THE JFT EDIT

The Akwatia Development Association (ADA) has lauded the government for taking over the management of the Great Consolidated Diamonds Ghana Limited (GCDGL) after abrogating the agreement with the subsidiary of the JOSPONG Group of Companies.

The group said when the GCDGL assumed the management of the Ghana Consolidated Diamonds (GCD) — as it was originally known — in 2011, it concentrated on a supposedly lucrative sand-winning business, estimated to fetch about GH¢60,000 daily, instead of the core mandate of mining diamonds.

The government took over the GCD in September 2019 when it accused the JOSPONG Group of Companies — which had become the owners of the entity — of breaching sections of the regulations that gave the company the authority to run the diamond mining firm.

At a news conference in Akwatia in the Eastern Region, the President of ADA, Dr Joseph Amuzu, said “the take-over of the mines from the GCDGL by the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on September 19, 2019 did not create any chaos in Akwatia and has not deprived the communities of any livelihood, as is being claimed by a section of the media”.

He said the GCDGL never provided facilities in Akwatia “over the eight years of mismanagement and lack of investment in the company”.

“The people of Akwatia are rather delighted that the government has listened to their cries after these years of sorrow and lamentation; already we are seeing the good work of the new interim management committee,” he said.

Dr Amuzu said after sleeping in darkness for two years, electricity supply had been restored to GCD bungalows and the mines, while large quantities of drugs had been supplied to the GCD Hospital, thanks to SIGA and its acting Director General, Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng.

He thanked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, SIGA, the Divestiture Implementation Committee, members of the ADA and the people of Akwatia for the successful takeover of the GCD.

Economic ventures

Dr Amuzu alleged that heaps of sand which were to be used to reclaim mined out lands to enable agricultural activities and other economic ventures had been sold during the period the GCDGL was in charge.

The Vice-President of the ADA, Mr Kwadwo Obeng-Darko, advised the IMC and SIGA to look out for a competent investor to take over the mines to generate more revenue for the government and absorb the large number of unemployed youth in the area.

He said any investor who would assume responsibility of the mines needed about $70 million to put the investment into productive venture.

He gave an assurance that the association would encourage any investor who would take over the mines to recruit a sizeable number of its workers from Akwatia and its environs.

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An estimated 361 schoolgirls in Wa West District aged 10 to 19 years got pregnant within the first nine months of 2019, Mr Edward K. Beyereh, the District Health Promotion Officer, has said.

Five, out of the girls who got pregnant between January and September and have since dropped out of school, are from the ages of 10 to 14 years. The remaining 356 of the teenagers are from ages 15 to 19 years old.

Mr Beyereh who made this known during this year’s International Day of the girl child in Wa West District capital, Wechiau, said there was an upsurge in the rate of teenage pregnancy from 17.5 per cent last year to 18.1 per cent in 2019.

“This indicates that there is the need for various stakeholders to come together to fight against the danger that our teenage girls are facing,” he added.

The development has raised concerns among female education campaigners, but the Ghana Health Service has said it was collaborating with various stakeholders, in forming adolescent groups in schools, to stem the tide.

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At least 27 people have been confirmed dead after days of flooding in the Upper East region.

“Per the reports we have as at now, 27 deaths have been recorded, 19 injured and a little over 1000 people have been displaced as a result of the rains,” the Upper East regional director of NADMO Jerry Asamane told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Wednesday. The casualties not withstanding, he said: “there are many who never want to move from ancestral homes. NADMO cannot force such people to leave their homes after we issue warnings of possible floods”.

According to A1 radio’s Samuel Mbura, the areas affected include Kasina Nankana East and South, Builsa South, Bawku, Garu Timpane among others. He added a lot of the residents are fleeing the area to join their relatives in nearby communities. Several farms have also been submerged by the rains, Mbura added. Emergency services have reportedly asked residents to move to higher grounds in order to avoid being swept by the floods.

Meanwhile, over 200 people have been displaced in Eshiem in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis of the Western region following a 3-day torrential rains. The floods also destroyed properties worth about GHC100 million. NADMO officials in the area say they are counting on the regional and national offices to provide relief items for the displaced. Speaking to Empire FM’s Emanuel Ohene Gyan, James Obeng Jnr., the NADMO Director for the area gave a statistical break down of the displaced.

“292 people were affected. And if you break down these 292, we have 1 person injured, 65 male and 85 female adults and 78 male and 64 female children.” “The cost of damage is running around GhC 112,000,676 and we are going to submit this to our regional secretariat and this will determine the kind of relief items that we can actually give to the affected victims if there is, but I believe there is,” he noted.

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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said his ability to win a second term in political office largely depends on the performance of his Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).

He stated that the MMDCEs represented the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government in the various districts hence their performance would certainly determine if the government would merit a second term in 2020.

