At one point or another in the day, every human being must answer nature’s private call. Food may delay, clothes may change, technology may leap into new wonders, but as our elders say, the stomach has no calendar.

The body’s natural request does not wait for any man, woman or child. That is why the toilet, once viewed as a luxury for the privileged, now stands as one of the most essential cornerstones of human dignity, health, safety, productivity and environmental protection.

It may be a small room, yet its power shapes the wellbeing of households, communities and nations.

As the world observes this year’s World Toilet Day under the theme “We Will Always Need the Toilet,” Ghana is reminded that sanitation is not an aspiration but a right, a necessity and a moral responsibility we owe one another.

The reality before us is clear. Our population is approaching 35 million, living in nearly 9.75 million households with an average size of 3.6.

Yet millions still live without a toilet of their own. In 2021, only about 59.3 percent of households had access to a household toilet, and today, about 4.3 million households remain without one. The numbers speak plainly. We have made progress, but the gap ahead is significant.

Open defecation remains one of the most stubborn and harmful challenges. With 17.7 percent of Ghanaians, nearly six million people, still defecating in the open, the implications are severe.

Behind the statistic are girls and women who venture into bushes and beaches at dawn or dusk, exposed and afraid. Families battle preventable diseases such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhoea.

Farmers unknowingly irrigate crops with contaminated water, while communities downstream consume food produced from polluted sources. Schoolchildren are forced to choose between enduring discomfort or skipping class entirely.

Visitors measure us not by our ambitions but by the smell around public spaces. Every conversation about dignity, tourism, investment, safety and modern development begins, whether we like it or not, with access to a toilet.

But Ghana’s story is not one of despair. It is equally a story of determination and transformation. When Ghana commits, Ghana delivers. The GAMA and GKMA Sanitation and Water Project is a testament to what focused effort can produce.

By April 2025, more than 76,000 household toilets had been constructed, and 609 child-friendly, gender-sensitive institutional facilities completed.

These interventions, combined with the work of World Vision, the Government of Ghana–UNICEF WASH Programme, private sector innovators, community volunteers and committed NGOs, have helped hundreds of communities achieve open-defecation-free status.

The evidence is undeniable. When financing meets political will, when local artisans receive training, when micro-loans are available and when vulnerable households are supported, sanitation becomes a force for dignity and progress.

Yet toilets alone are not enough. Sustainable Development Goal 6 calls for safely managed sanitation for all, not merely access to a toilet structure. Today, only about 16 percent of Ghanaians enjoy safely managed sanitation.

More than 8 million households still require a complete sanitation service chain that ensures faecal waste is safely contained, emptied, transported, treated and reused without harming the environment.

A toilet that does not properly contain waste offers only half a solution. An overflowing pit becomes a public hazard. A household unable to afford emptying services may revert to unsafe practices.

A treatment plant without consistent sludge inflow becomes redundant. Regulations without enforcement become decoration.

As our tradition teaches, a cooking pot without a lid invites flies. We must close the sanitation loop fully and responsibly so that no Ghanaian is left behind.

Across Ghana, there are bright examples of what is possible. In dense compound houses in Accra and Kumasi, biodigester toilets have replaced dilapidated shared latrines and unsafe backyard corners.

Schools in several districts have shifted from the old habit of “build and abandon” to active facility management supported by small user fees, maintenance committees and school health clubs.

Faecal sludge operators have modernised their work with improved trucks, pumping tools and digital payment options. Assemblies have started mapping toilet gaps, enforcing sanitation bye-laws, linking households to artisans and microfinance, and planning desludging routes.

Communities like Dohia in the Agortime-Ziope District of the Volta Region have shown that with mobilisation, respect and small seed funds for early adopters, open defecation can become history.

These examples show clearly that Ghanaian communities do not lack willingness. They only need opportunity, support and coordination.

The way forward requires strong leadership from Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

Every district must enforce sanitation bye-laws fairly and firmly, not to punish the poor but to protect public health. Landlords must understand that providing a toilet is not a favour to tenants; it is their civic duty.

Assemblies should publish approved toilet technologies, their prices and lists of trained artisans so households are informed. They should organise sanitation fairs, support micro-loan initiatives and reward communities and landlords who take initiative.

Assemblies must plan thoroughly by identifying households without toilets, mapping open-defecation hotspots, scheduling desludging routes and ensuring treatment plants operate consistently. Leadership must show the way so that the people can follow.

The private sector has a defining role in this journey. Sanitation is not charity. It is an economic opportunity capable of creating jobs, driving innovation and improving lives.

