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Showing posts from July, 2020

Airbus bribery scandal: Interpol issues warrant for Mahama’s arrest

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Interpol has issued an arrest warrant for Samuel Adam Foster, also known as Adam Mahama for prosecution over his role in the Airbus bribery scandal. He is being charged with accepting a bribe to influence a public officer and acting in collaboration with a public officer for the public officers private gain. Adam Mahama is facing up to 25 years in prison. The warrant sighted by  Citi News  noted that "extradition will be sought upon the arrest of the person, in conformity with national laws and/or the applicable bilateral and multilateral treaties." On January 31, Ghana was cited as one of five countries in which global aerospace group, Airbus SE, allegedly bribed or promised payments to senior officials in exchange for business favours between 2009 and 2015, according to the UK's Serious Fraud Office. This led to a record £3 billion in settlement by Airbus with France, the United Kingdom and the United States to avoid corporate criminal charges. President Nana Akufo-Addo...

VIP bus plunges into River Oti at Dambai

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A VIP bus en route to Wulensi in the Northern Region on Thursday morning plunged into River Oti at Dambai in the Krachi East Municipality. The bus with the registration number GT 5313-19 was travelling with passengers from Accra to Wulensi when it plunged into the river while maneuvering to get onto the pontoon to cross to the other side. As at 8 AM when the Ghana News Agency (GNA) got to the scene, the personal effects of passengers and other items such as motorbikes and bicycles had been salvaged from the river. Obed Kagbetor, a passenger onboard said that the driver instructed them to alight from the bus to enable him pack on the pontoon and the next thing was the pandemonium and struggle for safety. He suspected brake failure. There were no casualties but an excavator that was deployed to pull out the bus was unsuccessful until a Winch tractor successfully recovered the bus from the River. The Motor Traffic and Transport Division (MTTD) refused to speak to the GNA as well as the dr...

KNUST SHS headmistress asked to step aside after death of student

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The headmistress of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Senior High School (KNUST SHS) has been interdicted after the death of a student at her school on Tuesday evening. The headmistress, Felicia Asamoah Dankwaa, was accused of negligence by her students who went on to demonstrate and vandalise her car. A statement from the Ghana Education Service (GES) said the Regional Director of Education in the Ashanti Region will take over her duties. Meanwhile, academic activities are expected to resume at the school tomorrow following the protests. There is heavy police presence at the school to quell the protests. Officials from the Ashanti Regional Directorate of the GES have been at the school to ensure calm is restored. Speaking to journalists after meeting the management of the school, the Ashanti Regional Director of the GES, Mary Owusu Achiaw, said: "classes will begin tomorrow, by which time we hope the school will have returned to normal." "Everything...

$1m case: Acting Auditor-General satisfied with Osafo Maafo’s defense documents

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Acting Auditor-General, Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu has expressed satisfaction with documents presented by the Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo challenging the $1m surcharge on him. This comes at a time when the substantive Auditor-General, Daniel Yao Demelevo has been asked to proceed on his accumulated annual leave by the President, Nana Akufo-Addo. Mr. Domelevo had recommended the disallowance of the payment of the US$1million made by the government, through the Ministry of Finance to a private UK firm, Kroll and Associates. He surcharged Mr. Osafo Maafo and four other officials of the Ministry of Finance, following what he said was the persistent failure of the Senior Minister to provide proof of actual work done. A memo from Acting Auditor-General and sighted by  citinewsroom.com  advised both parties to continue the legal tussle given the successful inspection of the documents on the deal. "We wish to state that we are satisfied with the processes and therefore propose ...

Six Accra Girls SHS students test positive for COVID-19 after showing symptoms

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Six students of the Accra Girls Senior High school have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Citi News  gathered that some students of the school showed symptoms of COVID-19 and were isolated in the school's sickbay on Monday, June 29, 2020. Health officials from the Ayawaso North Health directorate were called in to deal with the matter. COVID-19 tests were subsequently run on 11 students. Six of them tested positive and were on Saturday, July 4, sent to the Ga East Municipal Hospital for treatment. Meanwhile, calm has returned to the school after agitations over COVID-19 fears among the students. Reopening of schools Three days after Ghana recorded its first two cases of the novel coronavirus, President Akufo-Addo on March 15, 2020, directed the closure of schools at all levels to curb the spread of the virus. But after almost 10 weeks of closure, final year Senior High Schools (SHS) students were asked by the President to return to school on Monday, June 22, whereas their ...

COVID-19: Forestry Commission boss, Sir John dead

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Former General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John, is dead. He is reported to have died in Accra after a short illness. Until his death, Sir John was the CEO of the Forestry Commission. He died after testing positive for Covid-19. He succumbed to complications of the disease while undergoing treatment at the ICU of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. Mr Owusu Afriyie became CEO of the Forestry Commission in March 2018 after being appointed to that position by President Akufo-Addo. The lawyer cum politician had previously served as general secretary of the governing party between 2010 and 2014. Profile Sir John was born in the Ashanti Region and he attended Seventh Day Adventist Secondary School in Bekwai from where he obtained his GCE Ordinary level certificate. He proceeded to obtain his GCE Advanced level certificate from Konongo Odumase Secondary School in Konongo. Mr Owusu Afriyie was admitted to study political scien...