Seth J. Bokpe's Ghana Newsreel

It’s a large tract of land dotted with swathes of green rice fields and heavy with weeds. A long dusty, snaky road split the fields but it is vehicle-friendly. But in the belly of the wild and rice fields, greenhouses are springing up—the Dahwenya Irrigation Greenhouse Enclave where 100-hectares have been dedicated to lead the country’s greenhouse revolution. This is where the Youth Enterprise Support (YES) is hopeful locally grown vegetables will be cultivated which will be showing up on the plates of residents of Accra more often from this year, as it begins a ground-breaking greenhouse project. It is also where the Chief Executive of YES, Mrs Helga Boadi, is optimistic more young people would be trained to lead  greenhouse vegetable production in Ghana. Among the vegetables to be cultivated are different varieties of cucumbers, melons, tomatoes and capsicum (sweet pepper). The state start-up financier is establishing the 75-unit greenhouse agriculture estate as an in...

There is growing public anger over the poor services being rendered by the country's telecommunication companies (telcos). The poor services, characterised by call drops, call breaks, network congestion, Internet interruptions and disappearing data, have compelled some users to subscribe to more than one network. Although the complaints are nothing new, what has aggravated public anger is the fact that in the past, penalties imposed by the National Communications Authority (NCA) on the companies did not seem to have any impact on quality of service. Fruitless Between November 2011 and 2015, the NCA fined the operators more than GH¢2 million for various offences that affect service quality. While industry players maintain that challenges confronting the telecom industry, including the breaking of cables by contractors, stealing of cables, frequent power outages and high fees charged by landowners, account for the problems, that excuse does not appear to sit well with mobile...

The government is considering putting on hold its plans to mine bauxite in the Atiwa Forest in the Eastern Region. That, according to the Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, Mr Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, is to allow the government to assess proposals to turn the forest into a national park with ecotourism facilities. Mr Owusu-Afriyie made this known when he met officials of the United States and The Netherland embassies in Ghana at Kyebi yesterday. Officials of the two missions, led by the US Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Robert Jackson, and Deputy Head of Mission of The Netherlands, Ms Caecilia Wijgers, were in the Atiwa Forest area to get first-hand knowledge on efforts being led by an environmental non-governmental organisation, AROCHA Ghana, to ensure that the forest reserve is declared a national park to protect its biodiversity.  The team visited the AROCHA Ghana offices and paid a courtesy call on the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin II. President Nana Addo...

When a car excites you, it breaks your heart to leave it behind in the showroom because your pocket or bank account is speaking the ‘can’t buy’ language. The feel, the look and the features become indelible, coming up in your dreams and thoughts. That was my experience with the 2016 Honda Pilot at the Honda Place. Hi-tech, razor-sharp styling inside and out, classic premium features and sporty feel summarise the prowess of the Honda Pilot.  It derives its power from a 3.5L V6 engine. It makes 280 hp at 6,000 rpm, 262 lb-ft of torque at 4,800 rpm, courtesy the i-VTEC + VCM engine system with six automatic transmission and a three-mode suspension. With Japanese automakers Honda taking the car back to the drawing board and completely retouching its styling, incorporating sweeping angles and shapelier lines, the outcome is a sleek and athletic body, a departure from the box-like look of the first- and second-generation models. In keeping with Honda’s approach to the ...

The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has retrieved $1 million out of the $4 million allegedly embezzled by top officials of the National Communications Authority (NCA) and National Security under the guise of procuring a listening device to counter terrorism in Ghana. Three officials of the NCA — Mr Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, the former Board Chairman; Mr William Tevie, the former Chief Executive Officer of the authority, and Nana Owusu-Ensaw, a former board member — as well as a former Deputy National Security Coordinator, Alhaji Osman, and Mr George Oppong, the local agent of the Israeli company that is said to have supplied the device, have been named as conspirators. The Minister of Information, Mr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, told the Daily Graphic that after paying $ 1million to the supplier of the device, those officials shared part of the money, with Nana Owusu-Ensaw receiving $500,000; Mr Baffoe-Bonnie, $200,000; Mr Oppong, $100,000; Mr Tevie, $150,000; Alhaji Osman, $70,...

Sand winners have invaded Gomoa Akotsi in the Central Region, destroying farms and vegetation just as illegal miners are wrecking havoc on the environment in mining communities. Farmlands and plantations have been taken, leaving them with pools of water. One of the many casualties of the illegality, allegedly endorsed by the Gomoa East District Assembly, is Rainbow Farms. Five acres of its 20-acre oil palm plantation have been destroyed by sand winners who have dug out the 12-year-old investment which the company started harvesting this year. Destroyed investment The Managing Director of the farm, Mr Isaac Owusu, told the Daily Graphic that GH¢150,000 worth of investment had been mowed down while officials of the Gomoa East District Assembly looked on and collected tolls. "The District Assembly came to the site with national security officials at the time the sand winner was here but they just called him aside and left. I complained to them but no action has been tak...

The room is a long one with a wooden floor, looking more like an artist gallery with its display of contemporary and antique paintings and sculptures. Its interior décor, especially art pieces and sitting at the lobby, gives it the semblance of a page pulled out of a 19th century glossy fashion magazine. However, as one moved inside the white one-storey-colonial architectural piece, the scene changes into an exotic restaurant setting, with aroma wafting from the open kitchen that displays almost all the vegetables going into the day’s menu. This is Roca Sao Joao, the old coffee plantation turned restaurant. It is a radical response to Sao Tome’s coffee plantation heritage.  Located in the village of São João dos Angolares, home of the Angolar people (a "maroon" community that descended from runaway slaves, with their own language, N'gola). The chef   It is a property owned by famous Sao Tomean gastronomy chef, Joao Carlos Silva. He restored Roça Sao Joao t...