Private suppliers must offer affordable, high-quality toilet systems. Desludging operators must adopt digital platforms and expand coverage to reduce costs. Treatment plant operators must explore opportunities to recover energy, compost and soil conditioners.

Innovations must continue, particularly in developing flood-resistant toilets for climate-vulnerable areas, micro-treatment systems for densely populated communities, improved shared-facility models for compound houses and financial products suited to low-income families.

The hardest-to-reach communities, often called last-mile communities, demand creativity, flexibility and compassion.

Financing remains central to closing the access gap. A typical improved household toilet costs between GHS 3,000 and GHS 5,000.

Many families can manage this through instalment payments, while the poorest will require targeted subsidies or results-based support. A blended finance approach that combines government investment, development assistance and household contributions is essential to bridge the remaining gaps.

Some may wonder why the urgency persists. The answer is simple. Every delayed month keeps children out of school, endangers girls, increases illness, places strain on health facilities and pollutes water bodies.

The world is currently off-track in achieving SDG 6.2, but Ghana has the potential to accelerate and stand out as an example for Africa, not because we are flawless but because we are determined.

As our elders say, when the roots are deep, the wind does not frighten the tree. Our roots in policy, experience and community mobilisation are strong. What remains is to scale up, speed up and remain consistent.

This World Toilet Day, Ghana must renew its promise to build more than toilets. We must build dignity, safety, resilience and shared responsibility. Government must lead with clarity, enforcement and transparency. Development partners must sustain support despite global financial pressures. Landlords must meet their responsibilities.

Communities must reject open defecation. Media and faith leaders must champion sanitation boldly. The private sector must continue to innovate and expand access. Ghana has always known that dignity is development.

A toilet behind every door is safety for women and girls, opportunity for schoolchildren, cleanliness for markets, health for families and pride for our national future.

With the right combination of policy direction, district leadership, private sector partnership and citizen responsibility, Ghana can close the sanitation gap once and for all.

Let us work with determination to ensure that every household has a toilet they can call their own, where every child, visitor and community can say with confidence that dignity lives here.

We will always need the toilet, and the toilet will continue to give us health, productivity and peace of mind. Happy World Toilet Day to all Ghanaians.

May every household find dignity behind a toilet door that locks, a handwashing station that works and a sanitation system that protects today, tomorrow and generations yet unborn.

The writer is a Public Health Practitioner and a Fellow of West African Postgraduate College of Environmental Health (WAPCEH)

E-Mail: kwekuquansah@gmail.com

A viral video can topple a politician or spark a national debate in seconds. But behind the speed and excitement of digital journalism lies a growing dilemma: how do we keep our facts straight, stay ahead of fake news, and protect our credibility in a world where the tools we use aren’t always ours to control?

Journalism in Ghana used to be a straightforward, one-directional business: print newspapers in the morning, evening broadcasts on radio and TV done. You’d get your information from a few trusted voices like the Daily Graphic, Joy FM, or GTV.

Reporters carried notebooks, flip phones (if they were fancy), and a good dose of courage. The newsroom was the heart of the operation, and deadlines were sacred.

Then technology walked in slowly at first, then like a gale wind. Today, the newsroom fits in your pocket, and journalists tweet news before the newsroom even hears about it. Let’s dive into how tech has re-engineered storytelling, audience engagement, and the very soul of Ghanaian journalism.

From Pen and Paper to Pixels and Platforms

Then, in the early 2000s and before, journalists travelled long distances to file stories. The tools of the trade were analogue: typewriters, cassette recorders, and physical archives. If you missed the evening news, you simply missed it.

Now, technology has flattened these barriers. Mobile phones, affordable internet, lightweight audio/video recorders, and platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Twitter have made every journalist a walking newsroom.

Multimedia storytelling is now the norm video clips, photos, and voice notes, all uploaded in seconds.

Even fact-checking can happen in real time using digital tools.
Case in point: Viral stories on platforms like Facebook reach millions before traditional outlets even react.

Democratising News: Everyone’s a Reporter?
The rise of “citizen journalism” means anyone with a smartphone can break news. This has democratized information but also created challenges. Misinformation, propaganda, and fake news have become real threats.

Platforms like Adomonline, MyJoyOnline, GhanaWeb and Citinewsroom now compete with bloggers, influencers and even taxi drivers live-streaming events.

There has been a shift from the old approach. Journalists must now be even more credible, faster, and more tech-literate.

