Information reaching Thinknewsonline.com indicates that Ghana's Olympic Bronze Medal-Winning Boxer, Prince Amartey has died. The Late boxer died at 78. Late Amartey was one of five Ghanaian Medallists at the Olympic Games and reached the podium at Munich 1972 in the men's middleweight category. He also won gold at the inaugural edition of the African Games in Brazzaville in 1965. Late Amartey, who was a corporal in the Ghanaian army, also competed in the Kingston 1966 and Edinburgh 1970 Commonwealth Games. In 1971, he represented Ghana at the 1971 World Armed Forces Games in Rotterdam. Below are some pictures: Story by: Thinknewsroom

The Ghana Domain Name Registry (GDNR), under the auspices of Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation (MoCD), has organized the maiden inaugural Domain Name Service (DNS) forum 2022 with the objective of creating the platform for discussions on how to improve the country’s local domain name space through the knowledge of world best practices in the domain market as well as put in place measures to protect the DNS industry in Ghana. The programme organized by the GDNR was on the theme, 'Developing Ghana’s DNS Industry for a Thriving Digital Economy' which falls in line with the government’s digitalisation plan seeking to emphasize the use of technology for development. This year’s 2022 DNS forum was a hybrid event with topics on intellectual property, Internet Protocol (IP), local content and DNS infrastructure. The event also had a panel discussion session on the topic 'Mitigating Cyber-attacks on Financial Sector with DNS Security'. The Deputy Minister for MoCD, Ms. Ama Pomaa-Boateng (MP) who read the speech on behalf of the Sector Minister, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful (MP), said it was necessary to have conversations on Ghana’s local domain name space given the fact that everyone had become aware of the benefits of digital technologies that were safe and accessible by all citizen. She reiterated that digitalisation had made it imperative for the government and all relevant stakeholders to have a discourse on DNS since there had been attacks on DNS particularly targeting the financial sector. “According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) 2021 Global DNS Threat report, 91% of financial organisations have faced at least one DNS Security attack which are estimated to cost nearly $1.1 million to the financial sector”. Mrs Owusu-Ekuful explained. She said it was against this background that the government appointed the GDNR as the manager of the .GH domain name registry with the aim to promote the development of the Internet Space in Ghana. She stated that the GDNR, an Agency under the MoCD, was also responsible for the domain name operations in Ghana, adding that the GDNR’s objective was to encourage the adoption of the GH domain name registrations so that Ghanaians could have their goods and services online for their customers and promote E-commerce. The Minister however explained that the GDNR was currently going through a transitional period before taking full duty as the manager of the Ghana Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD). Mrs Owusu-Ekuful also indicated that as part of efforts to build a resilient digital ecosystem, the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation in line with its digitalisation agenda was taking pragmatic steps to transform the economy by harnessing the power of the Internet to empower and improve the lives of all Ghanaians. Below are some pictures: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

Traders are blaming the dollar, suppliers are blaming transport costs, transporters are blaming spare parts and fuel costs. Nana Addo is ⁰blaming Covid, Ukraine, Russia and Mahama. You and I who have no one to blame are the ones feeling the heat!!! Who forced Akufo Addo to speak? I thought Sika doesn't like noise.The hopefuls have lost hope and the nakedness of the cedi has been exposed. We are in a seriously bad time!!! Terrible things are happening at the ports with goods of importers being confiscated daily. Akufo-Addo's delivery didnt give them hope. The 30% cut on discretional expenditure and salaries of appointees are just a scratch on the surface. The size of your government is too large!!! Obolo government!!! The government should rather have a 50% cut in size. Most of them are drawing salaries and fuel with no work to be done. Your Excellency, I am sorry *YOU LACK PRESIDENTIAL BALLS TO TAKE NEEDED DECISIONS* Why do you still have such a long convoy with a whole V8 carrying a presidential chair and another transporting a dais in such a time? The waste around you is a problem. On the issue of a 'no hair cut', Your Excellency, I don't trust you, but because *Sika mp3 dede,* I will wait for the better days ahead when Bawumia and the solid team regain their voices. *Kun Fa Yakun* Credit: Godwin Ako Gunn, Deputy National Communications Officer NB: Views expressed in the write-up above, are solely that of the author and not Thinknewsonline.com. Thinknewsonline.com cannot be sued for any defamation..