According to the President, the MMDCEs directly deal with the people, for which reason they have a huge role to play in order to help the NPP administration to secure a second term during the 2020 elections.

The President was speaking during the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development Training Programme for the MMDCEs and other key staff members of the MMDCEs in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital.

The participants discussed the dissolution of assemblies and referendum activities. The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hajiya Alima Mahama, and other ministers were present.

President Akufo-Addo said his administration would be seen as performing only if the MMDCEs performed well. He, therefore, urged them to uphold hard work, especially during the last year of the government.

According to the President, all government policies and programmes are implemented at the local level and in that regard, the MMDCEs have a huge task at hand in helping the NPP administration to be retained in office in 2020.

The President said government policies such as the various reforms in the educational and agricultural sectors would not succeed if the MMDCEs failed to support, stressing that, indeed, they hold the keys to his electoral victory.

“Your responsibility is enormous in sailing the ship of Ghana to the Promised Land,” he pointed out, urging the MMDCEs to live in peace with other opinion leaders and the people in their respective areas to ensure growth.

President Akufo-Addo said his government was gradually approaching its last year in office and so he was expecting the MMDCEs, who represent him in their various areas, to face the last year with renewed energy.

Touching on the upcoming referendum on whether MMDCEs should be elected, he urged them to support the process, saying that everything was set for the election of MMDCEs “except the ‘yes’ vote”.

The NPP boldly captured the election of MMDCEs in its manifesto for the 2016 elections and so the party must do everything possible to ensure that the upcoming referendum produces positive results.

“It is an aggressive step to reform the body politic. Let future generations see us as pioneers of good governance,” the President told the MMDCEs, attracting rapturous applause from his audience.

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Ghana’s Kotoka International Airport has been adjudged the best airport in West Africa and the fourth best in the World by the Airport Council International (ACI) Africa.

The country moved from 6th last year to 4th in the West African ranking. At the 28th ACI Conference in Accra yesterday, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo attributed the country’s success in the latest ranking to the government’s strong policy initiatives in the aviation industry. He said the achievement was also due to the stakeholders’ commitment to adhere to high airport service quality and standards at the Kotoka International Airport.

The ACI annual conference was aimed at providing the aviation community on the continent with the opportunity to share and disseminate vital industry information to strengthen the air transport industry. The conference, on the theme, ‘Smart airports of the future; are we ready?’ attracted more than 300 participants from across the continent to share ideas and exhibit products and services.

President Akufo-Addo said the industry, under his administration, had been growing steadily, largely due to the decision to establish a dedicated aviation ministry to make the industry competitive in Africa. He said under his government, a number of projects in the industry had been completed across the country, with new passenger terminals being constructed at the Kumasi and Tamale airports.

The Sunyani Airport, he added, was undergoing rehabilitation. According to the President, the stable political and socio-economic climate of the country has contributed significantly to the growth of the country’s aviation industry. “We have liberalised the regulatory framework with which the industry used to operate. We have abolished the 17.5 per cent VAT on domestic air fares and this has resulted to almost a double of the domestic air passenger traffic,” he said.

On international transport, he said the passenger numbers, as at September this year, had increased by 6.7 per cent, compared to the same period last year. “Currently 38 airlines are operating in Ghana and they connect directly to 30 different destinations around the world,” he said and noted that the aviation industry contributed US$2.7 billion and US$2.5 billion in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

President Akufo-Addo noted that the Aviation Ministry had initiated a plan known as an Aviation Driven Development that sought to make the aviation industry a key driver of the country’s socio-economic transformation. “Our airport will continue to undergo systematic facelifts through infrastructure rehabilitation. We intend to open up the country with the construction of additional airports to serve as feeders to the Kotoka Airport,” he said.

The Minister of Aviation, Kofi Adda, in an address, pledged to work towards achieving the goal of making Ghana the aviation hub in Africa.

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A US police officer who shot dead a black woman in her bedroom on Saturday has been held and charged with murder.

Police in Forth Worth, Texas, wrote on Twitter that Aaron Dean was being held in the Tarrant County jail. On Monday police chief Ed Kraus told reporters Mr Dean had resigned from the force.

Atatiana Jefferson was killed after police responded to a non-emergency call from a neighbour.

Body cam footage shows the officer shooting within seconds of seeing her.

The man who called police, James Smith, 62, said he was trying to be a good neighbour after noticing Ms Jefferson’s front door was open and her lights were on.

“If I had never dialled the police department, she’d still be alive.” Mr Smith told local media. “It makes you not want to call the police.”

Allegations of police brutality in black communities have been a longstanding issue in the US.

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The Bulgarian prime minister has called for the head of the country’s football association to resign after England players were racially abused in a European qualifier in Sofia on Monday.