Newsrooms train their staff in digital ethics, social media analytics, and multimedia production skills that would’ve seemed alien to the old guard.

Broadcasting Goes Live and Interactive
Live broadcasting, once expensive and limited to major stations, is now accessible to anyone. With Facebook Live, X Spaces (formerly Twitter Spaces), and TikTok, even rural reporters can stream breaking news directly from the scene.

Stations like Multimedia Group and Citi FM use social media to broadcast political shows, interact with listeners, host polls, and receive feedback instantly. Gone are the days when the audience was silent.

I remember my days at Life FM in Nkawkaw, where we relied mostly on newspapers for news stories and monitoring the major stations for stories with no means of recording actuality.

Time has really changed.
The next wave is already here. Podcasts offer long-form storytelling, AI tools assist in transcription and fact-checking, and data journalism is emerging slowly but surely.
Newsrooms in Ghana are experimenting with AI-assisted content creation, providing transcription tools and image recognition for research, which has become a game-changer.

Podcasts and webinars are now providing media houses with the platform to reach niche audiences, to mobile journalism kits for remote reporting. We’re only beginning to scratch the surface of what’s possible.

The Challenges associated with this technology are many, and the management of newsrooms must catch up.

Speed often trumps accuracy. That’s a problem. Lack of verification is becoming a threat. With the pressure to be first, journalists sometimes publish unverified information.

In 2021, during the alleged kidnapping of musician Castro and the incident involving the Takoradi “fake pregnant woman”, several outlets rushed online with breaking news only for later facts to expose inconsistencies.

Just recently, after the six female potential recruits of the Ghana Armed Forces died in a stampede, letters flew all over the internet, indicating the Deputy Defence Minister had resigned, with some media houses broadcasting without verification. It was later labelled as fake information.

The rush for clicks undermined trust, and it highlighted the need to balance speed with fact-checking.

Also, Ownership of platforms is a challenge we can not overlook because Stories live on platforms that are not owned by creators, but by Facebook and YouTube. Their rules can change overnight.

Ghanaian media houses like Adom TV, Joy News, GHOne TV, Adom FM and others rely heavily on social media for live streams and content distribution.

However, if Facebook randomly flags a broadcast or YouTube changes its algorithm, viewership plummets.

In 2023, several Ghanaian channels were unexpectedly demonetised or shadow-banned due to stricter content rules, reminding us that these platforms are rented space and not owned territory.

Technology didn’t just change Ghanaian journalism; it shook its foundations. The role of the journalist is evolving from gatekeeper to curator, moderator, and educator.

The promise? More voices, more access, smarter storytelling. The challenge? Staying credible and innovative in a crowded, noisy world.

The path forward is clear: blend traditional values with modern tools. Journalism may look different now, but its purpose remains deep by telling the truth, giving the voiceless a platform, and holding the powerful accountable.

Ghanaian journalism is evolving. And that’s a good thing.

Though budgets are an annual ritual, this one feels like a bold blueprint for transformation, not just recovery. But will these ambitious plans move from paper to pavement?

For entrepreneurs like us, Ghana—and indeed Africa’s—Achilles heel has never been planning; it has always been execution.

For decades, we’ve seen brilliant blueprints gather dust while citizens wait for promises to materialize. Across the country and continent, roads remain unpaved, factories idle, and social interventions stall—not due to lack of vision, but because of weak follow-through.

This is why Dr. Forson’s generally well-accepted budget must deliver different results.
Moreover, the 2026 Budget offers the government a rare chance to reset its economic narrative. It now behooves every minister, agency head, and public servant to embrace the same urgency and discipline demonstrated by Dr. Forson and President Mahama.

The positives
Having observed budgets over the years, I find this one unapologetically pro-business, pro-jobs, and pro-reform:

• Tax reliefs: VAT slashed to 20%, thresholds raised to ease pressure on small and medium enterprises (SMEs)—the backbone of the economy—and the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy scrapped. These measures will inject liquidity into businesses and restore confidence in an economy battered by years of turbulence and high taxes.
• Industrial push: The Feed the Industry Programme will link agriculture to manufacturing, ensuring factories run at 70–80% capacity instead of the current 30–40%. Add to that the Oil Palm Development Policy and agro-processing plants for cashew, rice, poultry, and shea, which could spark a true industrial renaissance.
• Jobs, jobs, jobs: Over 800,000 jobs are targeted for 2026 through infrastructure projects, TVET expansion, and the 24-Hour Economy initiative. Allocations are clear, including GH¢170 million for apprenticeships, GH¢110 million for round-the-clock operations, and billions for roads, housing, and energy.
• Social protection: Free SHS fully funded, NHIS uncapped, LEAP expanded, and school feeding scaled up. These are not token gestures but structural commitments to inclusion.
• Fiscal discipline anchored in law: A primary surplus of 1.5% of GDP is now a statutory requirement. Debt-to-GDP is capped at 45% by 2034/35. Procurement reforms mandate electronic platforms for transparency.

