An Associate Professor with the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Ghana (UG), Prof. Yaa Adobea Owusu has hinted that police paying little or no attention to Gender-based violence cases reported to them deters victims from reporting again. According to Prof. Owusu, such behaviours by some police officers are higher unacceptable and needs to be curbed. Speaking at a Capacity Building workshop organised by the ProHumane Afrique International, FORD Foundation, and the Development Research and Projects Centre, Nigeria, in Accra last Wednesday, she said "The paying of little or no attention to such cases often reported to the Police in communities, deterred victims from reporting again, either through personal experience or that of others" Prof. Yaa Owusu further revealed that the findings were as a result of some research done by her Department. She told the gathering that per the research, it emerged that some police officers and legal practioners capitalised on some complaints from the victims to collect monies from them. "Other factors that made victims lose interest in reporting cases of SGBV were stigmatisation, the threat of divorce and divorce, fear of further abuse, societal blame, and inability to afford medical examination bills, inability to fund transportation to and from over the case, illiteracy and lack of social capital for legal redress" she mentioned. The Associate Professor explained that the reported cases of Gender-based violence saw males between 15 and 35 being the actors of since crimes. She added that the victims in mkst cases turned out to be women and girls. "Perpetrators of these offenses are often familiar to the victims. They tend to be parents, siblings, cousins, uncles, teachers, religious leaders, grandparents, stepparents, foster parents/guardians, neighbours’, boyfriends, husbands, wives, and in-laws, etc" she said. It is also emerging that the causes of such gender-based violence in Ghana include issues over sexual relations, suspicion and accusation of sexual infidelity, issues over money, women with HIV and AIDS, childless women, and poor and vulnerable women. "33 per cent of women in Ghana had ever experienced some form of Domestic Violence, and recent evidence suggested that 20 per cent of men and about 28 per cent of Ghanaian women had experienced physical, sexual, emotional or economic intimate partner violence" On her part, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Sarah Adwoa Safo said "Gender-based violence was a violation of fundamental human rights that denied the victim’s human dignity and hampered national development" The Minister pointed out unequal power between men and women in the country as the genesis of such cases in Ghana and the world at large. As part of measures to bridge the gap between men and women in the country, the sector Ministry told the gathering that her outfit has come up with some policies which will address the issue. "Among these frameworks were a five-year Strategic Plan to address Adolescent Pregnancy in Ghana, a National Gender Policy and its Strategic Implementation Plan, National framework on ending Child Marriage and National Domestic Violence Policy and Plan of Action to implement the Domestic Violence Act, 2007 (Act 732)" The CSO networks capacity building workshop on Advocacy to end GBV and Child Marriage in Ghana was implemented by ProHumane Afrique International, Ghana and the development Research and Projects Center (dRPC), Nigeria. It was funded through the kind support of the Ford Foundation West Africa Office with participants from Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Senegal and Gambia. Below are some pictures: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

Thousands of people from across the country have joined the chiefs and people of Gomoa Fetteh to celebrate its Ahobaakese festival. The festival had an impressive climax with its famous Atopa dance known in local parlance as Akosualontoba. It is part of the rituals to mark the festival to remember how their ancestor Ahor liberated them from slavery. The dance which requires men to swing their waist behind women has made Gomoa Fetteh, a fishing and farming community in the Gomoa East district of the Central region very popular. Adom News’ Central Regional correspondent, Kofi Adjei reported that, the town is choked with revelers happily participating in the Atopa dance. He noted that, churches in the area closed very early to enable their members celebrate the festival. Many have criticised the dance as being sexually suggestive but queen mother of Gomoa Fetteh, Nana Abena Owusu said its an age old dance. She explained that, the Atopa dance was a way the wives in the community dances to meet their husbands who had returned from war victories in the olden days. Watch the video below: Credit: Adomfmonline.com

