Asante Kotoko’s number one goalkeeper Danlad Ibrahim has signed a new two year contract extension with the club. Danlad, 19, was thought to be nearing a move away from the Porcupine Warriors but he’s now renewed his contract. With this, the former Black Starlets goalie has agreed to extend his contract for another two years and will continue to lead their post for the 2022/23 season. The enterprising shot-stopper since joining the Porcupine Warriors, has had loan spells at Berekum Chelsea and also King Faisal where he helped them survived relegation in the 2020/21 season. He took over the Kotoko post in the middle of the just ended campaign right after the exit of first choice Razak Abalora who left to join Moldovan champions FC Sheriff Tiraspol and played an instrumental role in helping Asante Kotoko win the league. He is currently the first choice goalkeeper of the Black Galaxies who will face sworn rivals Nigeria in the final round of the 2022 African Nations Championship qualifiers. Credit: 442.com

Aide to the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dome-Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, Nana Dubin Kwapong, has hinted that his boss has returned to the United States of America and will come back to Ghana when Parliament reconvenes. The Aide made these pronouncements in an interview with an Accra-based Radio Station. Nana Dubin said "As we speak, the Honourable Member of Parliament [for Dome Kwabenya] is not in the country, she has gone back to the States and will be back in the country when Parliament reconvenes," The MP in a recent Facebook post quoted Psalm 23:5, saying “You prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.” The Facebook post had pictures of the MP in a private jet wearing a beautiful smile. Below is the Facebook post: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Dome Kwabenya Constituency, Adwoa Safo has responded to her removal from office as the Minister for Gender and Social Protection. According to her, it was an honour to serve the all-important Ministry albeit for a short time. In a statement signed by the MP, she said "It was an honour to serve at this all-important Ministry albeit for a short time. During the period, we put in place enough mechanisms to ensure a harmonious society where the survival and development of Women, Children, Persons with Disabilities as well as other vulnerable persons in our society can be guaranteed in line with your vision to transform the Sovial Protection Framework in a robust and a more responsive on" "I am exceedingly grateful for your understanding, compassion and unending devotion throughout this past year, especially during a very difficult period for me where I have had to be away from office. Your kind support has been very much welcome and for that I remain externally grateful" The MP also hinted that she has handed over all official assets to the Administrator of the Ministry. Below is a copy of the release: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

A pregnant woman, 37, and her two sons have been burnt to death in a fire on the night of Monday August 15, 2022 at Ohwim in the Bantama sub metro in Kumasi. The deceased, Philomena Osei and her 7 and 9 year old children couldn’t escape the ravaging fire when it started around 11.30pm. They got trapped in their 3-bedroom apartment. Fortunately, one of the siblings, a 14-year-old who was sleeping in a separate room managed to escape unhurt. “I heard the woman shouting for help. By the time I stepped out I realised the entire building has been engulfed by fire. Together with other residents we called the Fire Service but before they arrived, the three have been burnt to death,” a neighbour, Justina Owusu, told Onuaonline. The cause of the fire is yet to be establish as investigation has commenced. Meanwhile, some residents, however, suspect arson. “This is not the first time it’s happening. Someone once set the back of the net of one of the rooms ablaze but it was detected quickly and quenched. So this one appears suspicious because how can two rooms catch fire at the same time,” a tenant, Sampson Mensah questioned. The Ghana National Fire Service however says it will investigate the matter to its finality. Credit: Onuaonline.com

