A 33-year-old resident of Suaboi, a suburb of Dadieso Suaman in the Western North Region, Tawiah Terkpey, is currently in the grips of the Dadieso Police Command for reportedly butchering his 60-year-old father, Jonathan Terkpey, to death. The suspect, according to reports, has been living with his father in the same community for the past two years after returning from Accra, where he worked as a mechanic. He is alleged to have carried out the deadly act over the weekend. According to reports, Tawiah, without any provocation, slashed his father multiple times on the neck and other parts of his body while his dad was washing his face after waking up from bed. Connect FM’s Emmanuel Sowah told Nhyraba Paa Kwesi Simpson, host of the Omanbapa morning show, that Terkpey Tawiah is a mechanic who has been living in Accra for many years. “He came back about two years ago to engage in farming with his father. Reports have it that he has not been stable mentally. Sometimes he acts abnormally but will later be stable. Nobody can tell what came over him. He brought out a machete and killed his father,” he narrated. Disturbing pictures show the deceased with deep cuts on the neck and other parts of his body. The suspect has since been arrested by the police to assist with investigations. The deceased left behind five children and a wife. Story by: Eric Nana Gyetuah

Information reaching Thinknewsonline.com indicates that an Articulated truck has killed seven people in Sefwi in the Brong Ahafo Region. According to sources, the Articulated Truck veered off the road after the driver lost control. It is emerging that the deceased include some traders who were selling plantatain at the road side. Readers will be updated on new developments. Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

The Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said the former president John Mahama has a bad track record of reversing policies initiated by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). His comment comes after Mahama promised to repeal the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) when the NDC wins power in the 2024 elections. “I just want to remind Ghanaians that the last time the NDC and Mahama made a similar statement was when the communication service tax was introduced,” he told Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday(3 May). “ He [Mahama] argued against it that the cost of internet and talk time will go up by 8% in Parliament and later joined the late Prof Atta Mills as his running mate to make a promise that they were going to abolish the communication service tax,” he told Philip Asiawo on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday He added “When they won power, they turned around and increased the rate. So I think there is a clear track record and nobody should be dissuaded by some of these comments, the Ghanaian economy is in safe hands, the 2017 to 2019 window shows us clearly that the NPP and the Akufo-Addo administration had the competencies to bring the Ghanaian economy back on track.” Story by: Fred Dzakpata

The Kenyasi District Police Command, on Sunday, May 1, 2022, arrested a 44-year-old articulated truck driver for insecure loading, careless driving, and causing damage. The suspect driver was in charge of a Man Diesel articulated vehicle loaded with 2750 boards of sawn lumber from Goaso towards Techiman and on reaching Ntotroso township, the trailer and the loads truncated from the truck and fell on the offside of the road. This also led to the destruction of some properties belonging to the market women by the roadside. The Police have since cleared the road for vehicular movement. Meanwhile, the suspect driver is in custody and will be processed for court. The accident vehicle is also impounded at the station for further action. In order to clamp down on insecure loading and its attendant issues, the Ahafo Regional MTTD Command has been directed to take immediate steps to check the menace on the road and any driver found culpable will be dealt with accordingly. Source: 3news.com

