Day: June 10, 2024

Mrs Sylvia Lawson, former Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of DYI, a subsidiary of the Beige Group (TBG), says the GHC6 million out of the GHC1.2 billion allegedly stolen by Michael Nyinaku was not transferred from TBG but from the First Africa Savings and Loans Limited (FASL).

Mrs Lawson is one of the witnesses in the trial of Michael Nyinaku, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the collapsed Beige bank.

In her evidence-in-Chief, the witness said DYI, a holding company of TBG, which was established to have oversight responsibility over TBG’s interest in commerce and logistics, depended on TBG, the mother company to finance its activities.

The former CFO said as for the GHC6b, it was transferred from FASL, another subsidiary of the TBG because TBG did not have enough funds to pre-finance its activities at the time, thus, TBG borrowed the money from FASL to advance DYI’s needs.

The transfer of the GHC6m to DYI was part of routine transfers made by TBG to DYI whenever it needed funds for its business and it
was released following a request to TBG, she explained.

Witness said DYI was a start-up business and she and her team had to spend time developing in house procedures that would assist in managing the investee businesses (the pharmacies and healthcare centres)

She noted that not one cedi of the GHC6b was ever paid to Nyinaku, the accused person.

He is being tried over an alleged theft of GHC1.2 billion from the bank, money laundering and fraudulent breach of trust.

Nyinaku has since denied the charges and he is on bail granted by Mrs Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, an Appeal Court judge with oversight responsibility as a High Court judge.

The funds, disbursed in three tranches between April 20 and June 5, 2018, were invested in healthcare through Pillpoint (pharmaceutical company), to compliment Beigecare limited, also under TBG and health centres, she added.

The defence witness said both DYI and Pillpoint were customers of TBG, adding that when customers went to Pillpoint to buy drugs, Beige bank products (in
the name of DYI) were sold by the attendants and its financial affiliates.

The DYI strategised into investing in a chain of pharmacies and healthcare centres so that the outlets would enter agency banking relationship with the bank.

She said the agencies would now have teller implants that offered limited banking services to clients and provided customers acquisition to the bank.

Mrs Lawson said the bank teller implant services were 37 Military Hospital and Korle-bu Teaching Hospital.

The benefit of teller implant was to have inflows that were generated at that service point to constantly deposit in the entity’s account held with the bank, she continued.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Madam Lydia Seyram Alhassan, the newly appointed Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) has visited Kpong and Weija water treatment plants to acquaint herself with the challenges facing them as part of her familirisation tour to the districts.

At Kpong she expressed satisfaction at the progress of work so far and encouraged the engineers to continue with the good work for a continuous supply of water to the people.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Madam Alhassan said: ‘This visit is to find out whether there are challenges with sanitation issues as well as improving water supply to the communities within the catchment areas.’

She later visited the G-Water Company, producers of the filtered water of the Ghana Water Company also to inspect progress of work there and expressed satisfaction of the work.

Mr Yaw Adjei, Station Manager of Kpong Water Treatment Plant who took the Minister round called for more funding to procure equipment’s to complete the expansion so far going on.

He expr
essed the hope that when the expansion work was completed Ghana Water Company could produce about 132 million gallons daily to the Volta, Eastern and the Greater Accra Regions respectively.

At Weija water treatment plant the Sector Minister was briefed on the level of encroachment by residents around and she used the occasion to warn the encroachers to desist from building close to the dam.

She called on the ministerial and district assemblies to ensure permits were not issued to people for construction to be undertaken.

‘We have been saying this all the time but still there appear to be recalcitrant individuals,’ she said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Three suspects involved in disturbances at the offices of the Electoral Commission at Ofaakor in the Awutu Senya East constituency of the Central region have been granted bail.

They were arrested when a Pump Action gun with four rounds of ammunition was found in their vehicle.

A news brief from the Police said the suspects had also been cautioned.

It said suspect, Phyllis Naa Koryoo Okunor was cautioned on the offence of transfer of firearms without authority whilst suspects Abdulai Aziz and Mustapha Mohammed were cautioned on the offence of possession of firearms without authority.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, June 6, 2024, the court remanded into Police custody, to reappear on June 19, 2024, suspect Usman Haruna for stabbing one person during the disturbances at the office of the Electoral Commission at Ofaakor in the Awutu Senya East constituency.

Police investigations are ongoing, while the case docket is being forwarded to the Office of the Attorney-General for study and advice.

Source: Ghana News Agen
cy

A military officer identified as Timothy Adzakosi, believed to be attached to the Tarkwa- Aboso Military Quarters in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality, has allegedly been assaulted by suspected illegal miners at Wassa Akyempim in the Wassa East District of the Western Region.

