have to impose any new tax. The taxes this government has collection within the spate of four years is about GHC228 Billion. If you have gotten this money and you have respect for Ghanaians, you will not introduce these taxes,” he said.

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
Writer’s email: [email protected]

KGL committed to delivering value in excess of GHc100M per annum to economy

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KGL committed to delivering value in excess of GHc100M per annum to economy

The successful operations of KGL Group and its subsidiary companies, KGL Technology Limited, KEED and KGL Foundation, are set to contribute significantly to the national economy and Government of Ghana at an expected cumulative value in excess of 100 million Ghana Cedis per annum.

KGL Group has contributed significantly to revenue growth and capacity development across its operations in the lottery industry, collaborations with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ghana Football Association and social intervention programs under its CSR wing, the KGL Foundation.

The Group is set to continue its value creation drive across its ecosystem of strategic partners and envisages a total value of 100million Ghana Cedis per annum to be committed.

The key levers to guide the allocation of funds by the Group in concert with strategic partners and to the national economy are as follows:

  1. Growth in the contribution of Corporate Taxes and other taxes to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Government of Ghana.
  2. Value within the lottery industry from:

a. Digital lotto marketer licensing and operational fees to the National Lottery Authority (NLA) in accordance with the ongoing review of license and operational terms and conditions for KGL Technology Limited.

b. Payments to the Stabilization Fund that seeks to provide support to revenue shortfalls of the Lotto Marketing Companies as a result of the digitalization policy of NLA-KGL Technology Limited.

c. Seed capital to set up a Pension Scheme for the Lotto Marketing Companies which is currently non-existent.

Read Also: “We’re tired of paying accumulated bills” – Somanya residents tell ECG

  1. Undertaking of Corporate Social Responsibility activities in the areas of Education, Healthcare Delivery, Sports Development, Culture, and Tourism.
  2. Growing investments in the media ecosystem and the entire value chain of marketing and advertising.

In the case of the lottery industry, this announcement is singularly one of the most profitable agreements the National Lottery Authority (NLA) has brokered considering zero investment made by the Authority towards infrastructure set up and operations of KGL Technology encompassing setting up the entire architecture to run digital lottery operations on the *959# Short Code and 5/90 mobile App under consumer brand name 590Mobile by KGL’s KEED subsidiary.

To put this in context, NLA would need to generate over GHc450 million volume of gross sales at Point-of-Sale Terminals per annum for the Authority to be able to accumulate a net profit of GHc50 million which will now be delivered at no cost by KGL Technology to the Authority pursuant to reviewed agreement.

This makes the current terms of the agreement between KGL Technology Limited and the National Lottery Authority (NLA) under review by the current Board definitely a game-changer for the revenue mobilization efforts of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Lotto Marketing Companies, and the Government of Ghana as a whole.

KGL Technology Limited since its inception has contributed significantly to the fortunes of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and the national economy.

In the area of sports development, the KGL Group has also partnered with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ghana Football Association, and the Senior National Team, the Black Stars ahead of the AFCON and 2022 World Cup Campaigns. Besides this collaborative project, KGL Group recently also committed significant financial resources to the Ghana Football Association for the development of Juvenile Football for a strategic period of 5 years.

KGL Group through its KGL Foundation has equally supported several Charity Organizations, Cultural and social-economic activities across the Country.

KGL Technology Limited has at all material times honored its tax obligations to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Government of Ghana and as a responsible corporate citizen, KGL Technology Limited reiterates its full commitment to the revenue mobilization efforts of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and Government of Ghana, thereby contributing significantly to the Nation’s development agenda.

Issued by: Management of KGL Group

We use money to fix a country, not water – Derek Oduro

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We use money to fix a country, not water – Derek Oduro

A former Deputy Defence Minister, Major(rtd) Derek Oduro has defended the 2022 budget saying, no one uses “water to fix a country but money”.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, reading the 2022 budget in Parliament on Wednesday 17th November 2021, said government has decided to place a levy on all electronic transactions.

According to him, Electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments and inward remittances will be charged at an applicable rate of 1.75%, which shall be borne by the sender except inward remittances, which will be borne by the recipient.

He also said the Government has suspended 50% benchmark values on selected general goods and the 30% on vehicles to make the measure more efficient and targeted.

Read Also: Govt’s E-levy system best bet for development –Derek Oduro

Speaking on Atinka TV’s morning show, Ghana Nie with Ekourba Gyasi Simpremu, Major(rtd) Derek Oduro also said no president has ever used his pocket money to develop the country, saying taxation was the best way to go.

“We all know that if we want to fix the country, and we hold placards calling on government to fix the country and we are jumping, we don’t use water to fix a country, we use money to fix a country,” he said.

He continued,”No President has taken money out of his pocket to fix the country, it is taxes, grants and loans.”

Major(rtd) Derek Oduro said the NDC realised the introduction of the taxes was the best and decided to go on radio stations to make it look bad in the eyes of the people.