The fate of Guinea's President Alpha Condé is unclear after an unverified video showed him surrounded by soldiers, who said they had seized power. They appeared on national TV claiming to have dissolved the government. However, the defence ministry said the attempted takeover had been thwarted by the presidential guard. This follows hours of heavy gunfire near the presidential palace in the capital, Conakry. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres and the African Union have condemned the apparent coup and demanded the immediate release of President Condé. The West African country of Guinea is rich in natural resources but years of unrest and mismanagement mean it is one of the world's poorest countries. The TV address featured nine unnamed soldiers, several draped in the red, gold and green national flag, who said they had taken over because of rampant corruption, mismanagement and poverty. Calling themselves the National Committee for Reconciliation and Development, they said the constitution had been dissolved and that there would be consultations to create a new, more inclusive one. Numerous reports say the coup was led by an elite unit headed by a former French legionnaire, Lt Col Mamady Doumbouya. In one video, which the BBC has not been able to verify, soldiers ask President Condé, 83, to confirm he is unharmed but he refuses to respond. Sitting barefoot on a sofa wearing jeans and a printed shirt, he does not have any visible injuries. His current whereabouts are unknown. Those behind the coup said that all land and air borders had been closed for a week. However, according to the defence ministry, forces loyal to the president have "contained the threat and repelled the group of assailants". Earlier, the only bridge connecting the mainland to the Kaloum peninsular, which houses most ministries and the presidential palace, was sealed off while many soldiers, some heavily armed, were posted around the palace, a military source told Reuters news agency. There are unconfirmed reports that three soldiers have been killed. Following the news, opposition supporters and activists took to the streets in celebration. "We are here to show our joy because we suffered a lot over time," Abdoulaye Oumou Sow said. "We have been very patient." In their televised announcement, the so-called National Committee for Reconciliation and Development made all the right noises. For those frustrated by last year's constitutional change that allowed President Alpha Condé to run for a third term, news that the constitution would now be scrapped and replaced in consultation with the public has been warmly welcomed. Already there are reports of crowds of opposition supporters and activists taking to the streets of Conakry, to celebrate. But military juntas are notoriously fickle. With no one to hold them to account, there's no guarantee they'll deliver on their promises. There are also those who worry that this latest coup is further evidence of a gradual degradation of democratic values in the region. It's the fourth attempted coup in West Africa in just over a year. There have been two military takeovers in Mali and a failed attempt in Niger since August 2020. Contested constitutional amendments in Guinea and the Ivory Coast, a region that had been celebrated for a number of peaceful transitions of power in the nineties and early 2000s, appears to be regressing. Ultimately those who'll pay the price for the erosion of democratic institutions are ordinary West Africans, left without the protections these institutions were meant to provide. As a result of the unrest, Guinea's football World Cup qualifying match against Morocco at home on 6 September has been postponed. Football body FIFA said the decision was made to "ensure the safety and security of all players and to protect all match officials". The Moroccan team is trapped in Guinea following the coup and is said to be awaiting clearance from their embassy to travel to the airport. President Condé was re-elected for a controversial third term in office amid violent protests last year. The veteran opposition leader was first elected in 2010 in the country's first democratic transfer of power. Despite overseeing some economic progress, he has since been accused of presiding over numerous human rights abuses and harassment of his critics. Below are pictures: Credit: BBC