All poultry and captive birds in England must be kept indoors from 7 November under new restrictions to fight avian flu, the government has announced. The housing order comes after turkey farmers warned of a shortage this Christmas caused by the country's largest ever bird flu outbreak. The British Poultry Council has said shoppers could be hit by price rises. About 5.5m birds have now died or been culled since October 2021. That includes 2.3m birds this October alone. In total, more than 210 cases of bird flu have been confirmed since October 2021, including 80 confirmed cases in England this month. "We are now facing this year, the largest ever outbreak of bird flu and are seeing rapid escalation in the number of cases on commercial farms and in backyard birds across England," said Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss. The disease circulates naturally in wild birds that can spread the flu to poultry and captive birds when they migrate to the UK. Farmer, Tom Copas has already been housing his 60,000 free-range turkeys on his farm in Cookham, Berkshire, to protect them from bird flu. "It's terrifying right now. Our entire business depends on the Christmas market. If we were to get bird flu we would lose everything," he told BBC News. "I know of two seasonal producers who had outbreaks who will never have turkeys again. One produces about a million turkeys for Christmas and they have lost about half of them. Paul Kelly has 34,000 birds and fears for his businessHe warned of a shortage of Christmas turkeys on the shelves and price rises. "It's expected that the supermarkets will be at least 20% short, if not more, of their Christmas turkeys."Richard Griffiths, chief executive of the British Poultry Council, the trade body for the poultry meat industry, said the price of free-range turkeys was likely to rise. "The free-range side of the sector has been heavily hit and, at the moment, we are seeing numbers of about 30-35% of free-range production either being directly affected by the disease or culled because of it," he said. Under the national housing order, free-range poultry producers will still be allowed to label their eggs and meat as free-range for up to 16 weeks.Essex-based turkey supplier Paul Kelly, who has 34,000 birds across a number of farms, said he hoped buyers would still purchase from free-range farmers even if birds had to be kept indoors for longer." Farmers can't be put out of business because of a few months when they have had to bring them inside. The consumer has to acknowledge the fact that these are extraordinary times," he told BBC News. "This is the worst year I have ever known in my whole life and business, by a long way. It is the foot and mouth of the poultry industry at the moment. It is, in East Anglia, absolutely devastating." "The mandatory order to keep birds indoors follows regional measures introduced in Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Essex earlier in the month.Bird keepers across the UK were then forced to follow strict biosecurity measures when an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) was introduced on 17 October. A national housing order has not been introduced in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the situation is being monitored. The last mandatory UK-wide housing order was only lifted in May after being put in place by the chief veterinary officers of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland last November. Measures introduced last week now allow farmers to kill and freeze turkey, geese and ducks and sell them as fresh closer to Christmas. The change is supposed to help producers avoid the risks of losing their flocks in a cull or to the disease. Compensation rules have been changed so that farmers receive money at the start of any cull of birds, not at the end. Credit: BBC

Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says government will soon ban the importation of foods and products which can be produced locally. The move according to the Minister forms part of efforts by government to reduce the high cost of living in the country. Addressing the nation on the economy on Sunday October 30, 2022,  President Akufo-Addo  said, “we will review the standards required for imports into the country, prioritize the imports, as well as review the management of our foreign exchange reserves, in relation to imports of products such as rice, poultry, vegetable oil, tooth picks, pasta, fruit juice, bottled water and ceramic tiles, and others which, with intensified government support and that of the banking sector, can be manufactured and produced in sufficient quantities in Ghana" "Government will, in May 2023, that is six (6) months from now, review the situation. We must, as a matter of urgent national security, reduce our dependence on imported goods, and enhance our self-reliance, as demanded by our overarching goal of creating a Ghana Beyond Aid“. "Much as we believe in free trade, we must work to ensure that the majority of goods in our shops and market places are those we produce and grow here in Ghana. That is why we have to support our farmers and domestic industries, including those created under the 1-District-1-Factory initiative, to help reduce our dependence on imports, and allow us the opportunity to export more and more of our products, and guarantee a stable currency that will present a high level of predictability for citizens and the business community. Exports, not imports, must be our mantra! Accra, after all, hosts the headquarters of the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area“. Speaking on the Kumasi based OTEC 102.9 FM’s breakfast show, “Nyansapo” on Monday, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said government will use the next six months to boost the capacity of local companies  to create more jobs and indigenous products at the same time. He added that, excessive importation certain products particularly foods that can be produced in Ghana will be ban after local producers begin to feed the economy with the needed capacity “Government has deployed pragmatic and practical strategies to strengthen the capacities of local producers to help increase the local production of food items”. "We have for already acknowledged that, the present economic woes of the country were as a result of high rate of importation and demand for foreign goods, especially food items”. “That is why the government has decided to ban importation of certain goods such as poultry products, rice, fish, cooking oil among others” he said. He noted that, the high taste for foreign goods was seriously affecting local production adding that government is taking urgent steps to control the situation. Source: Otecfmghana.com

