TOUCH GHANA🇬🇭

A rare night meant to celebrate journalists who hail from or work in northern Ghana, and to discuss how the media could help develop the north, ended with an equally rare apology from world-class investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, to the relations of those exposed so far through his “name-shame-and-jail” undercover missions. “I know some of you are not happy because I have dealt with some of your relatives. I will apologise. I’m sorry. But it was necessary because the impact on the lives of other people cannot be measured. It could happen to anybody. Fairness is a very important ingredient that would lead to our country developing. Lack of this element is a straight way to chaos. “So, when we set off for that mission to film or to investigate, let none of you think that it’s for selfish interest. Who says it is enjoyable standing in front of you wearing a mask? I would love to have removed it to speak to you, but it’s not a bed of ...

The Ghana Police Service must up the ante to restore public confidence in the wake of threats by members of New Patriotic Party (NPP) vigilante group, Invincible Forces, that they are immune from arrest. The group’s Northern regional commander Alhassan Ibrahim Abandi said all police commanders in the region have been told to refrain from ‘disturbing’ members of the group if they were suspected to be involved in a crime and should always notify leadership of the group anytime a member is arrested. The chairman of the National Peace Council Rev. Emmanuel Asante has commended the Ghana Police Service for sustaining the peace over the past one year under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, but believes more can be done. “They’ve done well but we expect them to do more,” Rev. Asante told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr on Thursday, January 11, 2018. According to him, when it comes to the security performance of the government it has been “...

Ace investigative Journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas has given a hint that a number of persons in enviable positions will be fired this year when his latest investigative piece is released . According to him, this will trigger a lot of dangers in the country indicating that it will not be easy as many will think. “There will be a lot of dangers this year. It is will not be easy because it will have a national impact and those who will be affected may go home. A good number of respected persons will go home this year so I advise we should increase our security”, he disclosed on Bolgatanga-based A1 Radio. The celebrated Journalist who is the guest speaker at the National Media Festival organized by The Press Foundation, TPF declined to give details of his investigative piece he described as explosive but urged his fans to be on standby. Anas, late last year, gave a hint he will release an exposé which involves 60 people who have done great evil to the state. The award-w...

President Nana Akufo-Addo’s administration is “not doing too badly” as it is fixing the bad situation the New Patriotic Party (NPP) inherited, former President John Agyekum Kufuor has said. “He is doing well,” Mr Kufuor told journalists on Tuesday, 9 January when asked for his assessment of Nana Akufo-Addo’s first year in office. “You see”, he pointed out, “we tend to forget that it’s easier to destroy than to build. “When you inherit a situation where things are so low and down and you want to lift them up, I tell you it’s not easy. “And, especially where it is in a democracy where everybody has an opinion and we are in a multi-party system, and, of course, contention for power, the rivalry for power and you are put in the driver’s seat, everybody wants to be in the driver’s seat, so no matter the efforts you are making, you have others bickering and criticising and making it look like you ar...

President Akufo-Addo has presented letters of credence to Ghana’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, Akua Sakyiwa Ahenkorah, at a brief ceremony at the Flagstaff House, Wednesday. In his remarks, after the swearing-in ceremony, he noted that Madam Sakyiwa Ahenkorah, a career diplomat, who becomes Ghana’s first female High Commissioner to Malaysia, is deserving of the appointment and eminently qualified to represent Ghana. He reminded the High Commissioner of the fact that “the image of our country is high in the comity of nations, and Ghana is a considered a beacon of stability and democracy on the continent of Africa and beyond. "It is an image that you have to do everything possible to guard and uphold”. The President recalled the historical account of Malaysia “procuring her first palm kennel seedlings from Ghana. But, today, this crop has become the mainstay of that country’s economy, producing millions of tons of palm oil annually”, wherea...

The Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Professor Kwasi Obiri Danso has charged nurses to brace themselves to tackle Ghana’s challenges of poor access to healthcare and the outbreaks of diseases like the H1N1 and Meningitis. He gave the charge at the graduation of some Ten thousand one hundred and seventeen (10117) diploma nurses being churned out by health training colleges mentored by KNUST. The schools, all mentored by the KNUST College of Health Sciences cut across General Nursing Training Colleges, Community Health Training Colleges, Midwifery Training Colleges, Prosthetic and Orthotics Nursing Training Colleges, Health Assistant Training Schools and Schools of Hygiene Training Colleges. Addressing the graduates, Professor Kwasi Obiri Danso stressed the increasing role of nurses within a challenging and ever evolving medical field that still faces inadequacies in equitable access to comprehensive health care. “Not too l...

The body of a White female believed to be in her 30s has been found at Dzita, a major fishing community in the Keta Municipality of the Volta Region.  Residents of Dzita and its surrounding communities such as Anyanui and Agbledomi have been gripped with fear as they suspect the body of the unidentified female will add to the unsolved ritual murders that are fast becoming a common feature in the municipality.  The lady’s body was found on Sunday, January 7, 2018, and it brings to 15 the number mysterious deaths in the Keta Municipality since 2013.  Mystery deaths   The mystery surrounding these suspected murders in the area is that all the victims were discovered in small water bodies on the outskirt of the town and under mangrove vegetation sites dotted along the opposite sides of the main Atorkor-Dzita-Anyanui road. These victims are also usually discovered a few days after the murder acts have been committed.  When our news team visited the crime...