Former President John Dramani Mahama has said the ongoing geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine cannot be the reason Ghanaians are suffering. He indicated that the people of Ghana were struggling due to the bad economic management by President Akufo-Addo way before the outbreak of the warfare. In a presentation he made titled “Ghana at Crossroad” on Monday, May 2, he said “The Russia-Ukraine conflict cannot possibly, be responsible for the suffering we are going through. “The sufferings Ghanaians are going through predate the war. Before these conflicts, our currency had already been depreciating and was impacting negatively on fuel and commodity prices in our markets, fuel prices have gone up on more than forty different occasions since 2017, long before Russia and Ukraine started fighting.” Recently, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia who is also head of the Economic Management Team, said Ghana is directly affected by the war. He stated while addressing TESCON members on Thursday, April 7 that Russia accounts for some 30 percent of Ghana’s imported grains, 50 percent of flour, and 39 percent of fertilizer. The warfare, therefore, affected the local economy, he said. “The increase in commodity prices has been exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Russia and Ukraine together account for 30 percent of the global wheat export. The longer the conflict the greater will be the disruptions to the global food supply. The country is also likely to slow global growth. “According to the AfDB, the price of wheat has shot up by 62 percent since the war began. The price of fertilizer is up by 300 percent, and the price of maize is up by 36 percent since the war began. Here in Ghana, 60 percent of our total imports of iron ore and steel are from Ukraine. “Russia accounts for some 30 percent of Ghana’s imported grains, 50 percent of flour, and 39 percent of fertilizer. So we are directly affected by the Russia-Ukraine war. Unfortunately, we do not know when it will be over. The global increase in fuel prices is causing hardship.” The Russian Embassy in Ghana took exception to the attribution of the current economic crisis across the globe to the Vladimir Putin-led invasion of Ukraine in February. “However, the truth is different,” the Embassy said in a tweet on Monday. “The Embassy wishes to shed some light on the roots and drivers of this crisis and provide a comprehensive and objective analysis without emotions and political prejudice.” In a thread to the main tweet, Kremlin’s representative in Accra explained that the current situation in the food market, for instance, started two years ago and is “not a result of two months of this year”. Story by: Laud Nartey

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has asked his deputy William Ruto to resign, as a bitter row between the two intensifies ahead of general elections in August. Mr. Kenyatta accused Mr. Ruto of not doing enough to help the country deal with the struggling economy and said he shouldn’t criticize the government from within. But in a tweet, the deputy president claimed the cabinet had not met for more than two years and told President Kenyatta that he was just a phone call away. The president does not have the power to sack his deputy – he can only be removed from office if he is impeached or incapacitated. The differences between President Kenyatta and his deputy have played out openly as the country mourned the death of the former head of state Mwai Kibaki. Throughout Friday’s state funeral, President Kenyatta declined to shake Mr. Ruto’s hand. Much of the falling-out is due to August’s general elections. Mr. Ruto wants to run for president, but Mr. Kenyatta has instead backed opposition leader Raila Odinga. The economy has been a major issue in the run-up to the elections. Kenya is currently facing record levels of inflation, with commodities such as cooking oil and fuel going up in price. Source: BBC