The National Youth Council (NYC) of the Trades Union Congress ( TUC- Ghana), as part of activities to mark the International Youth Day Celebration 2022, donated some items to the Akropong school for the blind on Friday, August 12, 2022. The items include not limited to bags of rice, sugar, flour beans, gallons of oil, toiletries, cooking pots, stationeries , among others. Receiving the items on behalf of the school, the Head Mistress for the school, Madam Veronica Dery, expressed appreciation to the National Youth Council (NYC) of the TUC for their benevolence. She added that the Administration of the school would use the donated items to cater for the students. She further called on other organisations, including NGOs, to emulate this gesture from the TUC to aid in catering for the needs of the blind students. She added that the school lacked Brailled Text Books and that the government should provide of them to enhance effective teaching of the students. The Assistant Boys School Prefect, Master Peter, also appreciated the NYC of TUC for the donation. He further called on government to continue to provide Brailled Text Books to the school since it's in shortage. He added that the dormitories should also be improved and additional ones built as well. The Secretary of the National Youth Council of TUC, Abena Afriyie, said the gesture was part of yearly activities that the NYC of the TUC emabarks on every year to commémorate the International Youth Day. She reiterated that it was the turn for the Akropong school for the deaf to benefit from the annual project, and that called for the donation in the school. The National Chairperson of the NYC of TUC, Dennis Atuwo, said NYC considers the blind students as their colleagues and that there was the need to show love to them adding that society should not neglect them but aid them. Background According to the United Nations (UN) the objective of International Youth Day 2022 is to amplify the message that action is needed across all generations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leave no one behind. It will also raise awareness on certain barriers to intergenerational solidarity, notably ageism, which impacts young and old persons, while having detrimental effects on society as a whole. Ageism is an insidious and often an unaddressed issue in health, human rights and development, and has bearings on both older and younger populations around the world. In addition, ageism regularly intersects with other forms of bias (such as racism and sexism) and impacts people in ways that prevent them to reach their full potential and comprehensively contribute to their community. Below are some pictures: Story by: Joshua Abeka

The Asante Professionals Club, over the weekend, embarked on a Career Guidance and Motivational Outreach to Senior High Schools in the Offinso North District. The Club assembled over one thousand final year students from Nkekanso, Dwamena Akenten, Asuoso and Akomadan Senior High Schools at Akomadan for this important outreach. The Outreach saw the students of these four schools taken through Career Choices, Study Tips and motivational talks on how to be successful in their examinations. The Club, APC for short, is a voluntary “think and do-tank” club, comprising professionals from the Asante Kingdom. It is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization with a high interest in the development of Asanteman and its people. In particular, it has a huge mandate towards the empowerment of the youth and sees education as a key mechanism in actualising this. This is one of many outreaches they have undertaken this year alone. Members agreed that it was an awesome and fulfilling experience providing career guidance and counselling to young people especially as the students could relate with the members education journeys and be inspired by the outcomes. As a development club, being able to impact young ones is one of the reasons why they come together, pool resources and embark on such programmes. A member of the club graciously accepted to assist financially an old student of Akomadan SHS who had six Grade As in her WASSCE but couldn’t continue to University for luck of funds. The club continues to be inspired by John Dewey’s quote that Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself. Below are some pictures: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

Management of the University of Ghana has temporarily suspended the Hall Master and Senior Tutor of Commonwealth Hall over the recent clashes between students in the university. According to the management, the two leaders had to be removed because of their lack of cooperation in the ongoing investigation on the clash between students of the Commonwealth Hall and the Mensah Sarbah Hall. “The Hall Master and Senior Tutor of Commonwealth Hall have not exhibited sufficient willingness and ability to hold students of the hall accountable for their actions in the recent violent clashes. “These officers should, therefore, in the interim, be relieved of their duties while management works with the security services to investigate the clashes, and works towards finding lasting solutions to the tensions between students of the two halls,” parts of a statement issued by the leadership of the university read. The management also said that Commonwealth Hall will be surcharged with all the cost of the damages caused in the Mensah Sarbah. It stated that all students that are offered places in the two halls will be made to sign undertakings and that all celebratory activities of the two halls have been suspended. It added that it will continue to with the investigation to determine the root cause of the clashes in the tensions between the two halls. Read the full statement of the University below: Credit: Ghanaweb

The management of Senior High Technical School for the Deaf at Akuapem-Mampong in the Eastern Region is calling for help from parents to stop students from smuggling smartphones into the campus, which they use for watching pornographic materials. According to the authorities, aside from watching porn, the students also take delight in betting and staking on lotteries. Starrfm.com.gh reports that the school authorities have raised concerns about the deviant activities of the students consistently during general meetings of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) in recent times. However, as the trend does not seem to be ceasing, have warned parents to ensure their wards do not bring phones to school or they will be confiscated and returned to them. “It realised that students bring to school expensive phones. Some videos showing their nakedness or their sexual acts and these videos sometimes get onto their platforms. Parents were advised to always take wards phones before they come to school since seized phones are never returned to owners" “Parents must be mindful of their wards at home and the kind of friends they visit and keep as some are betting and staking lotto,” the school management said, as quoted by the news website. Another challenge that the School for the Deaf is faced with is the lack of a driver to convey the students with special needs to and from the school. “Students are shuttled between the two campuses every day and so there is a need for drivers in the school. One of the two drivers of the school is retiring next month. But posting of drivers to school is on hold from the Ghana Education Service and the absence of one driver for the school is going to be a very big challenge as a result of our speciality,” the management lamented. By way of a stopgap measure, parents of the students are being urged to pay a PTA levy of GHC20 per student. The levy, which is said to have been approved by the government, will be used to support the development of the school and the payment of a monthly allowance to a retired driver to transport the students until a new driver is posted to the school. Credit: Pulse GH

