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Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, believes the Ghana card will help fight age-cheating in football.

More than 14 million Ghanaians have been issued with the Ghana Card, according to the National Identification Authority.

According to Dr Bawumia, the phenomenon of fake certificates and multiple ages in sports will be curbed when all data of individuals are interlinked.

“Fake birth certificates were a big problem for our country and it made it very difficult for people to trust our documents at embassies and everywhere because people will just go and have fake birth certificates,” Dr Bawumia said at the Accra Business School on Sunday.

“In fact when we went to the birth and death registry, we found three different databases and we had to harmonise the databases.

“Once you have a unique identity you’ll not have fake birth certificates as there will be no football age versus normal age. That business will come to an end,” he said.

e added: “Recently you would know that our women’s team was banned for presenting some overaged players. Hopefully, now we are going to strictly require that they bring their Ghana card before they are going to be registered to play.”

Last year, seven players who failed the Magnetic Resonance Imaging test were dropped from the Black Starlets squad.

Meanwhile, in June, FIFA slapped Ghana’s U17 women’s team, the Black Maidens a two-year ban over age cheating following their ultimate World Cup qualifier against Morocco.

source: Adomonline

The Minority in Parliament has warned that the legal dispute between ENI/Vitol and Springfield Ghana may lead to a $7-billion-dollar judgment debt.

ENI/Vitol challenged a decision of then Energy Minister, John Peter Amewu, for a Unitization and Unit Operating Agreement with Springfield Ghana, at the Sankofa and Afina fields

A legal tussle subsequently ensued, with ENI/Vitol eventually initiating action in the International Court of Arbitration for 7 billion dollars against the Government of Ghana.

In this vein, the Minority has expressed worry over the development and urged President Akufo-Addo to intervene to avoid the judgment debt.

In a statement signed by a ranking member of the Mines and Energy Committee, John Jinapor indicated that the legal tussle has negative implications for attracting investment into the oil sector.

He further urged the government to do all within its powers in getting an amicable solution to the matter.

“So, the last thing the government should be contemplating is to watch their reckless decision to wilfully cause Ghanaians an avoidable judgment debt to a gargantuan tune of $7 billion.”

“The dispute with ENI requires tactful leadership, which is unfortunately not forthcoming from this government,” the ranking member warned.

Source:Starrfm.com

Cape Coast High Court presided over by Her Ladyship Patience Mills-Tetteh has restrained the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba, from forcing its Registrar to go on ‘accumulated leave.’

The Vice-Chancellor, in a letter, directed the Registrar to go on his accumulated leave, a directive the Registrar of the University vehemently contested.

Even though the Human Resource Division of the University wrote back to the Vice-Chancellor of the University indicating that the Registrar had accumulated no leave, the university authorities went ahead and appointed Mrs. Wilhelmina Tete-Mensah in an acting capacity.

The Registrar, who had refused to proceed on leave, was subsequently locked out of his office and had to operate from outside.

The Minister of Education, through the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), also directed the management of the University of Education, Winneba, to pull the brakes on the directive to the Registrar of the University to take his accumulated leave.

According to Yaw Osei Adutwum, although he appreciated the prerogative of the management of the university to decide when its staff must take their annual leave, a perception of unfair treatment had been raised, hence, his intervention.

Tension began to rise at the university to the point that the Efutu Municipal Assembly also wrote a letter to the Registrar to go on the purported leave to reduce the tension simmering there.

The Substantive Registrar, Paul Osei Barima, then sought an injunction at the Cape Coast High Court to restrain the Vice-Chancellor from embarking on such an enterprise.

Mr. Osei Barima sought a declaration that the Chairman of the Governing Council of UEW, acting in his individual capacity, cannot order the plaintiff to proceed on leave or otherwise; a declaration that the Vice-Chancellor cannot order the plaintiff to proceed on leave based on the directive of the Chairman of the Governing Council acting in his own individual capacity; and a declaration by the Court that the Vice-Chancellor of UEW cannot appoint an acting Registrar based on the Chairman of the Governing Council’s directive when the plaintiff is still at post and has not proceeded on a purported accumulated leave.

The Registrar also sought a declaration that the letter appointing Mrs. Wilhelmina Tete-Mensah as an acting Registrar should be declared null and void and of no legal effect since the VC cannot make such an appointment when the substantive Registrar has not proceeded on any purported leave and is still at post; and an injunction to restrain the University from appointing anybody to an acting position as Registrar since the substantive Registrar has not proceeded on any leave and is still at post until the final determination of the suit.

The defendant, the University of Education, Winneba, first raised jurisdictional issues, but the court shot it down and stated that it had jurisdiction to entertain the matter before it, and slated the ruling for July 29th, 2022.

The Court presided over by Her Ladyship Patience Mills-Tetteh restrained the University from forcing the registrar to proceed on leave with immediate effect. The Registrar, Paul Osei Barima, is expected back in office on Monday after being locked out of his office for nearly three months.

Source: myjoyonline

The Kintampo South National Democratic Congress (NDC) Deputy Secretary, Issah Sibawe has died in a fatal accident on the Kintampo South National Democratic Congress (NDC) Deputy Secretary, Issah Sibawe has died in a fatal accident on the Kintampo-Techiman road.

The incident reportedly occurred on Sunday afternoon

This comes barely three days after Siba as he was affectionately called tied the knot.

As customs demanded, Mr Sibawe and his new bride travelled to Techiman to formally introduced themselves to their families but were involved in the accident on their return.

The constituency communications officer, Matthew Atanga confirmed the incident on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsemshow.

source; adomonline

A young bride-to-be is inconsolable after her fiancé lost his life in a car accident on his way to their marriage ceremony on Sunday, March 13.

According to the Police, the driver lost control of a Ford Escape vehicle and ran into a ditch, resulting in the death of the groom Mohammed Zakaria Babangida and injuries to the four other occupants of the vehicle.

The four other occupants were rushed to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Hospital for medical care.

One of the victims who sustained life-threatening injury has since been transferred to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) for further treatment.

The accident occurred at Fumesua on the Kumasi-Accra highway around 1:00 pm.

Police say the groom was travelling from Juabeng to Kumasi and the driver of the vehicle was overspeeding at the time of the accident.

“When they got to Fumesua, the driver was overspeeding, so he lost control of the steering wheel and in the process hit a nearby culvert and landed in a ditch,” ASP Francis Mireku, the Ejisu Divisional Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD) Commander said in an interview with TV3.

“The driver died shortly on arrival at the hospital. Three of them are currently at Tech hospital (KATH) and one has been referred to Komfo Anokye hospital.”.

The deceased has been buried in accordance with Islamic customs.

Meanwhile, the Ejisu Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD) has commenced an investigation into the accident.

Source: graphiconline.com

The Asanteman Europe Association and Asanteman Council of North America, (USA and Canada), have called on social media users to use the channel to promote unity and peace and not to promote conflict.

They have observed that in recent times, there had been videos and audios circulating on social media portals that “are full of attacks and insults against the Asantehene and by large, all the good people of Asante, globally for no apparent reason.”

According to the group the actions of those involved had the tendency to create trouble in Ghana, and urged the perpetrators to put an end to that, “in order for all of us to continue enjoying the peace and stability for which Ghana is admired, globally”, they opined.

These were contained in a statement issued to the Ghanaian Times here.

The joint statement was signed by Mr Isaac Osei Tutu and Isaac Adu, press secretaries, North America and Europe respectively.

According to the group, the insults had attained an unimaginable dimension that “we have to react.”

“And, we condemn in unreserved terms their actions. The insensibility and preposterously hyped tribal overtures and sentiments that have found expression on social media are what we are condemning.”

“In as much as we respect freedom of speech, we cannot remain silent for people to insult us without any provocation,” the statement said.

It indicated their determination to take legal action against the perpetrators, no matter where they live, and “would not sit down unconcerned for few disgruntled persons through their unguided and primitive actions to bring chaos into our peaceful country, Ghana.”

The statement expressed their solidarity and unflinching support to Manhyia, stressing, “We are ready to defend Manhyia against these naked insults by some irresponsible individuals.”

It observed that such individuals might have engaged in that act out of ignorance that “Manhyia is noted for peace.”

Source: The Ghanaian Times

Workers of the Electricity Company of Ghana have kicked against the extension of the tenure of Managing Director, Kwame Agyemang Budu, warning the company will go bankrupt soon as it struggles for office stationery such as A4 sheets.

Starrfmcom.gh reports that the workers, even though the MD has reached his mandatory retirement age of 60 there are moves to extend his stay in office.

Such a move the workers are warning will spell doom for the company given the level of mismanagement that has taken place under his leadership.

Addressing the media, the General Secretary for the Public Utility Workers Union, Michael Adumatta Nyamekye cautioned that the nation will soon be plunged into darkness should President Akufo-Addo and the ECG board fail to act immediately as the company will go bankrupt.

Mr. Adumatta also accused the board chairman of ECG Kelly Gadzekpo of usurping the powers of the MD for the selfish interests of board members.

Meanwhile, the Electricity Company of Ghana has disconnected power to the Terminal 3 of the Kotoka International Airport and other offices of the Ghana Airports Company over unpaid bills.

The disconnection exercise was undertaken by a National task force of the ECG Monday after the KIA failed to pay their indebtedness to the power distribution company.

Sources say KIA owes ECG close to GHC49 million.

An attempt by the management of the KIA to pay the debt by cheque when the disconnection exercise was underway was rejected by the task force.

The Minority in Parliament is urging Ghanaian motorists and road users to take responsibility for the alarming cases of road crashes in the country.

In a statement issued by the Member of Parliament for the Akatsi North Constituency who doubles as the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Education Committee on behalf of the Minority in Parliament to condole with the University of Education, Winneba on the killing of two of its students in the Asuboi accident which occurred on Sunday, the Minority said the statistics from road crashes and deaths in the country is horrendous and cannot be blamed on the devil.

On the Asuboi accident which is reported to have claimed the lives of nine (9) persons including two students of UEW, the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Education Committee said, “This heartbreaking and unfortunate incident has robbed us again of young lives who would have been very significant to our development as a nation.”

“Sadly so, the statistics on road carnage on our roads this weekend alone is horrendous and adds up to the already alarming cases of death on the roads; most of which could be attributed to recklessness, indiscipline and human error on the part of motorists and other road users,” the statement read.

“While we condole with the families of the deceased students, the University community and with all those who have lost their loved ones in this very crash, I take this opportunity to further charge the relevant stakeholders, most especially the National Road Safety Commission (NSRC) and the Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service to take further steps to clamp down on such individuals whose actions continue to threaten lives on our roads,” the statement further added.

In the past three days the country has recorded a reported five (5) separate road crashes that have killed and left several other persons injured.

Apart from the Asuboi road crash, other gory accidents were recorded at Nkawkaw-Oframase in the Eastern Region, Peki in the Volta Region and Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, on Sunday.

On Saturday, about six persons were reported to have died in an accident that occurred around Jasikan in the Oti region.

Source: Starrfm.com.gh

US rapper and entrepreneur Snoop Dogg has acquired Death Row Records, the label that launched his career.

The Californian hip-hop star shot to fame following the Death Row-release of his 1993 hit debut album, Doggystyle.

It featured hits singles such as Gin & Juice, Doggy Dogg World and Murder Was The Case.

Snoop Dogg said the move was an “extremely meaningful moment for me” and he was looking forward to “building the next chapter” of the record label.

‘Future value’

“I am thrilled and appreciative of the opportunity to acquire the iconic and culturally significant Death Row Records brand, which has immense untapped future value,” he said in a statement.

“It feels good to have ownership of the label I was part of at the beginning of my career and as one of the founding members.

He later posted an image on Instagram, alongside the caption “Bacc on Death Row”.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by snoopdogg (@snoopdogg)

Prior to that a teenage Snoop Dogg had spent time in prison for a drug offence.

Doggystyle sold millions of copies around the world and was followed up by Tha Doggfather in 1996.

But he left the record label in 1998, after a row about the terms of his contract and the alleged withholding of royalty payments, and went on to enjoy further success as musician, actor and media personality.

Death Row began to decline in the late 90s after the death of one of its stars Tupac Shakur, and the imprisonment of Suge Knight, as well as the departures of Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre.

Controversy and legal cases followed before the label filed for bankruptcy in 2006 and was auctioned to WIDEawake Entertainment for $18m (£13.2m) in 2009.

The infamous label was later sold to Entertainment One, after the owner of WIDEawake went bankrupt in 2012, and then became a division of Hasbro, until last year when One Music was sold to The Blackstone Group.

It’s now back in the hands of one its original stars, who was awarded a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 2018.

Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr, was previously appointed creative chairman of Priority Records in 2009.

His other business ventures include the release of the Snoopify app, as well as cannabis products called Leafs by Snoop. In 2019 he moved into esports, creating the Gangsta Gaming League.

source: BBC

Ghana’s National Identity Card, the Ghana Card can now be used as an e-passport in 44,000 airports globally.

It follows the recognition of the Ghana Card globally as an electronic passport that can be read and verified in all International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) compliant borders.

At a ceremony, held at the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal in Canada on Wednesday [February 9, 2022], Ghana was officially presented with the certificate to make the Ghana Card an e-passport to be accepted at 44,000 airports across the globe.

Ghana’s High Commissioner to Canada, Ransford Sowah, received the ‘key’ to symbolically indicate Ghana’s entry into the ICAO family.

This means the Ghana Card, which is a unique biometric identification card, will be accepted as an e-passport in 197 borders globally and 44,000 airports in the world.

Holders of the Ghana Card will be allowed to board any flight to Ghana by just showing the card.

Ghana was officially accepted on October 13, 2021, as the 79th member of the ICAO’s Public Key Directory (PKD) community.

The ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD) is a central repository for exchanging the information required to authenticate e-passports.

With this, the Ghana Card as well as its future biometric equivalents can present it as official documentation at all 197 (ICAO) compliant countries and 44,000 airports worldwide and board flights to Ghana.

The ICAO declaration follows an earlier hint, given in November 2021 by the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, that Ghanaians anywhere in the world would soon be able to travel back home using their Ghana cards.

Dr Bawumia had indicated that Ghana was expecting the certificate from ICAO by the end of the first quarter of 2022 and that, apart from acting as the major source of proof of identity, the Ghana Card will be used as an e-passport for Ghanaian citizens, all things being equal, by the end of the first quarter of 2022.

NIA

Officials of the National Identification Authority (NIA) have said with the Key Ceremony in Montreal over, the Ghana Card can now be verified internationally and border control authorities will be able to confirm in less than 10 seconds that a Ghanaian biometric e-passport (booklet), as well as the Ghana Card/e-passport, were issued by the right authority, have not been altered, and are not copies or cloned documents.

A statement issued by the Authority read in part, “In practical terms, this means that it will now be faster and more effective for border control authorities to verify the identity of holders of Ghana’s passports. The Key Ceremony is the final stage of the implementation of Ghana’s e-passport project.”

In brief remark Ghana’s High Commissioner to Canada, Ransford Sowah explained that the Ghana Card contains the biometric information of the holder with a cryptographic digital signature stored on a chip that can be used to authenticate the identity of travelers.

“This makes Ghana one of the few countries in the world where the national ID card also has an e-passport capability,” he added.

“For Ghanaians living or born in the diaspora, holders of the Ghana Card can be allowed to board any flight to Ghana without any visa requirement as we seek to give an inclusive Akwaaba experience to all children and descendants of our motherland.”

-graphic.com.gh