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) was clearly not ready for the commencement of the e-levy, Former President John Dramani Mahama has said. His comments follow the challenges that have characterized the policy since it started on Sunday, May 1. Delivering an address titled “Ghana at Crossroads” on Monday, May 2, the 2020 presidential candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said “Governments since the 4th Republic have all invested in digital infrastructure in order to modernize our economy. During my time as President, we laid the most extensive number of kilometers of fiber optic cable and further provided 4G LTE wireless broadband in order to bring all parts of our country into the new digital revolution. “Through these investments, we have created the opportunity for Ghanaians to enjoy the ease of electronics transactions. Indeed, Ghanaians have taken to the ease of electronic transactions very well. “Mobile money payments are used for remittances to parents in the villages, they are used in the markets and supermarkets to pay for groceries purchased, they are used by market women and other traders to pay for replenishing their stocks, and they are used at filling stations to pay for fuel and services. “Internet and electronic banking have made it easier to move money from account to account without the use of cheques or cash transfers. This is a positive development for our economy and represents the fastest means of shrinking the informal economy and bringing us all into the formal one. “Unfortunately, in the face of this self-inflicted economic catastrophe, this government against all sound advice has decided to introduce the E-Levy, a regressive tax that heaps more suffering on Ghanaians. “Recently our President was asked in a BBC interview, why he was choosing to tax the incomes of Ghanaians in their electronic wallets that had already been taxed. The President’s answer was that it is the newest and fastest growing sector of our economy that is not being taxed" Clearly the President did not understand the question, or he is clueless about the regressive nature of the E-Levy. A worker gets paid in his electronic wallet. His PAYE tax has been deducted already. “For every transfer or purchase above GHS100 he makes on his e-wallet, he has to pay an additional 1.5% tax. It will now be tempting for such a person to draw cash from his e-wallet and make the payment for his groceries, fuel, entertainment, utility bills etc. all with cash", The collection of the E-Levy began yesterday and as though a slap in the face, it began on May Day. Already there is a litany of complaints about the implementation. There are complaints of transfers of under GHS100 being subject to tax contrary to the law. “Government’s desperation to tax Ghanaians to get the nation out of the hell hole it has dumped us will not succeed because Government’s own budget proposals show that the e-levy will not make any significant contribution in resolving our problems but would exert an adverse toll on the people of Ghana. ,“We in the NDC do not oppose taxation as a principle. We will not be pretentious and couch fanciful slogans to condemn the principle of taxation like the NPP did in the past. We are, however, implacably opposed to distortionary and burdensome taxes like the e-levy that only force Ghanaians to endure more suffering.” He added “Clearly, the Ghana Revenue Authority was not ready for this policy.” Mr Mahama assured that a future NDC government will abolish the e-levy. “A new National Democratic Congress Government, God willing and with the votes of the sovereign people of Ghana – in 2025 – will repeal the E-Levy Act. Even as this government remains fixated with taxing their way out of economic mismanagement, the Akufo-Addo government has been wasteful. They have failed to demonstrate prudence in public financial management. “The people of Ghana cannot be called upon to pay more taxes only for the accruing money belonging to the people of Ghana, to be dubiously and wastefully shared among family and friends through various fraudulent procurement practices.” The GRA reacted to concerns raised against the e-levy policy on the first day of the implementation saying it is collating all the feedback to work on them. Some customers have already reported, cases of wrong deductions since the policy started on Sunday. But Isaac Kwabena Amoako, a member of the e-levy Technical Committee of the GRA said on the News 360 on TV3 Sunday, May 1, “On day one of implementation we have been taking feedback. “The category of feedback that did not meet our design is the fact that people transferring from one network to another network, for some of them they are being charged. seems" “That seems to be the most prevalent technical issue that is being reported. We have collated some of these concerns, we are talking to the charging entities so that they correct them. them" “We believe that between now and the following day some of these of these corrections will be made.” “We have issued out notices that anyone who has genuine or valid reversals should listen to them, use the current approach that they use for reversals which is 15 working days to collate these concerns, those who have been wrongfully charged should be refunded,” he added. Story by: Laud Nartey

The People’s National Convention (PNC) has confirmed the arrest of embattled General Secretary Janet Nabila by the Nima Divisional Command of the Ghana Police Service. Ms Nabila was arrested Sunday, May 1 after reportedly storming the party’s headquarters despite her suspension. She has been at loggerheads with some party leaders including the 2020 Presidential Candidate David Apasera. She is said to have broken into the offices of Mr Apasera as well as those of newly appointed General Secretary, Prince Agyemang Duah, and National Chairman Moses Danibaah on Sunday. She was, however, released same day after an intervention by some party leaders. “The case is currently before the Ghana Police Service for investigation,” a statement issued by National Youth Organiser Mark Ewusi Arko said. “The party wish to state that the National Disciplinary Committee is working on resolving the confusion faced by the party to bring peace.” Source: 3news.com

Former President John Mahama has praised Ghanaian workers as the nation marks workers day today May 1. The former President in a message on Facebook said: “Happy May Day to our gallant men and women who make up our nation’s work force. You are the engine that propels our country and keeps it afloat”. He added “In periods of great economic strife and hopelessness, it is you who come to the peoples’ rescue and provide the needed inspiration and industry to get the state back on the path of recovery. “I have no doubt that your unconquerable spirit of resilience and service will lift us out of our present gloom. And this is why you remain our eternal heroes and heroines”. Workers in Ghana are joining their counterparts across the world to mark today as International Workers Day. Mr Mahama is set to speak on democratic and economic development in the country on Monday. Source: Starrfm.com