Why execution is king
While these policies are bold, comprehensive, and enduring, plans alone don’t build roads—bulldozers do. Policies don’t create jobs—projects do.

Ghana and Africa’s development graveyard is littered with brilliant strategies that died in the hands of bureaucracy. Ghana cannot afford to repeat that cycle.

The finance minister and President may have done their part by presenting concrete policies in a budget. But the baton now passes to sector ministers, agency heads, and implementing officers. They must move from PowerPoint to pavement, from press conferences to performance, and from plans to actions.

Execution demands three things:

• Speed: Delays kill momentum. If procurement bottlenecks stall the Big Push Infrastructure Programme, job targets will evaporate.
• Accountability: Every cedi must deliver value. The Compliance League Table introduced by the Finance Ministry is a good start, but it must bite. Institutions should be publicly ranked, rewarded for efficiency, and sanctioned for inertia.
• Collaboration: Ministries cannot work in silos. Agriculture must talk to Trade. Energy must sync with Industry. Education must align with Labour. Transformation is a team sport, not an individual glory.

Why I believe
Skeptics will ask: “What’s different this time?” My answer: track record and tone.

In less than a year, Mahama’s administration has achieved what many thought impossible: inflation down from 23.8% to 8%, the cedi appreciating by 34%, and public debt reduced from 68.9% to 45% of GDP. These are real outcomes that affect business revenue and planning.

Dr. Forson has restored fiscal discipline without strangling growth, renegotiated independent power producer contracts to save US$250 million, and cut cocoa roads debt from GH¢21 billion to GH¢6 billion. This is evidence of a government acting in the public interest.

But leadership at the top is not enough. The relevant catalyst must be ministers and agency heads matching this urgency. Ghana’s future cannot hinge on two men; it must rest on an ecosystem of execution.

Way forward
The government now faces a bold challenge: prove the public right.

They need to show that Ghana can break the cycle of grand plans and poor delivery. This budget must not be another glossy document filed away in archives.

I humbly suggest:

• Ministers: Own your targets. Publish quarterly scorecards. Let citizens track progress in real time.
• Agency heads: Cut the red tape. Move from process obsession to outcome obsession.
• Procurement officers: Remember this—every delay is a job denied, every inflated contract is a classroom unfunded, and hundreds of lives deprived of essential services.

The world is moving fast. Côte d’Ivoire is scaling agro-processing, Rwanda is doubling down on digital leadership, and Nigeria is pushing energy reforms. Ghana cannot lag.

The private sector is ready, investors are watching, and the diaspora is hopeful. But hope needs proof—and that proof comes from execution.

The writer is a businessman and philanthropist.

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Few stories capture this paradox better than that of Alex Apau Dadey, the Executive Chairman of KGL Group, a man whose vision, enterprise, and philanthropic spirit have reshaped parts of Ghana’s economic and social landscape, yet whose journey mirrors the silent betrayal of the very builders driving the nation forward.

“In Ghana, the cost of building often exceeds the profit of dreaming.”

The Story—The Man Behind the Vision
Alex Apau Dadey is not your conventional tycoon. His story is not written in political privilege but in persistence, purpose, and patriotism.

As the Executive Chairman of KGL Group, he has built one of Ghana’s most dynamic technology-driven conglomerates, touching sectors from fintech and gaming to logistics, e-commerce, and social development.

It is not his business acumen that sets him apart, but his belief that Ghana can progress on the strength of its own innovation.

Under his stewardship, KGL Group has become a central player in Ghana’s digitalized economy, revolutionizing systems that have enhanced transparency, accountability, and financial inclusion.

Those who know him speak of a man both visionary and vulnerable, human in his flaws, yet unwavering in his pursuit of progress.

One can only say that his quiet strength lies in seeing opportunity where others see obstacles and in building solutions that serve both profit and purpose.

“For Alex Apau Dadey, enterprise is not about power; it’s about people. Not about profit, but progress.”