The incident, residents said, happened when the soldier visited an illegal mining (galamsey) site with three of his colleagues for reasons yet unknown.

They said the suspected illegal miners inflicted cutlass wounds on the head and arms of the soldier after they chased him from the site and pounced on him at a fuel station at Wassa Akyempim.

‘The military officer was chased by the suspected illegal miners from the site. They chased him to a fuel filing station at Wassa Akyempim, where he finally got tired and could not run further so the suspects got hold of him and butchered him in the head.

He, in the process, used his hands to block any strike to prevent further injuries on his head, and as a result he sustained serious degrees of in
juries on his hands,’ the residents stated.

They indicated that the three other officers managed to escape unhurt.

However, information gathered by the Ghana News Agency revealed that Adzakosi is currently receiving medical attention at the Wassa Ateiku Health Centre.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports also indicated that two of the suspects had been arrested by the Wassa East District Police Command for further investigations.

All efforts to get the Wassa East police for comments proved futile.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Teenage pregnancy and its attendant child/early marriages are on the increase in Yizie, a farming community in the Wa West District due to lack of electricity in the area.

This is because school children in the community use night studies as an excuse to visit their friends in other communities where there is electricity and ended up getting pregnant and eventually marrying at early ages.

Madam Vuurako Yelbienaa, a resident of the community, revealed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in an interview at the community and revealed that over 15 girls in the community, had become pregnant due to the lack of electricity with some of them giving birth while others were currently married.

‘A lot of schoolgirls in this community have given birth. Some of them are good in academics, but while searching for light to do homework or study at night, they become pregnant and drop out of school.

‘Four of my husband’s brother’s children are also pregnant. One of them has already married at Bankpama (a neighbouring com
munity with Yizie). If there is electricity in this community, maybe they would not become pregnant and dropped out of school,’ Madam Yelbienaa lamented.

She indicated that parents in the Yizie community could not afford dry cells for the flashlight or lamps regularly for their children to study, which compelled them to move to other communities to access electricity to learn.

The residents said the situation was affecting the education of their wards at the community and was pushing many children, especially females out of school.

Mr Seare Samson, another resident, observed that teachers posted to the Yizie community refused to stay in the community because there was no electricity.

A visit to the community revealed that high tension electricity cable passed through the Yizie community to Bankpama and Tanvaare but the Yizie community had not been connected to the national grid.

Mr. Peter Igaah, the Assembly Member for the Sigri Electoral Area, told the GNA that there were eight communities in his electo
ral area but only three had electricity.

The Assembly Member, therefore, joined the Yizie community members to make a passionate appeal to the government through the Wa West District Assembly to consider connecting the Yizie community to the national grid to enable children have access to quality education.

Access to education by every Ghanaian child is an unalienable right guaranteed by the 1992 Republican Constitution and there should be no impediment to enjoying this right.

Similarly, Goal 4 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) enjoins the government of Ghana to ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’ by 2030.

Target 4.1 of the Goals demand that ‘By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.’

However, achieving this target by 2030 would be a mirage if the government of Ghana did not put in efforts and measures to re
move the barriers to access to education, including creating conducive environment for learning in school and at home especially at the rural levels.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The North East Regional Youth Parliament of the National Youth Authority (NYA) has been inaugurated at Walewale with a call on the youth to eschew social vices and channel their youthful exuberance into meaningful ventures for national development.

The Youth Parliament is an initiative enshrined in the 2010 National Youth Policy, and aimed at providing the youth with an official platform where they can learn how to express their views, give constructive criticisms, and ultimately participate effectively in the decision-making processes on various development issues at the local level.

Mr. Mumuni Sulemana, NYA Director for Northern, North East and the Savannah Regions, addressing the youth during the inauguration ceremony at Walewale, said the role of young people in accelerating national development remained critical and could not be compromised.

He indicated that the future development of the nation largely hinged on the youth, hence the need for young people to be holistically guided and guarded to refra
in from tendencies that could trigger violence, disturb national peace, social cohesion, and subsequently retarded development.

Mr. Mumuni explained that the issues of national development and inclusive participation in governance were of prime importance because sustainable development could only thrive in an environment where young people were actively involved.

He emphasised the need for the youth to cultivate the culture of time consciousness, the virtue of hard work, truthfulness and honesty to help contribute significantly to the socio-economic development of the country.

Mr. Harrison Yevu, Officer at the Narcotics Control Commission, North East Regional office, sensitised the youth on the harmful effects of drugs abuse enumerating its psychological impact on their education and overall well-being.

He expressed worry over the surging prevalence of mental health issues among the youth in the country and called on parents and other stakeholders in the communities to support government’s efforts at min
imising the abuse of drugs among the youth.

The leadership of the inaugurated Youth Parliament included Abubakari Moari Khasifatu as Speaker, Iddrisu Abdul – Samed, Deputy Speaker, Sumani Sahiddle Kawnaini as Majority Leader, Abdulai Zainab, Deputy Majority Leader, Sumani Tijani Issah as Minority Leader, Baba Salamatu, Deputy Minority Leader, Fuseini Munawara, Majority Chief Whip and Alhassan Arimiyaw as the Minority Chief Whip.

The house held its inaugural sitting on the motion: ‘Drug and Substance Abuse Among the Youth in North East Region, Causes, Effects and Way Forward’.

Both the Majority and Minority expressed their frustration over the increasing rate of drug abuse cases being recorded among the youth, citing issues of poor parental care, poverty, unemployment and the inability of government to fully implement policies and programmes that facilitated their safety and well-being.

They called for more investments in the skills development of the youth to enable them create jobs and other business opp
ortunities to reduce the number of young people involved in abusing drugs.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ashanti Region House of Chiefs has hailed the Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for being the first dignitary and non-member of Asanteman to visit the Regional House of Chiefs.

Welcoming Dr. Bawumia and his campaign team to the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs in Kumasi as part of their three-day campaign tour in the Region, Daasebre Osei Bonsu II, the Occupant of the Silver Stool of Asanteman, on behalf of Otumfuor Osei Tutu II, blessed Dr. Bawumia and his team.

‘You are the first dignitary and non-member of Asanteman to visit the Ashanti Region House of Chiefs and to have our Queen mothers seated before 9 am, that shows how we hold you in high esteem and we are delighted to have you,’ Daasebre Osei Bonsu said.

The NPP Flagbearer, as part of his quest to lead the country, has been touring the country with his ‘Bold Solutions for the Future’ as the theme for the campaign, and he had already covered 15 regions, so far.

On his first day in the Region, he is expected to meet wit
h the Clergy, and Muslim leaders in Kumasi Central Mosque.

Dr Bawumia will subsequently meet with traders at the Kumasi Central Market.

The NPP flagbearer will conclude the first day of his campaign activities at the True Vine Hotel with meetings with various professional bodies, including the Ghana Medical Association, Ghana Bar Association, Ghana Journalists Association, University Teachers Association of Ghana, Ghana National Association of Teachers, National Association of Graduate Teachers and Coalition of Concerned Teachers.

The rest are the Ghana Institute of Architects, Ghana Institute of Engineers, Ghana Institute of Surveyors, Ghana Association of Society of Medical Physics, Nurses and Midwifery Association, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ghana and the Ghana Institute of Planning.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Stephen Mbomba, the Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, has charged the contractor working on the expansion of the Kasoa-Winneba Highway to devise strategies to prevent flooding from the Ayensu River.

He said the Kasoa-Winneba Highway was a major road linking other parts of the country hence the need for the contractor to diverting the river and speed up work.

The Deputy Minister was speaking after a tour of the areas flooded by River Ayensu which displaced over 2000 people at Gomoa Adawukwa, Mampong, and neighboring communities in the Central Region.

More than 200 houses were submerged with three of them completely collapsed and acres of land also inundated.

The Deputy Minister appealed to the public to cooperate with the Contractor, stating that the problem was a perennial one, but became intense due to the diversion of the River Ayensu for the construction on the Kasoa-Winneba Highway.

Mr Mbomba expressed satisfaction with work done so far within a short period after the flooding incident.

He s
aid the Ministry received a call from the Engineers that there had been a flooding incident on the Kasoa-Winneba Highway, with portions of the road caved in, rendering it impassable.

‘It was a worry and immediately the engineers and the contractor mobilised and came to the rescue and I can see that they were able to fix the broken part of the road that caved in and that traffic has been restored.’

‘I am very excited to also see that the water is flowing freely, and I hope that the contractor is going to derive strategies to prevent this from reoccurring,’ he added.

He said some communities got flooded but within this short period, life in those communities was gradually returning to normalcy.

‘Now that we have seen the problem and the contractor is also up to the task, we are hoping that we can be able to manage the situation during this rainy season for the contractor to construct the road.’

‘What we need is that the contractor should be able to divert the river and speed up the work so that we will not
experience this type of problem over here,’ he stressed.

Madam Mercy Payne, Regional Highways Director, Central Region, said as a result of the ongoing construction, the contractor needed to divert the river to allow them to build the bridge foundation.

The Regional Highways Director said immediately after the overflow, they needed to remove the diversion that had been done to allow the water to flow properly.

She said after the overflow of the River, they needed to block the road, so that the traffic situation would not intensify, enabling them to divert the traffic through Akwati to Ojobi then to Winneba junction.

She said road users from Cape Coast went through Winneba to Ojobi then to Akwati junction to continue their journey.

‘So within about an hour or two after the incidence, we got the road cleared of the water, but we couldn’t open the road immediately because some sections of the road had caved in due to the flooding, so we allowed the motorists to use the diversion while we fixed the caved in
section,’ she added.

She said the road was open to traffic, adding that work was ongoing to restore its full operations.

Madam Payne said the road was not part of the new alignment, stating that it had been realigned so after the project, the existing section of the road would no longer be used.

She said the Contractor was tasked to submit a proposal for channeling the water so that they do not have such an intensive incident occurring again.

‘Because the contractor needs to continue to work, it’s very important and the bridge is an important aspect of the project,’ she added.

Madam Payne said the contractor was arranging to support the community with some relief items, assuring the affected communities to remain calm as plans were underway.

Mr Robert Hackman, National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) District Director, said displaced citizens had been taken to various schools and churches for shelter, with others moving in with friends and relatives.

He said the affected communities had been d
ocumented such that the relief items would be distributed without challenges.

The NADMO District Director appealed to the affected communities not to hurriedly move back to their communities but wait patiently for all the issues to be addressed.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Prestea Sankofa Gold Limited has distributed some 500 species of various tree seedlings from the Forestry Commission to its operational area for planting.

Mr. Justice Acquah, the Managing Director of Prestea Sankofa Gold Limited, said there was the need to revegetate the area, which is an ancient mining community to boost its green cover.

He said tree planting was very essential for the environment due to climate change and global warming issues across the world.

‘We are also empowering our employees and the communities to plant and nurture at least one tree in their various homes so it can multiply and lead to significant environmental transformation…we will continue to join other corporate bodies to make the Green Ghana agenda a success,’ he said.

‘Our company, is committed to promoting environmentally sustainable practice, we are honoured to be a part of this initiative by planting trees on our various sites,’ Mr. Acquah added.

He explained that trees, absorb carbon dioxide and in turn convert it
into oxygen for human survival and so there was the need to plant more trees to fight climate change, absorb carbon dioxide, reduce storm water and flooding, provide shades and food among others.

Mr. Acquah encouraged all to embrace the Greening Ghana project.

The Green Ghana Day was introduced in 2021 by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo to inspire the public to plant trees as part of efforts to restore the country’s vegetation cover.

Source: Ghana News Agency

MTN Ghana, as part of its 30-day Y’ello Care Programme is to construct a digital farm-laboratory facility for students of Aburi Presby Secondary Technical School to upscale their level of knowledge in digitalization.

Mr Stephen Blewett, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Ghana, said the farm facility would serve as a multipurpose laboratory, which is intended to give students the opportunity to have a practical experience on how to use internet connectivity and digital accessibility for farming.

He said the laboratory would have a digital library, an artificial intelligence to train students on how to use digital access for irrigation, provide computers, study materials, and field training for vegetable plantation.

He said a borehole would be constructed and connected to the laboratory to be able to turn on and off the borehole, he said, adding that it would have a feature to also control access of water for irrigating the farm.

The CEO said this was to show how digital accessibility was crucial for stu
dents across the globe through information technology to gain advanced entrepreneurship skills.

‘When you do not have knowledge of digital things in this world you will struggle a lot,’ he added.

Speaking about the impact of digital knowledge, he said it was to give students the opportunity to gain experience, gain knowledge and be experts to help them perform well in examinations and international competitions.

He said the digital farm would be completed by the end of June this year.

He advised students to believe in themselves, be dedicated and hardworking to become IT experts to teach upcoming generations.

He said this was a yearly activity to build Ghana through MTN foundation.

Mrs Joyce Appiah, Headmistress of Aburi Presby Secondary Technical School, said her outfit was excited to be part of the programme, saying it was crucial for students to be thought on digitalization since we are in the modern world, adding that it would foster country development.

MTN Y’ello Care Programme is a group-wide em
ployee volunteerism programme that enables staff to actively engage in community development projects across MTN’s operating countries.

Since its inception in 2007, the initiative has impacted millions of people and hundreds of communities across the globe.

Source: Ghana News Agency