Indonesia's decision to suspend palm oil exports in the face of domestic shortages has pushed vegetable oil prices to new highs, further tightening a market already on edge due to the war in Ukraine and global warming. The prices of palm, soybean, European rapeseed and even its Canadian GMO counterpart, canola oil, have reached historic highs following Indonesia's announcement on Wednesday. "We already had problems with soybeans in South America, with canola in Canada," said Philippe Chalmin, an economics professor at Paris-Dauphine University in France, stating that both crops had been severely affected by extended droughts. Then came devastation for the "sunflowers in Ukraine" due to Russia's destructive invasion, he added. Palm oil is the most consumed vegetable oil in the world, and Indonesia accounts for 35 percent of global exports, according to James Fry, chairman of LMC consulting firm. Indonesia's export ban is designed to bring down prices in the country and limit shortages, according to authorities. But Chalmin said the move "comes at the worst time." "The rise in prices dates back to last year already and it is exacerbated by the Ukrainian conflict," he explained. Rich Nelson of the agricultural market research and trading firm Allendale said "the industry believes it'll last maybe for one month, perhaps two." But in the meantime, prices are skyrocketing in a market that was "already accelerated," he said. Unlike other oilseeds, palm fruit does not keep once picked and has to be processed immediately, Fry said. Indonesia's palm oil storage system, which was already holding substantial reserves, is now under further stress, Fry said. Vicious cycle Even though the price of vegetable oil, in addition to multiple other agricultural commodities, has been rising for months, demand has yet to slow. "It's difficult to ration demand for food commodities with higher prices," said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX Financial. Palm oil, which is used heavily in processed food such as instant noodles and baked goods, is also present in other consumer products, such as personal care items and cosmetics. "Eventually it will trickle down," said Paul Desert-Cazenave of consulting firm Grainbow, "but it's still too early to measure price increases to consumers." In the short term, the only oilseed that might be able to provide some relief on the vegetable oil market is the soybean. The United States and Brazil, the world's two top soybean exporters, still have available stock, even though more shipments from the countries would only have a marginal impact on edible oil prices. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last month that it expects soybean acreage to increase more than 4 percent from last year, while corn would shrink by a comparable amount. The world's top rapeseed exporter, Canada, meanwhile said Tuesday that it expected a seven percent decline in acreage devoted to the GMO rapeseeds used in canola oil. Analysts and economists say they see a need for public policy concerning the food crisis, since in addition to food, vegetable oils are also widely used in biofuels. Based on the current crisis "we're going to see more pressure on countries to reduce their biodiesel blending mandates, and renewable diesel mandates," Suderman said. "That's going to take time," he warned, "but that's ultimately where you're going to get your biggest demand destruction." Europe passed a directive in 2018 excluding palm oil from renewable energy targets by 2030. Some of the bloc's countries, including France, have already stopped using it. Despite the current turmoil, Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's second-largest exporter, have maintained their respective programs blending palm oil in their biofuels. To make matters worse, many of the major palm oil importers, mainly Egypt, Bangladesh and Pakistan, have seen their currencies depreciate significantly in recent months, said Michael Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics and Consulting. Some major oilseed exporters such as the United States and Brazil have, meanwhile, experienced the opposite, with the dollar reaching multi-year highs. "This is kind of the worst-case scenario starting to develop," said Zuzolo. Putting importers in a "negative feedback loop where they're going to have more and more difficulty keeping supplies ample, that's the potential tragedy we're walking ourselves into. Credit: France 24