He said the NPP Government was fixing the country, adding that the government was using a radical approach in order to generate money to fix the country despite being hit by the covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Major(rtd) Derek Oduro said the public has to give the NPP-Government credit because it has abolished a lot of taxes including the Kayayee tax, saying all these taxes were there during the NDC’s reign.

“What they are tagging as wicked budget, we call it Agyenkwa budget. We heard them say it is the best way every government will use to raise funds and when you look at the incidence of taxes, considering equity, certainty, and economy, the budget meets all criteria. We will not tax anyone sending money below GHC100,” He said.

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
Writer’s email: [email protected]

Obofour’s church members involved in accident, 4 die on the spot

Daniel Opare
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Obofour’s church members involved in accident, 4 die on the spot

Over 27 members of the Anointed Palace Chapel Family, owned by Popular Pastor Rev. Obofour, have been involved in a fatal accident.

Four of them died on the spot, while the others sustained various degrees of injuries.

The accident, which involved a parked tipper car with the registration number GN 2723-21 and MPec Yutong bus, occurred at Ekumfi Esuehyia in the Central Region.

Speaking to Atinka News, an eyewitness revealed that the members of Anointed Palace Chapel Family Church were returning to Accra from Takoradi when their Yutong Bus collided with a parked tipper car.

Read Also: Govt’s E-levy system best bet for development –Derek Oduro

The eyewitness added that two people died on the spot while the other two died at the hospital.

The injured members are receiving treatment at the Saltpond Government Hospital and Apam Catholic Hospital respectively

A Senior Nursing Officer at Apam Catholic Hospital, Mr Kwame Asabre, has confirmed to Atinka News that, 3 out the 23 people who were brought to Apam Catholic Hospital  are in stable condition. 

Rev Obofour is yet to comment on the accident involving his members.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.co | Adjei Kwaku Mensah

Get involved in the selection of schools for your wards – GES to Parents

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Get involved in the selection of schools for your wards – GES to Parents

The Head of Public Relations Unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Cassandra Twum Ampofo has urged parents to take keen interest in the selection of Senior High Schools for their children who have completed Junior High School to ensure a smooth placement.

According to her, this will help prevent the incidence of children choosing schools their parents do not approve of.

JHS students who completed their BECE on Friday, November 19th, 2021 are expected to commence the selection of schools from 29th November to December 14th 2021.

Before then, the GES has begun a sensitisation programme to educate all stakeholders on the guidelines for school selection.

Read Also: V/R: Man allegedly kills girlfriend, keeps her body in fridge

Speaking on Atinka TV‘s morning show, Ghana Nie with Ekourba Gyasi simpremu, Cassandra Twum Ampofo said,”Every year you may get one or two people who will come up with issues but largely, our objective for doing the sensitisation is for the students and parents to understand the process and this time around all what we want to do is to drum home the fact that parents must really get involved.”

She continued that, “Most of the time when they come, they will say they did not choose the school and that the teacher did and they do not like it. Unfortunately, most of the parents do not get time. The work they do is important but they have to squeeze at least two hours of their time to do this for their children.”

She added that,”If your child has completed JHS and is going to SHS, find time or ask for permission from your places of work to help in the process to prevent the event where parents will say they do not like the schools, this year we do not want that again.”

Meanwhile, she said choosing the school after writing the examination was good because the children will choose the school weighing their strengths and weaknesses.

On the sensitisation, she said the GES will adopt multiple channels including going to mosques, churches, media and social media channels to send information to all stakeholders.

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
Writer’s email: [email protected]

GCB commits more funds into sports development

Daniel Opare
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GCB commits more funds into sports development

GCB Bank Limited has committed almost GHc500,000.00 to the development of sports this year.

Of the amount, GHc200,000.00 has been donated by GCB towards the development of women sports and establishment of the women sports excellence centre being spearheaded by the Ghana League Clubs Association (GALCA) in collaboration with the First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo.

The Bank also contributed GHc100,000.00 towards the Black Stars’ preparation for the 2022 World Cup and African Cup of Nations tournaments.

The Bank also announced its headline sponsorship for two key Golf Tournaments in the country with an amount of GH¢20,000.00 and GH¢68,500.00 respectively   – the Royal Golf tournament in Kumasi which is under the distinguish patronage of His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei-Tutu II, Asantehene and the Bok Nam Kim Golf Tournament at the Air Force Officers’ Mess East Cantonments, Accra.

Read Also: “We’re tired of paying accumulated bills” – Somanya residents tell ECG

This year’s competitions will be a gathering of the crème de-la crème of golfers and promises to be exciting.

The Bank’s contribution towards sports development forms part of the Bank’s five key thematic areas of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which sports plays a cardinal role.

The Managing Director of the Bank, Mr Kofi Adomakoh, noted that GCB’s involvement in sports development is to cement its place as the Bank that celebrates excellence in all facets.

He said as the Bank with a rich national heritage, GCB prioritizes sports in its strategic focus in the interest of Ghanaians.

Head of Corporate Affairs of GCB Bank, Mr. Emmanuel Kojo Kwarteng, explained that the Bank is contributing to the development of less patronized sporting activities.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com

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