Member of Parliament (MP) for Tarkwa-Nsuaem Constituency, George Mireku Duker has commissioned a newly constructed community centre for residents of Essamang Kakraba, a community within Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality. According to the Minister, he will ensure more infrastructural developments reaches his constituents. Speaking at the commissioning, the MP said "I will continuously facilitate and provide infrastructural as well as economic development to my constituents. Thinknewsonline.com has gathered that the Minerals Development Fund (MDF) funded edifice, started in November 2019 and completed in December 2021 It consists of a 16x26 meter square yard for gatherings, four(4) offices, four (4) toilets and three (3) men's urinal pots for public use; and one (1) toilet for office use. Chief of Essamang Kakraba, Nana Gyan I, expressed his gratitude on behalf of his people. He promised to maintain the edifice and use it for its intended purposes. The Member of Parliament (MP) was accompanied by the Municipal Chief Executive of Essamang Kakraba Municipality, Benjamin Kessie and some constituency executives. Below are some pictures: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says Government is ready to collaborate with the board and management of Rand Refinery to help Ghana obtain London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) Certification. Underscoring the importance of the LBMA certificate to the government’s plan to develop the mineral industry and make Ghana a key player in the refinery of mineral resources, Dr Bawumia said attaining the certification will propel Ghana to participate and exploit fully the benefits in the mineral value chain. He stated that the gamut of experience and expertise of the Certification makes them strategic and beneficial partners to Ghana and that partnering them will help the country evade the blunders other country’s committed on their journey to creating refinery hubs in their mining sector, “because you have a very long history in this area and also help us not to repeat mistakes of others”. Dr Bawumia made these remarks when the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Hon.Samuel A. Jinapor led the delegation from Rand Refinery to call on the Vice President on Monday, October 31, 2022 in Accra. The meeting was to deliberate on ways of actualizing government’s agenda to make Ghana a hub for the processing and refining of mineral resources and in particular obtaining the LBMA Certification for the country. The Chairman of Rand Refinery, Mr. Rams Ramashira disclosed that his outfit has held positive preliminary talks with the the Ministry and other key stakeholders. He said the CEO of Rand Refinery is a member of the LBMA Board and “we are very happy to be of assistance and share some experiences and strike some alliances and hope the meeting with key stakeholders will help develop something concrete for the two parties”. Earlier on Monday, 31 October 2022, the Hon. Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor received the visiting Rand Refinery delegation at the Ministry. He indicated that his invitation to the Rand refinery is to have them hold discussions and share ideas on how to move forward with the partnership that exist between the parties. He advocated for an intelligent and effective collaboration between the government and LBMA to ensure that the certification is issued. He took the team through the itinerary for the visit and hoped that it will be a fruitful one as they gets the opportunity to meet the Vice President who he said has been very passionate about leveraging the gold industry and the gold value chain in Ghana in support of the national economy. "The idea is that this visit is productive and substantive and that it gives us the opportunity to delve into the concrete issues with concrete outcomes" he said. The Sector Minister thanked the team for their hospitality during his last visit to thier Refinery in South Africa, indicating that the tour of their refinery was very enlightening and educative. He hoped that at the end of all meetings and discussions the Ministry would be able to acquire sufficient mentorship from Rand Refinery. "we should be able to find a workable platform to engage cause as I believe all of us acknowledge that your refinery turns to be the leader when it comes to the business of Gold Refinery in Africa and therefore whatever we seek to do, here in Ghana, our idea is to get sufficient mentorship from your outfit." The Sector Minister said as much as possible it is his desire that Rand Refinery will be able to establish a branch in Ghana perhaps through a partnership with an existing Refinery. The CEO of Rand Refinery, Mr. Praveen Baijnath on his part said they are excited and very expectant about the opportunity to partner Ghana on the event of establishing a Refinery in the country. He allued that their general objective on this trip is to meet all stakeholders involved in the gold value chain to better understand government expectations and to consider how best they can unlock their assets available to meet up on that level. "Our general strategic objective is to collect much intelligence and data as possible to build a business case and see how we can develop it". Also with the Minister were the Deputy Minister in Charge Mines, Hon. George Mireku Duker, the CEO of Minerals Commission, Mr. Martin Ayisi, the Advisor on Mines to the Minister, Mr. Ben Aryee, the Managing Director of PMMC, Nana AKwasi Awuah and other officials from the Ministry. Below are some pictures: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