The Ministry of Public Enterprises has launched a Public Enterprises League Table (PELT) aimed at ranking performances of State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) in the country. According to the Ministry, the award scheme will not only reward deserving SOEs but also make them competitive and profitable. Addressing Journalists in Accra on Friday, the Minister for Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe said "The Public Enterprises League Table (PELT) is an innovation by the Minister for Public Enterprises to assess the performances of Specified Entities (SEs) regarding compliance" The Minister also mentioned that the list of deserving SOEs will be published after an assessment in May, 2022. He further explained that PELT is been introduced by Ministry of Finance and the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA). Thinknewsonline.com has gathered that the Public Enterprises League Table (PELT) is set to create competition among the specified entities which includes the State Owned Enterprises (SoEs), Joint Venture Companies (JVCs) and Other State Entities (OSEs) as stipulated in the SIGA Law, ACT 990. It is also emerging that PELT has been launched to promote innovation in the management of the SEs to ensure organizations are not only profitable but also efficient, provide non-pecuniary incentives for improved performance, boost the stature of performing organizations, recognize/Award Chief Executive Officers (CEOs)/Managing Directors (MDs)/Director Generals and Boards of performing SEs as well as to provide a pathway for recommending the promotion of performing CEOs/MDs/DGs to be elevated to occupy similar positions in more prominent SEs. The sector Minister, Joseph Cudjoe, said "The initiative is to reward companies that are doing well and to encourage those that are not doing well to be provided with the necessary support to achieve or face the necessary sanctions" He stressed that the initiative will further provide peer learning and experience sharing opportunities likewise to encourage SEs to trade among themselves. "My appointment was to solve a 65 year old problem in the SE sector which has been characterized by high indebtedness, loss making, non-performance and in some instances, collapse. President Akufo-Addo had me to develop policies that will engender good performance from the SE sector to generate income for the economy and also make sure, there is industrial expansion and institutional growth to create jobs for the masses" “Since 2017 however, the government of His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, has indicated clearly, its willingness to ensure that the mistakes of the past are dealt with effectively. Consequently, the many years of non-reporting, inefficient leadership and creating an opportunity for political sympathisers and supporters has come to an end”, he pointed out. The Minister for Public Enterprises challenged the media not to outline only the challenges of the SEs but contribute to making them vibrant, effective, efficient and profitable because they constitute about a third of the total economy of the country. “This is not the type of league table that will relegate the last person. When you are at the bottom, it would mean that we should spend more resources in terms of time, training and attention on you to enable you perform better. The PELT, would become the platinum standard for specified entities which are doing well”, he said. Taking his turn, the Director General of SIGA, Ambassador Edward Boateng described PELT as a good measuring tool which will assist the efforts to encourage the improvement in the performance of SEs. “This initiative, we hope will enable our specified entities contribute about 30% minimum to our GDP. SEs control about 50% of our national assets. As we speak now, their contribution to GDP is quite low and our target is to raise it to about 30% to help improve our national fiscal space. We hope that this award will inspire them to grow for us to meet the target. For them doing more will help us generate the needed income to build our country”, "PELT will be based on the performance evaluation in the Performance Contract the specified entities sign with the SIGA to ensure compliance to the provisions in the contract" He also told Journalists that PELT will offer the opportunity to rank the SEs by the negotiated and agreed indicators and present in the League Table Form. "PELT is designed as an add-on feature of the assessment tool for the post evaluation of SEs, pursuant to the Performance Contract Implementation, which provides MPE, SIGA and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) with the measurable indicators to conduct a peer ranking exercise to achieve its mandate" This year's PELT Awards Programme is scheduled for the 27th of May 2022. Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

Contractors, petty traders, investors, and entrepreneurs from China have been pouring into Uganda for the past decade. China is a top investor in the east African country, accounting for as much as half of total foreign investment between 2014 and 2015, according to the Uganda Investment Authority. But according to Ugandan immigration officials, there’s one major downside: an increasing number of Chinese men are marrying Ugandan women to gain residency and continue their business interests in the country. Officials told a parliamentary committee in late November that they are seeing more and more Chinese-Ugandan couples, often in sham unions. Couples are normally interviewed before spousal status is granted and Chinese men involved in sham marriages are deported. “But we have many who are marrying and even producing… Even our Ugandan women are accepting to [reproduce] with these men,”an official from Uganda’s directorate of citizenship and immigration control told the committee. Major infrastructure projects like Uganda’s Mandela National Stadium, a $1.7 billion hydropower dam in western Uganda, and the highway connecting Entebbe to Kampala have all been built by Chinese companies. Attracted by Uganda’s stability and demand for cheap goods, independent traders and business people are also opening factories and retail shops selling imported Chinese goods. There are between 10,000 and 50,000 Chinese in the country, local Chinese expatriates estimate. But now, tensions appear to be rising. Ugandan authorities are conducting more raids to catch foreigners living in the country illegally. In July, 12 Chinese were arrested for violating immigration laws . Government-to-government relations have also come under strain. Last month, Ugandan lawmakers summoned a Chinese executive of the state-owned China Communication Construction to explain the circumstances of his company’s securing a $475 million contract to build an expressway in Entebbe. Annoyed during the briefing, Zhong Weidong, managing director of the company, told the panel, “China assists African countries to develop. If you don’t like, it can stop; we can stop.” Story by: News Desk Report