Boyko Borissov “strongly condemned” the behaviour, which included Nazi salutes and monkey chants. The match, which England won 6-0, was halted twice because of racist behaviour by home fans. The British government is writing to Uefa on Tuesday to demand more action.

Downing Street says Prime Minister Boris Johnson has seen the footage and he thinks it is “vile and has no place in football or anywhere else”. Bulgarian Prime Minister Borissov called his nation “one of the most tolerant countries in the world” but said it is “unacceptable” people there connect with racism and xenophobia.

“I call on Borislav Mihaylov to immediately resign as president of the Bulgarian Football Union,” he said.

“After yesterday’s shameful loss of the Bulgarian National Team and given the bad results of our football, I ordered to end any relationship with BFU, including financial, until the withdrawal of Borislav Mihaylov from the post.” England forward Raheem Sterling tweeted to describe the call for Mihaylov to resign as a “good move”.

The Vasil Levski Stadium was already subject to a partial closure for the match after Bulgaria were sanctioned for racist behaviour during Euro 2020 qualifiers against Kosovo and the Czech Republic. Before the match, BFU president Mihaylov had complained to Uefa about “unjust branding” after the build-up was overshadowed by fears England’s players could be subjected to abuse. Mihaylov, a former Reading goalkeeper, played at three World Cups for Bulgaria and is a member of Uefa’s executive committee.

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China’s president has issued a warning against dissent, saying any attempt to divide China will end in “bodies smashed and bones ground to powder”. Xi Jinping’s comments came during a state visit to Nepal on Sunday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said.

He didn’t mention any particular region but it was seen as a warning to Hong Kong, where anti-Beijing protests have been ongoing for months. Peaceful rallies in Hong Kong again descended into clashes on Sunday. Public transport stations and shops deemed to be pro-Beijing were damaged.

What did Xi Jinping say?

“Anyone who attempts to split any region from China will perish, with their bodies smashed and bones ground to powder,” Mr Xi said, according to a foreign ministry statement issued on Sunday.

“Any external forces that support the splitting of China can only be regarded as delusional by the Chinese people,” he said.

Since the start of the Hong Kong protest movement four months ago, China has blamed “external forces” for fuelling the unrest, and accused the US and UK of interfering in Chinese domestic affairs.

Why are his comments notable?

Xi Jinping has yet to make any direct comment on the ongoing protests in Hong Kong, so this will be seen as a rare and strong warning.

Beijing has so far said it believes Hong Kong’s police force is capable of handling the crisis. But protesters fear Beijing could send in troops to end the violence on the streets.

This is widely seen as an unlikely scenario because of the serious consequences. Few observers believe China would repeat its 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, for examples where hundreds are believed to have died.

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More than 110,000 people are taking part in search and rescue operations after Typhoon Hagibis struck Japan on Saturday.

The typhoon – the worst storm to hit the country in decades – has left at least 37 dead, with 20 missing. Typhoon Hagibis also caused the cancellation of three Rugby World Cup matches but the key match between Japan and Scotland went ahead. Japan won 28-21 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.

Afterwards, national team coach Jamie Joseph paid tribute to those affected. “Everyone who is suffering with the typhoon, this game was all for you guys. The crowd was massive for us, and today was more than just a game,” he said.

The typhoon has weakened and moved away from land but has left a trail of destruction. Thousands of police officers, fire fighters, coast guard, and military are working to reach those trapped by landslides and floods. The typhoon battered into eight prefectures across Japan, with wind speeds of up to 225km/h (140mph). In the central prefecture of Nagano, group of rescuers wearing snorkels and goggles began searching for survivors in waist-high water.

A train depot in Nagano was also flooded, causing 10 high speed (“bullet”) trains to be submerged. Each train has been valued at $30m (£23m).

Around 92,000 households remain without power – down from 262,000 households on Sunday – with 120,000 experiencing water outages. More than seven million people were urged to leave their homes at the peak of the storm, but it is thought only 50,000 stayed in shelters. The capital Tokyo was left relatively unscathed but other cities and towns across the country were inundated by water. More than 1m (3ft) of rain fell in the town of Hakone, the highest total ever recorded in Japan over 48 hours.

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Spain’s Supreme Court has sentenced nine Catalan separatist leaders to between nine and 13 years in prison for sedition over their role in an independence referendum in 2017.

Three other defendants were found guilty of disobedience and fined, but will not serve prison sentences. The 12 politicians and activists had all denied the charges.

Separatists in Catalonia were planning mass civil disobedience ahead of the verdict. The prosecution had sought up to 25 years in prison for Oriol Junqueras, the former vice-president of Catalonia and the highest-ranking pro-independence leader on trial.

Mr Junqueras was handed the longest sentence of 13 years for sedition and misuse of public funds. The other sentences ranged from nine years upwards.  The nine were acquitted of a more serious charge of rebellion.

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