Amidst the current economic hardship, a middle-aged man has reportedly lost his life in a brawl that ensued following a disagreement over a GH₵2 transport fare on Saturday, October 29, 2022. According to a Twitter user, Antwi Edmond, a disgruntled passenger kept complaining in a commercial bus after being told his fare had increased by GH₵2. Infuriated by the man’s lamentation in the car, Antwi Edmond reports that the driver of the vehicle midway through the journey returned to the bus terminal. However, the deceased who was still angry is said to have refused to come down from the bus. The situation is said to have led to a confrontation between the passenger, the driver and his conductor who ganged against him. “The Driver returned his car to the Lapaz bus terminal again and there, they had support of their co-workers at the terminal, we were all asked to get down from the bus, but the man causing the chaos still insisted he is not getting down. Persuasion failed and force was applied. “During the force applied by the trotro mates at the station, the man decided to fight them back which led to a huge fight between him and our bus conductor and his mate with a backing of their co-workers after several minutes of fight, this male passenger lost his life,” the eyewitness with the Twitter username @Murphy_Vainn wrote in a thread. “He lost is life after one unawares [SIC] punch, which made his head hit one of the pavements at the terminal and lost his precious life. May his soul rest in perfect peace. I can’t believe he lost his life sake of [SIC] 2 cedis increment. A portion of the videos shared by the eyewitness shows the lifeless body of the deceased being carried into a taxi to be conveyed to a hospital. Transport operators across the country announced an increment in transport fares effective Saturday, October 29, 2022. While the Ghana Private Road Transport Union announced a 19% increment, the Concerned Drivers Association pegged the increment at 30%. This is amidst the current economic hardship which has seen a rise in inflation affecting the prices of goods and services. Watch the video below: Credit: Ghanaweb

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced key decisions that have been taken by his government to resolve the economic challenges facing Ghanaians. Delivering an address to the nation on Sunday October 30, he said “The following actions have been taken thus far: 1) enhanced supervisory action by the Bank of Ghana in the forex bureau markets and the black market to flush out illegal operators, as well as ensuring that those permitted to operate legally abide by the market rules.” “Already some forex bureaus have had their licenses revoked, and this exercise will continue until complete order is restored in the sector,” he said. The other measures are “Fresh inflows of dollars are providing liquidity to the foreign exchange market, and addressing the pipeline demand" “The Bank of Ghana has given its full commitment to the commercial banks to provide liquidity to ensure the wheels of the economy continue to run in a stabilized manner, till the IMF Programme kicks in and the financing assurances expected from other partners also come in" “Government is working with the Bank of Ghana and the oil producing and mining companies to introduce a new legal and regulatory framework to ensure that all foreign exchange earned from operations in Ghana are, initially, paid to banks domiciled in Ghana" “The Bank of Ghana will enhance its gold purchase programme.” Mr Akufo-Addo further assured Ghanaians that his government cares about them hence, is working hard to ameliorate the hardships they are going through presently. He says the government is determined to restore economic stability. He said “It is obvious, fellow Ghanaians, that you have a government that cares. We are determined to restore stability to the economy, and provide relief. “We are all in this together, and I am asking for your support to rescue Ghana from the throes of this economic crisis.” He further referred to a number of initiatives the government introduced to support Ghanaians. He said “No guarantor is now required to obtain student loans. The Ghana card is sufficient; and we have implemented free TVET as well as free senior high school education" “We expanded School Feeding from 1.6 million children to 2.1 million children; we restored teacher and nursing training allowances; we absorbed the cost of BECE and WASSCE exam registrations for parents; “It is for this reason that over the first five (5) years in office government reduced electricity tariffs cumulatively by 10.9%, we provided free water and electricity as well as reduced tariffs for the entire population during a whole year of the COVID-19 pandemic.” He stressed “My government has always been cognisant of the importance of implementing policies and social interventions to relieve Ghanaians of hardships.” Credit: 3news.com

Tiktok users have turned Ghana’s President into a joke as they mercilessly troll him on the platform over his sika mp3 dede speech delivered Sunday night. The President had promised a speech that will give out measures needed to tackle the depreciation of the cedi and the hot economic climate. Instead, he came to list some vague achievements, offered no real solutions and said Ghanaians should shut up as ‘money doesn’t like noise’. The line has quickly become the standout part of the speech as social media users have taken the President to task. On Tiktok, a new sika mp3 dede sound has arisen and is being used to troll Nana Addo. Ghanaians expected a speech which will assuage their fears as things worsen daily, yet the President just came to give out a warning that we talk too much! Clearly, a failed President who has nothing to offer and Ghanaians are treating him as such. Check out some of the hilarious ‘sika mp3 dede’ sounds from Tiktok below… Source: GhanaCelebrities.Com

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has told Ghanaians that his government cares about them hence, is working hard to ameliorate the hardships they are going through presently. He says the government is determined to restore economic stability. Delivering an address to the nation on Sunday October 30, Mr Akufo-Addo said “It is obvious, fellow Ghanaians, that you have a government that cares. We are determined to restore stability to the economy, and provide relief. “We are all in this together, and I am asking for your support to rescue Ghana from the throes of this economic crisis.” He further referred to a number of initiatives the government introduced to support Ghanaians He said “No guarantor is now required to obtain student loans. The Ghanacard is sufficient; and we have implemented free TVET as well as free senior high school education. “We expanded School Feeding from 1.6 million children to 2.1 million children; we restored teacher and nursing training allowances; we absorbed the cost of BECE and WASSCE exam registrations for parents" “It is for this reason that over the first five (5) years in office government reduced electricity tariffs cumulatively by 10.9%, we provided free water and electricity as well as reduced tariffs for the entire population during a whole year of the COVID-19 pandemic.” He stressed “My government has always been cognisant of the importance of implementing policies and social interventions to relieve Ghanaians of hardships.” Credit: 3news.com

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has owned up to reality about the economy of Ghana. He admitted on Sunday, October 30, when he addressed the nation in an impassioned broadcast, that the economy “is in great difficulty”. He says he will not exaggerate when he says Ghana’s economy is in crisis. “The budget drawn for the 2022 fiscal year has been thrown out of gear, disrupting our balance of payments and debt sustainability, and further exposing the structural weaknesses of our economy,” he observed. For him, so many regressive factors have concurrently occurred, taking a toll on the economy in an unprecedented manner and that has resulted in the crisis. “I cannot find an example in history when so many malevolent forces have come together at the same time.” But he assured Ghanaians that the situation will be turned around just like it happened in the immediate post-Covid era. “As we have shown in other circumstances, we shall turn this crisis into an opportunity to resolve not just the short-term, urgent problems, but the long-term structural problems that have bedeviled our economy.” Ghana’s economy has seen a meltdown in recent times with the factors largely attributed to the global crunch. Inflation in the country has risen to 37.2 percent, shooting high the prices of foods and other products. Traders have complained about the current cost of doing business, forcing them to recently shut their shops in Accra and Kumasi – the country’s foremost cities. The domestic currency, Cedi, has depreciated in leaps and bounds against its major trading currency, the US Dollar. The economic crisis has seen the government approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout. President Akufo-Addo assures that the bailout being sought from the Fund is “to repair, in the short term, our public finances, and restore our balance of payments, whilst we continue to work on the medium to long-term structural changes that are at the heart of our goal of constructing a resilient, robust Ghanaian economy, and building a Ghana Beyond Aid” He added that his is a government that cares and that “we are determined to restore stability to the economy and provide relief”. Credit: 3news.com