Three students of Opoku Ware School (OWASS) have been arrested in Kumasi for armed robbery. The three students – Akwasi Adu Donkor, Raphael Owusu Appiah and Kwadwo Osei Asubonteng – were arrested by the Kumasi Central police for attacking a taxi driver and snatching his taxi cab at gunpoint on Thursday, August 11. School authorities were informed by the police Friday dawn and it was confirmed that the suspects were indeed students of Opoku Ware School. “It is on record that the three suspects had been withdrawn from the boarding house,” the school said in a statement on Tuesday, August 16. “Akwasi Adu Donkor and Asubonteng Osei Kwadwo were withdrawn from the boarding house on the same day for the following offences: Breaking bounds at night, Wearing unprescribed attire in the school and Fighting in the school.” The statement signed by the Secretary to the School’s Disciplinary Committee, Bismark Agyemang Duah, cited several infractions by these students. The two are said to be habitual absentees, assault fellow students and steal on countless occasions. “Owusu Appiah Raphael was also withdrawn from the boarding house for stealing on countless occasions from his colleagues at the dormitory. After this incident, he and other four students appeared before the D.C. for wrongful entry into someone’s house at TUC. He has also been hiding in the dormitory despite his withdrawal from the boarding house.” According to the school authorities, every effort to reform these students has proven futile. “Their parents have been invited to the school on several occasions to discuss the behaviour of their wards with them,” the school noted. “It is sad to report that the father of Raphael Owusu Appiah insulted the then Assistant Headmaster, Mr. Akwasi Oduro Boateng, and nearly fought him. He claimed the Assistant headmaster hated his son and wanted him to be withdrawn from the school.” According the statement, authorities were sad that these boys did not take heed to all the advice given to them. “We would like to state emphatically that the boys are our students but at the time the incident occurred, they had closed from school and were supposed to be in the custody of their parents.” Story by: Emmanuel Kwame Amoh

A Ghanaian woman whose identity has been hidden confided in 'Confessions with Ms Nancy' that the biological father of her childen is her driver. She confessed to having an affair with her driver due to pressure to get pregnant after three years of childless marriage. According to the confessor, doctors cleared her as being medically fit to get pregnant. But her husband refused to get himself checked. She said that pressure from her husband’s family and society drove her into the arms of the man employed to drive her around. “I have been happily married for more than six years now. But the first four years were kind of hard. In the first year of my marriage, i couldn’t conceive. I wasn’t so worried because it was just the first year. But then the second, the third, still nothing. So i decided to go and see a doctor. He said there was nothing wrong, so he recommended that my husband should also come and check himself" “My husband says he already has a child so he is fine. There’s nothing wrong with him. And during those years, I was having pressure from his family and society. I even got depressed at some point. I really had to give him a child like everybody was expecting. I love my husband so much that I wanted to make him happy.” According to the distraught woman, the affair with her driver happened twice, resulting in two pregnancies. Now, her past is haunting her, and she does not know what to do. “Our driver was very nice, and we began to flirt. One thing led to another, and because of the pressure on me, I gave in. So we had sex. I got pregnant with the driver. And we had another one again. So I have two children that my husband thinks it’s his. My dilemma is that I haven’t been feeling okay for two years because of what I have done. I don’t know if I should tell him because we are happy now.” Catch Confessions with Ms Nancy on TV3 at 10 pm every Saturday. Credit: 3news.com

Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif has showered praises to the Ghanaian Athletes Team for winning some medals for Ghana at the Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, United Kingdom. According to the Minister, the determination of the Athlets gave him enough confidence to believe that they will return with medials. Speaking a brief ceremony held in Accra, the Youth and Sports Minister said "I said before cabinet that you guys were not going to return empty handed. I was so confident in you and that pushed me to do everything possible to ensure that you were fully equipped" The Minister also added that more funds will be pumped into other sporting disciplines aside football. He further commended the coaches and management of the Athletes Team for doing a yeoman job at tge Commonwealth games. The Minister promised to book an appointment with President Akufo-Addo to allow the Athletes present their medals to him officially. "I will ensure that I book an appointment for you to meet tye number supporter who was always supporting and watching you, so you get to meet him and present your medals to him officially" Addressing Athletes who could not win medals, he encouraged them to do more in order to bag some honours for the nation and themselves. On his part, Chef de Mission, thanked the Minister and President Akufo-Addo for their support throughout the competition. "I want to thank you and President Akufo-Addo for what you have done for us. Some of our Athletes had challenges but you stepped in and ensured that the necessary logistics were provided them. Bronze Medalist, Long Jump Athlete, Deborah Acquah said "Initially, I said, I was retiring because, I was not getting any support or signings but by the grace of God things have changed and I will no longer quit" "I am in talks with some people and if all things goes well, I will be signing some deals" She thanked the Minister, President, coaching bodies and the entire nation for the massive support and love shown her. Below are some pictures: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Forestry Commission, John Allotey has announced that Ghana will be the first African country to host the World's 4th Teak Conference from the 5th -8th September, 2022. The CEO announced this during his  presentation to a high powered delegation from the Forestry Commission in Edo State, Nigeria that paid a courtesy call on him on Monday, 15th August, 2022. He noted that it befitting of Ghana to be the first African country to host such an important event because "aside the Asian countries, No other country produces more teak than Ghana and it has taken a deliberate effort to get us to this level" Mr. Allotey extended an arm of invite to the team from Edo State to join, learn and contribute to the conference, explaining that the Conference will bring together stakeholders, traders of Teak, researchers and all who matter in the Forestry sector to jaw-jaw ideas on how to grow a vibrant business in that venture. He told the Nigerian delegation that Ghana's strategy is to plant more teaks and other indigenous species in degraded areas to even shot up the numbers of production as he sais teak forms a large chuck of the country's export in terms of timber. Still on trees and their importance, he hoped that the two countries will find legal ways to export Rosewood from sustainable sources, adding that Ghana is still enforcing it's ban on the commodity until better mechanism are adopted. Mr. John Allotey allueded that one key area that has also received global attention is Climate Change and called for a collective and collaborative effort to change the world reports and achieve the goals set to reduce global warming. He also mentioned trade as an important subject that needs to be considered in the collaboration agenda, notifying that a good exchange of expertise of both countries will help improve the trade sector. The CEO congratulated the Acting Chairman of Edo State Forestry Commission and eulogized his good works during his time as a staff of the Commission in Ghana and hoped that he will bring his experience to bare as he heads the Commission in Edo State. The Acting Chairman of Edo State Forestry Commission, Mr. Edward Obiaw expressed his gratitude to the Chief Executive and the Commission for their positive response and warm reception. Mr. Obiaw highlighted on some achievements and challenges being faced by the Edo State Commission as they transition from a department into a Commission. He explained that one of the major challenges is the bureaucratic nature of their administration but promised to work together with his youthful team to change the status quo. He also made mention of over reserving of forest lands in the country which he noted  has led to encroachment by the citizens who are mostly farmers, adding over exploitation of timber, security challenges and institutional weakness as others He further appealed to the Commission to collaborate with the Edo Forestry Commission on Forestry Manager Planning, Wood tracking System, Ex tourism amongst other initiative implemented by the FC, Ghana. The Chairman applauded the work the Commission has done in Ghana and assured that "Forestry Commission in Edo will be built around the model in Ghana and we are taking all the experience from you" Mr. Joseph Osiakwan the Technical Director for Forestry who joined, other officers of the Commission and CEO to receive the delegation from Nigeria, also congratulated the Chairman of Edo State Forestry Commission and submitted to the team to consider planning excellent Forestry frameworks and Forestry wildlife polices which will guide their operations and ensure that they do not repeat the mistakes of the mother institutions. Below are some pictures: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith