Management of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has hinted that, due to some technical challenges being experienced at its Weija Treatment Plant, there has been a shortfall in the volumes of water currently being produced which has resulted in customers experiencing low pressures in the flow to their properties and erratic flow in other areas. According to GWCL, the situation being experienced now is a combination of factors, including faulty equipment, increased demand, routine maintenance works and some unforeseen circumstances. In a communique issued by GWCL, it said "The area affected is the entire Western Accra, including communities like Gbawe, McCarthy Hill, Anyaa, Lapaz, Darkuman which have been badly affected due to their elevated location" Management added that it will appreciate it if residents will be mindful of their water consumption during this period, while being encouraged to conserve and use the water wisely to mitigate the impact. "While we work to address the low pressure issues, some areas may experience more significant disruptions than others. We are prioritizing essential service providers and critical facilities like the hospitals, schools etc. to minimize the impact on their operations. We will appreciate the cooperation of all" Management further assured cherished customers that, its team of engineers are working assiduously to resolve the situation and restore supply as early as practicable. Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has announced that it will take part in the global #MedSafetyWeek campaign, a collaboration involving more than 80 medicines regulatory agencies and several non-governmental organizations. According to the FDA, the campaign aims to raise awareness about the importance of reporting side effects of medicines. In a communique signed by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Delese Mimi A. A. Darko, she said "With the theme ‘Who can report?’, this year’s campaign will focus on the key role of every patient / caregiver, doctor, nurse, and pharmacist who reports a side effect and contributes to medicine safety" The communique further explained that the FDA has established a robust safety monitoring system to detect and analyse side effects of medicines. Dr. Darko stressed that the purpose of safety monitoring is to gain more information about known side effects and find out about new ones. "Continuously collecting and monitoring information from the reports received helps the FDA identify risks associated with medicines to enable the appropriate regulatory action to be taken to improve medicine safety" The FDA emphasized the importance of reporting side effects by using reporting forms available in healthcare facilities and community pharmacies designated as patient safety centres or by using the Med Safety App. She said"The Med Safety App is an electronic reporting tool that is convenient and easy to use. It is freely available on app store or google play store" "One may also report to any of the FDA regional offices nationwide" She added that all reports made to FDA are thoroughly assessed to determine the right steps to be taken to protect public health and safety. "Over the years, the FDA has processed a number of reports in which patients, carers, and health professionals played key roles in making the reports available" The FDA says it is encouraging all to contribute to safer medicines by identifying and reporting side effects. The campaign which commenced on Number 6, is expected to end on November 12. Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

The World Health Organization (WHO) has donated some medical items to victims of the recent Akosombo Dam Spillage. According to WHO, the gesture forms part of its role of supporting member states in the endeavors to adequately address health challenges and ensure the well-being of the population. Speaking at the brief presentation, WHO African Regional Director, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said “In recent weeks, some parts of Ghana have witnessed flooding due to the spillage of the Akosombo Dam. Several communities have been affected, and more than 30,000 people including children in at least 9 districts across 3 regions have been affected” She added that health needs are on the rise. “With flooding, the risk of water-borne diseases rises and can further worsen the plight of the affected communities” She added that in solidarity with the government of Ghana, the WHO joined its efforts to provide relief. “WHO is providing 8 tons of critical medical supplies to the Ministry of Health/Ghana Health Service to support the health needs of affected communities” “Ghana and other countries in the Africa Region faces high burden of public health emergencies. Though the majority of the health emergencies witnessed in the region are diseases outbreaks, a significant proportion is due to the impact of climate change that triggers extreme events such as flooding, drought and food insecurity” She noted that gaps in health systems make optimal response to health threats challenging. “To provide adequate and quality health care, prepare for and respond to health emergencies, we need to accelerate the efforts for resilient systems including reinforcing capacities at the primary care level” The medical items presented to the Ministry of Health include; Intravenous fluids, Antibiotics, Pain medication, Water Sanitation and Hygiene kits, Consumables and Anti-hypertensives. Receiving the medical items, Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu said “I will take this opportunity to thank the WHO for its unwavering support in implementing activities in the sector. “The Leadership Programme for Health Transformation Agenda which is transforming the health sector” “Indeed, the Transformation Agenda you embarked on since assuming the Regional Director position will continue to yield dividends for many years to come in the region” He expressed gratitude for the support received in harmoninsing health facility assessment survey that assesses the availability of health facilities. “The current flood situation in the country is very worrisome. Implications on the health of the people needs to be urgently addressed” He stressed that the health systems in these areas have been stretched and therefore Ghana require some assistance to ensure essential health services can be provided. The medical items were to presented to the Ministry of Health by the WHO African Regional Director, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti on Tuesday in Accra. Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh has revealed that the camp of Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is now focused on uniting the New Patriotic Party (NPP) ahead of the November 4 flagbearer elections. He said they are looking at closing their ranks to get members of the party motivated ahead of the 2024 general elections. Annoh-Dompreh believes that 95% of NPP lawmakers support Dr Bawumia to be elected the presidential candidate. He said Dr Bawumia will win by a large margin. Speaking in an interview with TV3’s Komla Kluste on Thursday, November 2, the Nsawam Adoagyiri Member of Parliament said “I must be honest with you, now our focus is on uniting the party, we know it is a forgone decision, Dr Bawumia is going to win hands-down. It used to be around 80%, now it has moved higher, and now we are doing like 95% of MPs who clearly believe rally behind the Vice President, that is what it is, it could even get better on the D-Day" “I have spoken to many of our colleagues, I think it is looking extremely good. Our focus now is to ensure that after Saturday we progress into a united front, close ranks get our party rank and file motivated, and rally behind our leader.” The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, also predicted that Dr Bawumia would win. He said this after indicating that he would be surprised if Dr Bawumai’s main contender Kennedy Agyapong gets ore than 20% of the total votes cast. “I will be surprised if Kennedy Agyapong gets even 20% in the presidential primaries,” the Suame Member of Parliament said about his colleague. The leader of the Majority side in Parliament who took his turn on M’abato, Akoma FM‘s evening political show, also stated, “Kennedy Agyapong would not even get 15% in the Ashanti Region.” The seven-time lawmaker says Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s economic acumen is unquestionable and that he is the right person to change the economic situation. Over 200,000 delegates are expected to decide on four candidates as the ruling party chooses a flagbearer for the 2024 general election. Some polls have put the Vice President ahead with a colossal percentage. Credit: 3news.com

An Australian woman has been charged with murder over the suspected mushroom poisoning deaths of three people. Erin Patterson was arrested on Thursday morning and police have spent the day searching her home east of Melbourne. Ms Patterson, 49, had served the family lunch after which the trio, who included her former in-laws, fell ill. A fourth person survived. Toxicology reports suggest the victims consumed deathcap mushrooms. Ms Patterson maintains she is innocent. She has said she did not intentionally poison her guests at the lunch in the Victorian town of Leongatha on 29 July. Her former husband Simon Patterson had also been invited to the family lunch, but was unable to make it at the last minute. Erin Patterson was named as a suspect by police after she and her two children appeared unharmed after the lunch. Police in the state of Victoria took Ms Patterson into custody on Thursday. Homicide squad Inspector Dean Thomas stressed the complexity of the case in a press conference, describing it as a tragedy that may “reverberate for years to come”. “I cannot think of another investigation that has generated this level of media and public interest, not only here in Victoria, but also nationally and internationally,” he added. Gail and Don Patterson – the parents of Ms Patterson’s ex-husband – were guests at the lunch along with Gail Patterson’s sister Heather Wilkinson and brother-in-law Ian Wilkinson. The four were taken to hospital on 30 July reporting violent illness, police say. Within days the Patterson couple, both 70, and Ms Wilkinson, 66, had died. Mr Wilkinson, 68, was taken to hospital in a critical condition but later recovered after two months of treatment. Erin Patterson has said she herself was taken to hospital after the meal due to stomach pains, and was put on a saline drip and given medication to guard against liver damage. She has said she served a beef wellington pie using a mixture of button mushrooms bought from a supermarket, and dried mushrooms purchased at an Asian grocery months earlier. “I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones,” she wrote in a statement in August. “I really want to repeat that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people, whom I loved.” Her children, who were not present at the lunch, ate some of the leftover beef Wellington the next day. However the mushrooms had been scraped off the dish as they do not like the fungi, she said. Credit: 3news.com

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag admitted the club’s challenging situation but expressed his determination to steer the team away from the downward spiral they find themselves in at Old Trafford. The gloomy mood was accentuated by Newcastle’s impressive 3-0 victory in the EFL Cup, marking their most significant away win over Manchester United in 93 years. This defeat marked the Reds’ eighth loss in 15 matches, their worst start to a season since 1962-63. The match followed closely on the heels of a Manchester derby defeat by City, and it was the first time that United had experienced successive home game losses by three goals or more since October 1962. The club has also faced a significant challenge this season, losing five of their first 10 home games, a feat not seen since 1930-31. These concerning statistics have ignited speculation regarding whether Erik ten Hag is the right man for the job. In response, he stated, “I understand when the results are not there it is logical they are questioning that.” “But I am confident I can do it. At this moment we are in a bad place and I take responsibility for it. “But I am a fighter. I see it as a challenge.” The home side only managed two shots on target against Newcastle. “It is below the standards everyone expects from Manchester United,” said Ten Hag. “It is not good enough by far and we have to put it right. “I take responsibility for it. It is my team and they are not performing.” Credit: BBC

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has called on all stakeholders to demonstrate sincere and determined efforts to end the state of impunity for crimes against Ghanaian journalists. In a press release dated November 2, 2023 to commemorate International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the GJA said, “We are extremely worried that Ghana, a country once acclaimed internationally as a bastion of democracy and media freedom in Africa, is fast sliding down the slope with impunity for crimes against journalists and other media practitioners.” The Association noted that the lack of sincere and determined efforts by key actors, particularly the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary, towards ending the state of impunity for crimes against Ghanaian journalists, are fast pushing the country’s democracy and development to disastrous ebbs. “For the past five years (between 2019 and 2023), the GJA has recorded 45 cases of assault/attack against media practitioners and institutions. Given that the year 2023 has recorded the highest number of cases per year, with October 2023 also recording the highest number of cases per month (four cases), there is a trend of worsening impunity for crimes against media practitioners and institutions. And that is extremely worrying. Sadly, many of those cases were not investigated and prosecuted, strengthening the resolve of the perpetrators and like-minded people to continue the impunity,” the GJA stressed in the statement signed by its President Albert Dwumfuor. The Association called on the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary, as well as other state actors, to show greater commitment towards ending such impunity against the media. “We urge the Attorney-General and the Police to prefer the requisite charges against people who indulge in such impunity in order to ensure the imposition of maximum punishment against them. We also urge the Judiciary not to be lenient with convicts of such crime in order to deter others from doing same,” it noted. The GJA said it “remains committed to fighting against all forms of impunity against media practitioners and institutions. This was demonstrated last year when we launched the Journalists Support Fund (JSF). The Fund is aimed at providing legal support to victims of impunity and also deploy other weapons, including blacklisting of individuals and institutions that may assault or attack the media henceforth.” “May the commemoration of this year’s International Day to End the Impunity of Crimes Against Journalists mark a point of reference in Ghana as the day Ghana began to retrace its steps from the state of impunity for crimes against journalists, and onto the path of righteousness as far as media freedom is concerned,” the GJA urged. Credit: 3news.com

The Director of Elections of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Evans Nimako, has asked all the flagbearer aspirants to be measured in their utterances ahead of the internal elections scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 4. So far, the campaign has been characterized by the throwing of salvos among the aspirants. Four people are competing to be the flagbearer of the NPP. They are Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Assin Central Member of Parliament Kennedy Agyapong, former Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, and Former Member of Parliament for Mampong, Francis Addai-Nimoh. Speaking on the Big Issue on TV3 Thursday, November 2, Mr Evans Nimako said among other things that “The aspirants should be measured in their utterances.” One of the flagbearer hopeful Dr Afriyie Akoto earlier indicated that the internal election is not a make or break for the party. Addressing a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, November 1, the former Minister of Food and Agriculture stressed “The November 4 flagbearer elections is not a make or break for the party.” He had promised to set up an agricultural management team if he becomes president of Ghana. Dr Afriyie Akoto explained that the agricultural management team will have the responsibility of ensuring adequate financial resources are allocated to agriculture. In an earlier interview with TV3’s Keminni Amanor, he underscored the importance of agriculture in terms of its potential to transform the country. “We should give it special attention by making sure that at least we reach the AU target of allocating 10 percent of our budget to agriculture. “To do that, I will set up an agricultural management team chaired by the Vice President and the Vice President will be presiding over the agricultural management team to ensure that the budget required for the transformation of agriculture will take place. And then, Ghana can reap the benefits.” The NPP will be going for the flagbearer elections on Saturday, November 4. Credit: 3news.com

Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh has revealed that 95% of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawmakers believe that Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia should be elected the presidential candidate in the November 4 internal elections. He said Dr Bawumia will win by a large margin. Speaking in an interview with TV3’s Komla Kluste on Thursday, November 2, the Nsawam Adoagyiri Member of Parliament said “I must be honest with you, now our focus is on uniting the party, we know it is a forgone decision, Dr Bawumia is going to win hands-down. It used to be around 80%, now it has moved higher, and now we are doing like 95% of MPs who clearly believe rally behind the Vice President, that is what it is, it could even get better on the D-Day. “I have spoken to many of our colleagues, I think it is looking extremely good. Our focus now is to ensure that after Saturday we progress into a united front, close ranks get our party rank and file motivated, and rally behind our leader.” The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, also predicted that Dr Bawumia would win. He said this after indicating that he would be surprised if Dr Bawumai’s main contender Kennedy Agyapong gets ore than 20% of the total votes cast. “I will be surprised if Kennedy Agyapong gets even 20% in the presidential primaries,” the Suame Member of Parliament said about his colleague. The leader of the Majority side in Parliament who took his turn on M’abato, Akoma FM‘s evening political show, also stated, “Kennedy Agyapong would not even get 15% in the Ashanti Region.” The seven-time lawmaker says Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s economic acumen is unquestionable and that he is the right person to change the economic situation. Over 200,000 delegates are expected to decide on four candidates as the ruling party chooses a flagbearer for the 2024 general election. Some polls have put the Vice President ahead with a colossal percentage. Credit: 3news.com