The Minority Leader has painted a gloomy picture of the one year anniversary of the New Patriotic Party government describing the president as a lawless leader superintending over lawless vigilante groups. According to Haruna Iddrisu the Akufo-Addo government, the most vindictive government spent the better part of its one year in office dismissing all civil and public servants perceived to be NDC. So vindictive was the government that even NPP persons who showed the traces of being NDC were sent home, the Tamale South MP alleged. This is a betrayal of national values and the promise by the president to create opportunities for all Ghanaians, Iddrisu told Joy News’ Elton John Brobbey on the one year anniversary of the New Patriotic Party government The NPP government has experienced a topsy-turvy one year in office, scoring high marks in the macroeconomic indicators but considerable low marks in security with a rule by vigilante groups. The fight against corruption as promis...

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has vowed to unseat president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2020, hours after a poll result suggested another defeat for it if elections were held last year. NDC Deputy General Secretary Koku Anyidohu said the party is strengthening its structures and dealing with all outstanding issues before the next poll. Mr Anyidohu was reacting to a University of Ghana Political Science Department survey that revealed about 52.7 percent of the people interviewed will vote to maintain the president after one year in office.  The poll conducted from December 9 – 20, 2017 also disclosed about 33.1 percent of the 5,000 respondents say they will vote for the NDC. But Mr Anyidohu has torn into the report, describing the survey period as inadequate to enable the researchers to arrive at a convincing report. The survey took 11 days. “I don’t doubt their intellectual acumen [but] things have changed [because] parliament recon...

A Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Political Science Department has cautioned government against jubilating over a survey that suggests that majority of Ghanaians are happy with its performance. Dr Isaac Owusu-Mensah said: “The NPP should not be complacent about our findings but should rather work harder since the vote they obtained in the 2016 general elections has dropped by 4%”. He was speaking Wednesday on Adom FM’s current Affairs programme,  Burning Issues  hosted by Afia Pokua. The survey was conducted by Political Scientists at the same Department and states that out of some 5000 respondents interviewed in 250 electoral areas across the country, a total of 52.7% of Ghanaians said they will vote for the Akufo-Addo led government. A paltry 33.1% of Ghanaians said they would vote for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), according to the study. The survey also showed a 62% approval rating for the current NPP adminis...

The suspended second national vice chairperson of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Sammy Crabbe has condemned the creation of the Invincible Forces – the party’s vigilante group. The Invincible and Delta Forces including other groups were formed by the party while in opposition to protect its leaders and members, but have become an albatross to the new government as they take over state properties in the name of securing jobs. Mr. Crabbe has kicked against such groups irrespective of political affiliation, arguing it could threaten the peace of Ghana in the future. “I’m against Invincible Forces. It’s a danger,” the former Greater Accra regional chairman of the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition told Bola Ray on Starr Chat on Wednesday, January 10, 2018. According to him, the existence of such vigilante groups makes mockery of the party’s ideals. He stressed the emergence of vigilante groups is a recipe for the creation of terrorist organis...

The Northern regional commander of government backed vigilante group, the Invincible Forces, Alhassan Ibrahim Abandi, has informed his charges they are immune from arrest and police harassment. The declaration is to embolden members of the group to shrug off fears about law enforcement in the country and step up operations that they believe would benefit and aid the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to succeed. Abandi said all police commanders in the region have been told to refrain from ‘disturbing’ members of the group if they were suspected to be involved in a crime and should always notify leadership of the group anytime a member is arrested. The police, according to him, have embraced the directive and assured his members that leadership will quickly respond and offer support anytime they receive such information from the police. He added, however, that leadership would not support anyone involved in robbery “You see the Regional Police Commander… w...

The suspended Second National Vice-Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sammy Crabbe, has launched a scathing attack on members of the Akufo-Addo government. According to him, about eighty percent of them are sycophants. Per the Merriam-webster.com, an online dictionary, a sycophant is “a servile self-seeking flatterer.” “There are lots of sycophants around the president and the danger about it is that, it moves resources in the wrong direction. There are about 80% of sycophants around the President and with time, they will burnout like charcoal… Because it will come to a time when they will need people who can deliver. Mr. Crabbe who declared he is not scared of courting controversies also dismissed John Boadu as the acting General Secretary of the NPP. According to him, that description is alien to the party’s Constitution. “There’s nothing like that…in our Constitution,” he said. “It is better for peopl...

The Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) has urged the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to review the ban on the advertisement of alcoholic beverages between 6am and 8pm. The FDA had earlier stated that it would strictly enforce the regulations  that prevent manufacturers of alcoholic products from advertising their products on radio and television during the day. However, in an interview with  Citi News , the President of GIBA, Andrew Danso-Aninkora said the Association will negotiate with the FDA for a possible revision of the 14-hour daily ban. He lamented that the ban will not only affect the revenue of broadcasters but potentially distort the programming of media houses. He explained that, “the point is, it is not just about revenue. It is very much about our entire operations. It affects your programming and if a person who is advertising on a particular product, it will have to change. For instance, if you have targeted [ads on] a ...

The Asante Akyem North District Security Council [DISEC] plans to give security personnel the green light to fire on nomadic herdsmen as part of efforts by a task-force to evict cattle in the district. This follows the injuring of three soldiers and a police officer, after they were reportedly shot by a nomadic herdsman. Speaking to the media after a DISEC meeting on Tuesday, the Asante Akyem North District Chief Executive, Francis Oti Boateng, said security personnel were now focused on the “total evacuation” of the about 45,000 cattle in the area. When he assumed office in 2017, he gave the cattle owners the choice to confine the animals in a ranch or evacuate within five months. But now, he feels more stringent directives are needed in light of the recent acts of violence. “The first command was that, go and flush the animals from the land but they were not ordered to kill animals or also kill Fulanis. Now that the Fulanis are firing back, we have to restructur...

Former President John Dramani Mahama is warning that Ghana is entering what he calls dangerous times with the rise in vigilante groups in the country. A major part of last year saw a wave of attacks by pro-New Patriotic Party vigilante groups – Delta and Invincible Forces – causing a sense of insecurity nationwide. Speaking in an interview with Abdul Moomen on GTV, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ghana’s democracy, Mr Mahama called on civil society organisations to assist in addressing the issue to ensure the gains made with the peace and stability of the 4th Republic are not eroded. “Ghana has earned the accolade as the beacon of democracy because the elections was largely successful and it’s not broken down into violence and bloodshed like we have seen in many other countries. But let me caution we are entering into a very dangerous phase with the rise of all these vigilante groups,” Mr. Mahama warned. He added: “I’ve heard NPP...

The Asante Akyem Agogo District Chief Executive Officer (DCE) Oti Boateng is cautioning residents not to visit their farms to prevent further clashes with Fulani herdsmen. His caution comes in the wake of renewed attacks by Fulani herdsmen and residents that has resulted in causalities involving three Military officers and a policeman who were shot by the Normads using pump action gun. They were treated at the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital. The security personnel were shot after storming the area to evict the Fulani herdsmen who  were feeding their cattle. The DCE is however urging residents of Agogo not to visit their farms located in the forest zones to prevent them from attacks as information gathered by the assembly suggests these Fulani herdsmen are well armed hiding in the Forest. ‘They are civilians and they are farmers, they are unarmed so if the Fulani herdsmen were able to fire back at the military and police, how are they going to protect themselves. That is wh...

Minority asks Ghanaians to brace up for electricity tariffs increase The Minority in Parliament has asked Ghanaians to brace up for a major increase in electricity tariffs after casting doubt on the government’s reduction promise. The opposition lawmakers say the government has done little to bring the relief it promised in the 2018 budget, accusing it of “playing some gimmicks.” Speaking to Evans Mensah on Joy FM’s Top Story Monday, Minority Spokesperson on Energy, Adams Mutawakilu said the Minority’s checks at the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) indicate there will be an increase in electricity tariffs. Minority Spokesperson on Energy, Adams Mutawakilu The government promised Ghanaians in November last year that it will make recommendations to the PURC to consider a 13 percent reduction in electricity tariffs. The reduction when done will bring “relief to the poor whose individual consumption actually falls in the subsidized life-...

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) is set to shut down more Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LGP) stations across the country soon, the Authority’s CEO Alhassan Tampuli has divulged. Twenty-one LPG stations had already been close down by the Authority last year for failing to meet various safety standards in the aftermath of the deadly Atomic Junction explosion which claimed seven lives and injured 132 others. Disclosing the Authority’s next move at the rebranding of Frimps Oil, Mr Tampuli observed that 600 LPG stations have been inspected across the country as part of part of the Authority’s risk assessment and safety auditing. “This will be followed immediately with the risk assessment and safety audits of existing stations, and stations that don’t meet the parameters set in the risk assessment may be closed down in the interest of the public safety,” he said. President Akufo-Addo in October 2017 ordered the immediate shutdown of high-risk LPG stat...

The Ashanti Regional Poultry Farmers Association has blamed government over low patronage in their poultry production during last year’s Christmas festivity. According to the association, government inability to address issues affecting poultry farmers such as importing of poultry into the country is what has led to the collapse of the local poultry production. Mr. John Bawuah Edusei, Chief Executive Director of Chicks and Chicken Services Limited and also member of the Ashanti Regional Poultry Farmers Association addressing the media stated categorically that past and present government has failed to tackle issues confronting Poultry Farmers in the country. He adds the importation of exotic poultry into the country is gradually collapsing local poultry production hence the need for authorities to address their concerns with all seriousness. He says ”Poultry Farmers are losing their capital, including loans they have taken from the banks. Maize  purchased on credit...