Seth J. Bokpe's Ghana Newsreel

A Former Nigerian President, Lt General Olusegun Obasanjo, has advised African soldiers against any temptation to pick up guns under the cover of darkness to    overthrow any democratic regime. Speaking at  a  panel discussion in Accra, Gen Obasanjo advised young and aspiring military officers that “if you want to be a politician, retire and get elected”. A former military dictator who got elected as a democratic civilian leader of  Africa’s most populous country, President Obasanjo said as the process of democratisation deepened, the military’s leadership training must now shift towards fighting the real threats to democracy and good governance, which can jeopardise national development in the 21st century.  The topic for the panel discussion was: “Turning out quality military leaders for the 21st century — A re-appraisal of the leadership training”. It was held at the Burma Hall in Accra as part of activities  marking the Golden Jubilee of ...

ZOOMLION Ghana Limited in a move to give waste management in Accra and its environs a boost, is establishing a multi-purpose waste disposal site at Adjen-Kotoku in the Ga West Municipality in the Greater Accra Region. The  $ 15 million- project which is expected to be completed in February next year would receive 300 tonnes of waste from Accra and its environs. The project would house facilities including refuse sorting and composting sections which would help produce organic manure and also generate plastic waste for recycling. At a public hearing on the project to educate and solicit the views of the host community on the project, a representative of Zoomlion, Mr George Rockson, allayed the fears of the community that it would bring to the communities,  stench, insects and environmental pollution. Commenting on the plant’s mechanism to control pollution, he said the waste collected would be covered in a manner that would not expose it in addition to the planting of...

THE Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) is partnering the Social Investment Fund (SIF) to finance the renovation of some major markets in the city. The SIF Project's overall objective is to improve basic social and economic infrastructure and services, largely by supporting projects that improve water and sanitation, health, economic infrastructure, education, and social services for the poor in relatively disadvantaged communities. The project is to ensure that trading activities in the markets do not compromise the health and safety of residents of the city. The renovation exercise will ensure that some of the city’s filth-engulfed and poorly planned markets have well-laid concrete floors, good drainage systems , security lighting systems and more stalls or shelter  to help move traders into the market and prevent trading activities on the streets of Accra. The Mayor of Accra, Mr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuye, made this known when he led a team of officials of the AMA and the Grea...

Ghana and other cocoa producing countries across the globe will have to adopt modern systems of farming to counter the increasing scarcity of agriculture land for cocoa production in order to sustain their output. “Cocoa will have to compete for land with other crops which implies that we must modernise cocoa growing otherwise cocoa growing will stagnate or the total volume    of cocoa production could even decline.” Mr Hope Sona Ebai ,the General Secretary of the Cocoa Producers Alliance (COPAL), an association for the world’s cocoa producers, made the remark at the launch of the 2010 COPAL Cocoa Day in Accra yesterday. This year’s celebrations,  which is on the theme: “Cocoa-Our Health, Our Wealth, will take place at Hohoe in the Volta Region. The celebration will start with a pre-cocoa day celebration on September 30, featuring activities which will include education on the health benefits of cocoa products to create awareness on topical issues on health a...

The Rt. Rev. Dr Emmanuel Komla Gbordzoe, Moderator of the Global Evangelical Church, has called on the youth to renew their commitment to Christ and become agents of change to their peers, community and nation. “Once the youth set themselves apart to serve God and made up their minds not to return to worldly pleasures, they would be free from the social vices that serve as obstacles to their growth as responsible citizens and become useful to humanity.” The Rt. Rev. Dr Gbordzoe was preaching a sermon on the theme: “Set apart for God” to climax the 2010 Youth Camp of the Global Evangelical Church (GEC) at Anloga in the Volta Region. The Moderator urged the youth to lead  righteous lives, and be wary of the devil “who is seeking to devour, kill and destroy” their God-given potential through sin.  “Whenever you sin, you isolate yourselves from the Lord Jesus Christ and can easily come under attack of the enemy,” he said. He advised them to be determined to allow the word ...

The Homowo celebrations at Achiaman, a suburb of Amasaman in the Ga West Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, turned bloody when two factions in a chieftaincy dispute in the area took to stones and machetes to settle scores. Nine people including one of the chiefs, Nii Achia Ankomah II, sustained various degrees of injury. An eyewitness who spoke to the Daily Graphic on condition of anonymity said fighting between the feuding parties broke out when Nii Kwartey Adjan II, the other chief in the dispute, started sprinkling Kpoikpoi in the community, contrary to a directive from the police that activities to mark the Homowo celebrations be held indoors. The source said when Nii Adjan’s group reached the precincts of his rival, Nii Achia, his supporters prevented them from sprinkling the Kpoikpoi. The source said in the ensuing melee, supporters of the two chiefs started throwing stones at each other while others armed themselves with machetes and inflicted wounds on their oppo...

Parents have been urged not to spare any expense in giving quality education to their children because education remains the engine that propels individuals and nations to greater heights. “Quality education enhances a child’s contribution to national development. Our future leaders, therefore, need to be well trained and equipped to take full responsibility of the nation.” The Executive President of e-toys and more, Mr George Sackey, made the remark at the inauguration of a GH¢ 50,000 e-learning centre for the Star Royal School at Nmai Djorn in the Adentan Municipality last Saturday. The centre, which was set up by e-toys and more , distributors of children's interactive educational products and a member of the Digital Education Group (DEG), has facilities, including multimedia kids computers,  electronic educational toys, interactive video learning resources, the Internet and a digital library for research and referencing for both teachers and pupils. Mr Sackey said the c...

THE Merchant Bank is positioning itself to become a global player in a few years to come. In that regard, the bank is building capacity of its staff to make them more innovative and able to develop products that give it a competitive edge over its competitors. The Manager in charge of  the Merchant Bank Learning and Development Centre, Mrs Alberta Quarcoopome made the remark at a forum to introduce the Wharton University of Pennsylvania Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme to some staff of Merchant Bank. Wharton University, one of the prestigious MBA schools in the United States offers courses including Accounting, Strategic Management, Marketing, Human Resource and Organisational Resourcefulness, Multinational Management and Business and Public Policy. Mrs Quarcoopome said the Merchant Bank prides itself as the bank with a pool of young talented graduates and would therefore provide them with the avenue to empower themselves academically to further enrich the h...