Category: General

By Charity Nginyu

The Nso traditional authorities have issued a comprehensive warning on artist Shey Lontum Yov, effectively prohibiting him from wearing attires, meant solely for the royalty of the Nso culture.

The warning, made public through a press skit, highlighted the authorities’ firm stance against what they perceive as persistent disregard for their directives.

Reports have surfaced indicating that Yov’s transgression includes the unauthorized wearing of the traditional attire reserved exclusively for the Royalty of the Nso people.

‘Sheèy Lontùm yov has been warned to desist from wearing things that are reserved for royalty and special nso’ people. Failure to do so, he shall face the consequences from Ngwèròn Nso’,’ the press kit partly read

This development comes on the heels of a broader crackdown on the misuse of traditional titles and symbols within the Oku community.

Just recently, HRM Fon Ngum IV of Oku issued a scathing rebuke via his official Facebook page, warning against the inappropr
iate appropriation of cultural heritage.

The comprehensive ban on Shey Lontum Yov sends a clear message about the non-negotiable importance of respecting and preserving traditional guidelines.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The Ashanti West region of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has embarked on an exercise to clamp down on illegal connections and retrieve bill arrears from its customers.

The exercise forms part of efforts by the company to ensure that all those using electricity illegally were brought to book, while customers who are indebted to the company pay their bills to support the revenue mobilization agenda.

The exercise is taking place in all the eight operational areas of the region, namely; Abuakwa, Adum, Ahinsan, Bibiani, Danyame, Kokoben, Offinso and Suame.

Mr Maxwell Dapaah, Ashanti West General Manager, told the Ghana News Agency, that the exercise would see ECG revenue mobilization teams visit companies, factories, households, hostels, hotels, cold stores, pubs, restaurants and government institutions that owe the company to ensure that they settle their debts.

The team would also check the integrity of all postpaid and prepaid meters, illegal connections and surcharge customers caught using power i
llegally to deprive the company the needed revenue.

He said the special exercise would help the company to retrieve money owed by some customers and curb the menace of illegal connections in the region.

He said the exercise was backed by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission’s (PURC) Regulation L.I 2413 (30) which allowed the company to disconnect customers who refused to pay their bills within two weeks (14 days) after receiving the bill.

Mr Dapaah, however, pointed out that, the company did not take delight in disconnecting its customers.

‘We buy and sell power, hence the more a customer consumes power, the more the company makes money, so we don’t take delight in disconnecting customers since we don’t get revenue from unserved power.

However, disconnections are mostly the last resort and carried out to prevent the customer from accruing more debt and to enable the company to gather more revenue to keep the electricity supply chain running, he explained.

He said the company was reaching out to it
s debtors through various communication channels as part of efforts to engage them before any disconnections were carried out.

Mr Dapaah called on customers who do not receive their bills or dispute their bills to continue to pay on account based on the last bill they received or pay portion of the bill they do not dispute and visit the ECG offices for redress.

He further appealed to customers to desist from illegal connections and make the payment of their electricity bills one of their topmost priorities to enable the company to keep electricity supply chain operational.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Eastern Regional Secretariat of the National Peace Council has hosted a regional-level political party trust-building programme aimed at tackling the challenges of vigilantism ahead of the general elections slated later this year.

The meeting also aimed to provide comprehensive guidelines to prevent hate speech and other forms of indecent expressions that could potentially mar the country’s prevailing peace.

The programme, which was held in the eastern regional capital, Koforidua, gathered members from different political parties and institutions, including the Ghana Police Service, the Electoral Commission, and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE).

Other notable participating groups included representatives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP), and the People’s National Convention (PNC).

Mr Frank Wilson Bodza, Deputy Director in Charge of Conflict Management and Resolution at the National Peace Council highlighted
the importance of the programme in eliminating electoral violence and preserving peace in the country as the general elections approach in December 2024.

He stated that for any sustainable development to occur, it is crucial that Ghanaians, especially the political parties and independent candidates participating in the 2024 general elections, prioritise the preservation of democracy.

According to Mr Bodza, the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act, 2019 seeks to disband vigilante groups, including those affiliated with political parties and land guards. Its purpose is to outlaw acts of vigilantism in the country and address related issues.

He pointed out that vigilantism could lead to opportunism and give rise to violence, corruption, and social exclusion.

Mr Prince Albert Koomson, the Eastern Regional Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council, indicated that the issue of hate speech and incitement expressions has become increasingly prevalent in Ghana, particularly during election years.

As a re
sult, he said this posed a serious risk to the country’s peace and progress, and further stated that the media should play a crucial role in educating the public.

However, he noted that the media’s partisan ownership has become a powerful tool for spreading hate speech and incitement, leading to increased violence.

He stated that the National Peace Council, in collaboration with the National Media Commission, has developed a set of guidelines to assist the media and other stakeholders in gaining a deeper understanding of hate speech and other inappropriate expressions.

The guidelines outline the potential consequences of such behaviour and provide strategies for avoiding them in day-to-day operations.

He also outlined some of the legal basis of the guidelines, which included international human rights that provide for the implementation of policies and programmes aimed at redressing the economic or educational imbalance in Ghanaian society.

Article 21(1) of the 1992 Constitution gives latitude to every G
hanaian, including the media, to express themselves.

However, Article 164 imposes some limitations and qualifications on the rights to free expression or free speech.

The Political Parties Act, 2000 (Act 574) and the Political Parties Code of Conduct, 2012 bar political parties from engaging in violence and from encouraging their members and supporters to do so.

Section 36 of PNDCL 284, makes it an offence to interfere with the electioneering activities of other persons if a person seeks to excite or promote disharmony, hatred, or enmity against another person or group of persons by words, written or verbal and songs on the grounds of religious, tribal, professional, regional, or political affiliation.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghanaian Actor and comedian, Benson Nana Yaw Oduro, known in showbiz as Funny Face, was on Sunday involved in a near fatal accident, knocking down and injuring five pedestrians at the Kasoa Kakraba Junction of the Central Region.

The incident occurred around 1930 hours on the Kasoa-Nyanyano road.

The actor knocked down a woman carrying a baby on her back while holding another, and two men riding on a motorbike.

The Actor was from Kasoa heading towards the Millenium City area in a black saloon car before the incident happened.

It is not clear what may have caused Funny Face to knock down the pedestrians, however eyewitnesses alleged he was drunk- driving.

Four of the victims, the woman, a little girl who was said to be the woman’s granddaughter, and the two people on the motorbike were transported to the Kasoa Polyclinic for treatment.

The little boy of about a year old, who suffered deep cuts on his forehead, arms and other parts of his body is receiving treatment at the Perucare Hospital at Kakraba.

A
young lady who said she was the woman’s last daughter, said the family was returning home after visiting a friend when the incident happened.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Three days after the terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall, 97 people are still being treated in hospitals, the head of the Moscow region’s health administration said on Monday.

The patients are spread across hospitals in the capital and the Moscow region, Lyudmila Bolatayeva said.

According to Russian news agencies, the injuries suffered varied in severity.

By the Russian authorities’ most recent count, 137 people were killed and more than 180 injured in the attack on Friday evening. It cannot be ruled out that more bodies will be found in the rubble of the burnt-out hall.

Four armed men shot indiscriminately at visitors before a rock concert in the Crocus City Hall event centre. On Sunday evening, they were brought before a court in Moscow and taken into custody. The faces of the men showed injuries as traces of suspected torture.

According to media reports, mourners were still laying flowers at an improvised memorial at the Crocus City fence on Monday.

The Islamic State terrorist militia claimed
responsibility for the attack in several messages.

Western security authorities and experts consider the claim to be credible and suspect the IS offshoot Islamic State Province of Khorasan (ISPK) to be behind the attack.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted at a Ukrainian connection to the assault, without providing any evidence. Putin also claimed that the perpetrators of the attack attempted to flee in the direction of Ukraine.

Ukraine has adamantly denied any responsibility for the attack.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Natives of Guneku village, located in Mbengwi Central subdivision in the North West Region, last Saturday, March 23, 2024, took part in a cultural festival at the Guneku Fon’s Palace, dubbed ‘Michi Ebeng’.

The Michi Ebeng festival in its second edition took place for two days, culminating on Saturday, March 23, 2024, with 13 Meta Kwem dance groups competing to revive Meta kwem cultural dance amongst other issues.

The Fon of Guneku village welcomed all present while hoping that the Cultural festival would unite the Meta people as well as help revive the Meta culture in its entirety.

The President of the organizing committee, Fongoh P. Anyeh a journalist, and the President of Meta Fons Union (MEFU) HRH. Dr.Fombo, and the MECUDA President General Prof. Njoh Oliver each took turns to address the mammoth crowd all stressing the importance of Meta culture being revived and maintained.

The Kwem dance display proper was accompanied by the showcasing of Meta-rich cultural artifacts.

The over 6 hours cultural jamboree ended with Guneku Kwem dance group picking up the first position, followed by Buea Kwem dance Group and Tua-Chup Kwem dance for the third position. The rendezvous for the 3rd edition of the Michi Ebeng Festival was announced for April 12, 2025.

The Cultural Festival focused on the Nkwen traditional dance display initiated by the traditional ruler of Guneku village, His Royal Highness, HRH. Dr.Fomuki Ticha IX, brought together 13 Nkwen dance groups, a college of Meta traditional rulers headed by HRH. Dr.Fombo of Njindom Village, Meta Cultural, and Development Association, MECUDA, officials led by Prof. Njoh Oliver, the Mayor of Mbengwi Council Mr.Ndansa, the Member of Parliament Mrs. Prudencia, college of Clergy officials, thousands of Elites and non-Meta elites drawn from within and out of Meta land.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The death toll from road crashes in February 2024 was up by 30 per cent as compared to February 2023, a National Road Traffic Crashes and Casualties report, has said.

The report captured 195 deaths for February 2024 as against 150 deaths recorded in February 2023.

The distribution of road traffic fatalities by sex indicated that in February 2024, a total of 155 males (representing 79 per cent) and 40 females (representing 21 per cent), died through road crashes.

The data showed a ratio of 1:4, thus, for every one female who died through road crashes, four males also died.

This shows a similar trend in past years of higher fatalities for males than for females.

In the month of February 2024, some 26 persons (representing 13 per cent) killed were below 18 years whilst 169 persons (representing 87 per cent) were adults (above) 18 years.

The data indicate that for every eight adults (above 18 years) killed, a child (below 18 years) was also killed through road crashes, revealing a relatively high road traff
ic death ratio (8:1) for adults than for children within the period.

The report said the situation was partly due to the high risk of exposure of adults to traffic incidences as compared to children.

A total of 1,118 crashes were reported during the period, involving 1,919 vehicles and 164 pedestrian knock downs.

The report classified 51 per cent (576) of the crashes recorded in February 2024 as minor, 35 per cent (388) as serious and 14 per cent (154) as fatal.

Minor crashes are crashes which have resulted in the minor injury of at least one person/victim leading to hospitalisation of less than 24 hours or no injuries at all.

Serious crashes involve serious injuries inflicted on at least one person/victim of a crash leading to hospitalisation of at least 24 hours.

Fatal crashes are crashes which have resulted in the death of at least one person/victim within 30 days of the crash.

The number of crashes for February 2024 compared to that of February 2023 (1,101 cases), indicates a 1.54 per cent increase
.

Private vehicles-853, constituted the largest proportion of vehicles involved in crashes representing 44.5 per cent, followed by commercial vehicles-618, with 32.2 per cent and motorcycles-448, with the least proportion of 23.4 per cent.

Private vehicles recorded a five per cent decrease in the numbers involved in crashes in February 2024 as compared to February 2023.

However, commercial vehicles and motorcycles crash involvement increased by 11 per cent and 8.2 per cent respectively in February 2024 when compared to February 2023.

The Greater Accra Region with 411 crashes contributed the most to crashes.

The Ashanti and Eastern regions came second and third in road crash contributions with 262 and 141 crashes respectively.

Source: Ghana News Agency