Television personality Deloris Frimpong Manso, popularly known as Delay, has waded in the ongoing confusion surrounding Zionfelix and his two baby mamas, Minalyn and Erica. Social media was heated after the blogger and his girlfriend, Minalyn, publicly announced the birth of their baby girl on September 3, 2021. Tensions heightened after the blogger unexpectedly posted a picture of his other Italian baby mama, Erica, and congratulated her for blessing him with a baby boy. He deleted this particular post shortly after sharing it on his Instagram wall. Following the events which gradually unfolded on social media, scores of individuals have condemned the blogger for impregnating two women out of wedlock and subjecting them to mockery. Others have alleged that Zionfelix did not act right by deleting the post in which he congratulated his Italian baby mama. Sharing her thoughts on the issue, Delay expressed disappointment in both women for allowing Zionfelix toil with their feelings. According to the Delay Show host, she cannot fathom how self-made women of their caliber could helplessly throw themselves at Zionfelix’s feet without thinking of the consequences. “These two women have done the most. Two fine women. How? They are both pretty and very light-skinned. As hardworking and pretty as you are, how can you allow this guy play with your heart like football? You can imagine the emotional stress they are both going through. Two well-made ladies? I mean how? He calls himself Ghana’s number 1 blogger and now look what he has done with you both,” she stated on the Delay show. She continued by saying, these controversies wouldn’t have gotten to this point if Zionfelix had not projected his private issues on social media. “If you don’t post your stuff on social media, nobody will know. Now you see the struggles you’re going through. Not forgetting the fact that you played home and abroad,” Delay added. Source: www.ghanaweb.com

NDC Members of Parliament for Tamale South and Ajumako Enyan Essiam, Haruna Iddrisu and Cassiel Ato Forson, have threatened to sue The Herald Newspaper if it fails to withdraw a publication suggesting their involvement in an alleged bribery scandal. The Herald Newspaper in its September 3, 2021 edition, published a story with the headline: “CSO Names Haruna Iddrisu and Ato Forson in GNPC Bribery Scandal” where it made several damning claims against Haruna Iddrisu, Mr. Forson and some civil society groups. Both MPs have however denied these allegations. Mr. Iddrisu had insisted that the story was a premeditated effort “to place a wedge among us as the Minority group, cause disunity within our caucus and make us incapable of holding government accountable for its policies and decisions – which is one of our key responsibilities”. A letter signed by the lawyer for the two MPs, James Mensah Kulley, also insisted that the allegations were false. “It is evident from the publication referred to that, they were made recklessly and maliciously without regard to the truth, with vicious intent to destroy the hard-earned reputations of my clients and to bring their name into disrepute, ridicule, and public hatred.” The letter said the Herald Newspaper will be sued if it fails to withdraw the publication and render an unqualified apology. “I am by this letter demanding that you publish a withdrawal of the publication referred to above and render an unqualified apology to my clients on or before the 6th of September, 2021. This rejoinder should be published in the same position and given equal prominence as the publication complained of in your paper.” “Should you fail to publish a withdrawal of the said publication and render an unqualified apology to my clients, on or before the 6th of September, 2021, I have their further instructions without recourse to you, to commence legal action against you and your publishers to redeem the image of my clients,” the letter said. Credit: Citinewsroom

The Finance Ministry has released GH31 million to pay arrears owed school feeding caterers in the various regions. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said this on Takoradi-based radio, Skyypower FM on Saturday, September 4, 2021, while answering questions on threats by caterers to strike. The President, who was speaking before the start of his second day tour of the Western Region admitted that there were initial challenges with insufficient funds. He however expressed the hope that the problem would be addressed, following the intervention of the Ministry of Finance. “I am happy to announce that payments have been made to caterers in all the regions. It is true that caterers in the Western and Western North were not paid due to insufficient funds. That has been resolved. The Ministry of Finance has released GHS 31 million cedis for the payment of caterers.” A few days ago some aggrieved caterers working under the Ghana School Feeding Programme threatened to stop cooking for students if the government fails to increase the feeding grant to three cedis per head. The caterers said the GHS1.00 allocated to children under the programme is woefully inadequate and unfair. The women, who are part of a group calling itself ‘Touch one Touch all’ Caterers Association, say they were disappointed in the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Adwoa Safo, for failing to address their concerns. One of the aggrieved caterers who spoke to Citi News on condition of anonymity said they have vowed not to cook until they hear from the government. “We do not even know where Adwoa Safo is. She does not do anything about school feeding. You call for meetings and she will not come. We worked since January, and we were paid just on the 25th of this month.” Credit: Citinewsroom

Many supporters of the Ghana national team have shared their dismay on social media about the Black Stars' performance in the match against Walias on Friday. Although Ghana had won 1-0 against Ethiopia in their 2022 World Cup opener, their fans weren't impressed with their performance in Group G match in Cape Coast. The hosts won narrowly in Cape Coast thanks to Mubarak Wakso's goal in the first half of their qualifiers for the global showpiece. The tournament quarter-finalists for 2010 were without Thomas Partey from Arsenal and Mohammed Kudus from Ajax on the day. This could have been a reason why they struggled to control the game in particular the second half. The matchday two away against South Africa is on Monday and Ghanaians are clearly concerned by their team's poor performance against Ethiopia. Here are some of their thought below: Credit: Ghanasoccernet.com

KLM had to cancel its September 3 flight from Accra to Amsterdam after a bird found its way into the engine compartment of the aeroplane at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) minutes before take-off. This, caused the plane to have an unexpected hitch and prompted personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service to rush to the scene. Passengers from the flight were left stranded and in fear. Such incidence is described as a “bird strike.” An eyewitness told Citi FM in a report that, the tyres of the plane were deflated in the process and it would have to be replaced to enable a resumption of the flight. Engineers were, according to the eyewitness, working tirelessly to replace the tyres while passengers were still on board but they later had to disembark and checked into hotels to spend the night. The exact details of the aircraft in question were not available. About Bird Strikes Skybrary.aero describes a bird strike as a collision between a bird and an aircraft which is in flight or on a takeoff or landing roll. The term is often expanded to cover other wildlife strikes - with bats or ground animals. Bird Strike is common and can be a significant threat to aircraft safety. For smaller aircraft, significant damage may be caused to the aircraft structure and all aircraft, especially jet-engined ones, are vulnerable to the loss of thrust which can follow the ingestion of birds into engine air intakes. This has resulted in a number of fatal accidents. Bird strikes may occur during any phase of flight but are most likely during the take-off, initial climb, approach and landing phases due to the greater numbers of birds in flight at lower levels. Since most birds fly mainly during the day, most bird strikes occur in daylight hours as well. Source: www.ghanaweb.com

The Leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has described the alleged 'harm and kill' of a Joy FM Journalist allegation leveled against the party by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central Constituency, Kennedy Agyapong as totally baseless, malicious, contrived and irresponsible to say the least. According to the NDC, no such meeting has been organized by the party, nor any agent or assign of the party for that matter, during which the subject of murder or criminal harm to any journalist was discussed. In a statement signed by the Deputy National Communication Officer of the party, Godwin Ako Gunn, it said "The NDC as a political party does not and will never condone any criminal plans to harm any citizen, let alone kill a journalist" The statement reminded Ghanaians that this is not the first time Kennedy Agyepong has associated himself with disturbing murder events in the history of modern Ghana. "Ghanaians would recall that Kennedy Agyapong has been mentioned by the prime suspect in the unfortunate murder of a sitting Member of Parliament, Hon. JB Danquah Adu as a key accessory to the crime. Interestingly, his own pronouncements in the media about the matter indicate a very close knowledge of the circumstances surrounding that crime" the statement noted. "As if that was not enough, few months ago, this same vile, irresponsible and dishonorable Member of Parliament, threatened Joy FM’s Erastus Asare Donkor after he appeared before the Ejura Committee of Enquiry to testify to matters within his personal knowledge about the gruesome of murder of Ibrahim Mohammed, also known as Kaaka by some unknown assailants, and the state-sponsored killings of (3) other youth of Ejura in the aftermath" Mr. Ako Gunn stressed that per the numerous murder allegations attached to the name of the MP, it was expecting that the Legislator would have been arrested to assist the Police with the investigation and prosecution of these heinous crimes. The NDC stated that the nonchalance of President Akufo-Addo and the country's law enforcement agencies has emboldened him to engage in more reckless and criminal acts with brazen impunity. "While we take the opportunity to vehemently deny the spurious and ludicrous allegation and call on Ghanaians to take Mr Agyepong's latest allegation with a pinch of salt, we appeal to the journalist being targeted to report the allegation to the police and take all necessary precaution to preserve his precious life. This is particularly critical because of the fate that befell his colleague the late Ahmed Hussein-Suale when he became a subject of his media tirades and threats. Clearly, the NPP's Frankenstein’s Monster is on the prowl again looking for blood. We therefore urge all well-meaning Ghanaians to be watchful in order to stem his blood-thirsty antics from manifesting again" it said. The NDC says it will formally report the matter to the Police and its diplomatic partners and foreign missions. The NDC party says it is assuring Ghanaians and journalists that, it believes in media pluralism and tolerance. It added that under no circumstances does the NDC part-takes in or accepts its resources to become accessories in any criminal activity. Below are some videos: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

Lubricants Supplies Ghana, the authorised distributor of Castrol lubricants in Ghana - preferred ONE-STOP global brand for Lubricants - as part of its five years anniversary celebration has embarked on a corporate social responsibility (CSR) to spend a whole day with street children. The National Sales and Marketing Manager, Doris Yemdago said that: “The reason why we decided as a CSR to be with street kids is that; we felt God has shown us, love, during this Covid season and it is also time that we also show love to the less privileged and in this regard, we decided to spend a whole working day with these street children.” She added: “We are not limiting to only one place. we intend to visit the major points where these street children are located such as Accra mall, Lapaz, Madina, 37, Ring Road, as well as Kumasi. These children are being offered food, drinks, water; as well as face masks for their safeguard against covid-19.” Castrol Lubricant oil The company in the past five years has employed hundreds of Ghanaians across the distribution value chain of the Castrol Lubricant oil. Castrol is the leading brand with the highest OEM approvals in industrial lubricants such as lubricating oil, greases, metalworking fluids, control fluids, and other manufacturing, mining, marine, and automotive lubricants in Ghana. Not long ago, the company began an all-new Castrol GTX promotion, where Castrol Ghana maintained prices on its high premium GTX products. What is certain is that Castrol GTX is more than just an ordinary oil as it is liquid engineering. Prices have been maintained on all GTX products, which is matched with open market prices of other competing brands. Castrol® GTX® compared to other lubricants of less quality is a premium conventional motor oil that allows for longer oil change interval and has been helping to extend engine life since 1968. Its Double-Action formula clears sludge and prevents new sludge formation. Castrol® GTX® lubricants enhances the good performance and efficiency of motor engines, minimizes hazardous gaseous emissions, and helps to properly clean motor engines or machines that may have been clogged by particles. Castrol® GTX® is now available in 4L gallons to ensure affordability for smaller engine cars that require less than 5L for an oil change. Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

Ghanaian Actor, Prince David Osei has advised young guys to desist from the habit of womanising since it will land them nowhere. The Actor said "The vagina can never be defeated" He also added that it is also not health and advisable to have multiple sexual partners. "The same vagina that can give birth to a man can kill a man" he mentioned. The Ghanaian Actor further said "Don't die a foolish death, my guy" Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

Celebrated Ghanaian blogger, Felix Adomako Mensah, famed as Zionfelix, has indicated in an interview that he is looking to father 10 children. While speaking in an interview with radio presenter, Halifax Ansah-Addo, Zionfelix confirmed the birth of his daughter with makeup artiste, Mina Lawal, famed as Minalyn Touch. According to him, his baby girl is 3 weeks old and that he was excited about being a dad for the very first time. When asked if he was looking to father more kids, Zionfelix indicated that he was gunning to have 10 kids, therefore, he was nowhere near his target. Zionfelix indicated that he was not in Ghana at the time Minalyn Touch put to birth but he was sure excited to be going on the fatherhood journey. However, reports are rife that the blogger has also welcomed a baby boy by burgeoning singer based in Italy known as Erica. According to many posts on social media, Erica also welcomed her baby fathered by Zionfelix around the same time Minalyn put to birth. Credit: Peacefmonline.com