The Minister of Finance, Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta, has expressed satisfaction with the growth of the economy after a torrid year in 2022. He said all indicators point to growth in 2023 and the country is on track to beat the revised economic target. “Thankfully and working together, we have seen improvement in the indicators,” Mr Ofori-Atta said. “As I made clear in the mid-year budget statement, our economy is expected to continue growing now and over the medium term. “The numbers reflect the turning the corner of our economy.” The Minister of Finance made this known on Thursday, November 2 while delivering the keynote address at the Ghana Mutual Prosperity Dialogues (GMPD) in Accra. The event is bringing together experts in both the private and public sectors to consider suggestions in finding solution to the current economic challenges. The Finance Minister was glad the event is bringing two major sides of stakeholders together – public and private sectors. He said the deeper collaboration is going to lift most businesses from serious challenges endured in 2022. “A year ago the business environment was severely challenging, inflation surged, suddenly from 13.9 percent in January to 40.4 percent by end of October and 54 percent by end of December.” But he says so far the economy has shown resilience as “economic growth has been resilient this year, averaging 3.2 percent in the first two quarters compared to 3 percent in the same period in 2022”. He later observed: “According to several assessments, our future growth prospects are much brighter.” Credit: 3news.com

Asamoah Gyan says he is happy with his life in response to the recent High Court decision to annul his marriage to Sandra Gifty Gyamesi. The legendary footballer, speaking on Asempa FM, revealed that he is pleased that the truth has prevailed following five years of legal disputes. Although he sought to have the marriage annulled and wasn’t entirely content in the relationship, he affirmed that he doesn’t regret marrying the mother of his three children. Gyan stated that he conducted a thorough investigation before taking the matter to court, and the High Court’s ruling confirmed the grounds for seeking the annulment of the marriage. During the same interview, Gyan was questioned about the possibility of remarriage, to which he responded with laughter before emphasising his focus on caring for his three children, underscoring that he is a dedicated family man. Reports initially suggested that Gyan had lost the case, with claims that he would need to grant his ex-wife properties, including a house in the United Kingdom, a four-bedroom house in Spintex, Accra, land for a filling station, and two cars. It was also reported that Gyan would provide Gifty with a monthly stipend of GHC 25,000. However, Gyan’s brother, Baffour Gyan, later clarified that the court’s ruling was actually in Asamoah Gyan’s favour, as these properties were gifts registered in Gifty’s name by Gyan during their relationship. Baffour also explained that the monthly stipend of GHC 25,000 is intended for the three children and not for the ex-wife. Gyan, Ghana’s all-time leading scorer with 51 goals and the record African scorer in World Cup history with six goals, announced his retirement from football in June. Since his retirement, he has been actively engaged in punditry, attended official assignments by CAF, including draws for competitions. Additionally, Gyan’s foundation has entered into collaborative partnerships with clubs in the USA. Credit: 3news.com

A private security guard has been shot dead by armed robbers at the Total 5 Filling Station off the Awadum Highway opposite the All Nations University in the New Juaben North Municipality of the Eastern Region. Another victim, a worker, is receiving care at the Eastern Regional Hospital after sustaining injury. Information gathered indicate the armed robbers attacked the workers at the Total 5 Filling Station to rob them of monies around 8:00pm Monday evening. The private security man, whose identity has been disclosed, was said to have struggled with them. In the course of the tussle, he was hit and shot at. The armed robbers bolted after shooting another worker (name undisclosed) at the filling station. The Effiduase night patrol team of the Ghana Police Service proceeded to the scene where the incident occurred after receiving a distress call from an unknown caller. The robbers had already bolted when they got there. The security man – who was found with gunshot wound – was quickly rushed to the Eastern Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead. His body has been deposited at the morgue for autopsy. The other injured workers are receiving health care at the same hospital. The Effiduase Police Command has begun investigations into the incident. Last week, two filling stations at Somanya recorded robbery attacks, putting fear in residents. Credit:3news.com