The Impact—Transforming Vision into Tangible Change

Under Dadey’s leadership, KGL Group has transformed itself into more than a business; it has become a national development engine.

Technology & Economic Transformation
The Group’s KGL Technology Limited has digitized key activities within the National Lottery Authority (NLA), resulting in increased efficiency, accountability, and state revenue collection.

The company’s digital technologies have greatly increased government revenue from gaming operations, directing hundreds of millions of cedis into the Consolidated Fund to support public initiatives.

Beyond gaming, KGL’s investments in fintech, mobile payments, and digital distribution, through businesses such as KGL Payments and Digital Distribution Hub, have increased thousands of Ghanaians’ access to financial services.

The company’s position in modernizing payment systems directly helps Ghana’s digital economy strategy, which is championed by initiatives such as Digital Ghana.

Corporate Social Responsibility & Human Development
But Mr. Dadey’s vision stretches far beyond boardrooms and servers. Through the KGL Foundation, he has redefined corporate social responsibility as a moral and national duty.

In education, KGL funds scholarships for brilliant but underprivileged students, builds ICT centers, and supports school feeding initiatives while partnering with hospitals and NGOs to improve maternal and child healthcare through the group’s foundation, especially in rural communities in health.

In sports, KGL is a major sponsor of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and grassroots sporting activities, ensuring the next generation of athletes have both opportunity and hope.

These interventions align directly with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), promoting education, health, employment, and innovation.

Under Dadey’s leadership, KGL is not only generating revenue but also building social infrastructure for Ghana’s future.

“He builds in silence, gives without cameras, and transforms without applause.”

The Challenges—When Vision Meets Resistance
Yet behind the glow of progress lies a darker truth: vision in Ghana often attracts suspicion.

Despite KGL Group’s undeniable contributions to revenue mobilization and social development, the company has not been spared the murky undercurrents of politics and institutional hostility.

In recent years, the Group has found itself navigating a maze of regulatory hurdles, delayed approvals, and bureaucratic resistance from state agencies that once praised its work.

What should be partnerships for progress have too often become contests of power and perception. Within business circles, this phenomenon has earned a name, “Economic Witch-Hunting.”

It is a quiet but corrosive culture where successful enterprises are viewed not as allies in development but as rivals in influence.

From stalled policy approvals to strategic attempts to curtail KGL’s dominance in digital operations, it is seen by industry players and many others as evidence of a broader pattern, what some call “Strategic Crippling.” In such an environment, success becomes a liability.

The irony is glaring. The same digital initiatives that improved government revenue and employment opportunities are now being met with skepticism, fueled by political insecurities rather than economic logic.

Instead of applauding homegrown innovation, certain public actors have chosen to distrust and dismantle it, all in the name of “regulation.”

For Alex Apau Daddy, these challenges have been both personal and institutional. Navigating through the maze of unspoken political allegiances and administrative sabotage, he has had to balance corporate diplomacy with moral conviction.

Yet, through it all, he remains steadfast, believing that time, truth, and tangible impact will outlive propaganda.

The implications for Ghana’s economy are chilling. When institutions turn innovation into intimidation, investors, both local and foreign, lose confidence, and progress grinds to a halt.

It is a self-inflicted wound, a betrayal not of one man or company, but of Ghana’s own development aspirations.

The greater tragedy, however, lies not in his trials but in what they say about Ghana’s development climate. How can a nation claim to seek economic transformation while sabotaging the very visionaries driving it?

“We cannot build a digital nation while digitally disabling our visionaries.”

Reflective Thoughts—When Greatness Goes Uncelebrated
At its core, the story of Alex Apau Dadey is not just about business; it is a mirror reflecting Ghana’s uneasy relationship with success.

We praise visionaries until their light shines too brightly. We celebrate entrepreneurs until they start changing systems. Then we see them as a threat and call them dangerous. His journey mirrors this national paradox.

We glorify politics and ignore production; we exalt rhetoric and silence results. And yet, Mr. Dadey’s journey stands as a reminder that true patriotism is not spoken; it is built.

He continues to invest, to employ, to empower, and to believe in a Ghana that sometimes fails to believe in him. Here is a man who has generated employment, supported national revenue, and contributed to social development, yet remains more scrutinized than celebrated.

His story raises uncomfortable questions about Ghana’s relationship with success: Why do we treat excellence as suspicion? Why do we measure patriotism by politics, not productivity?

And why do we allow institutional pettiness to cripple innovation?
If Ghana truly wants sustainable development, it must start by protecting, not persecuting, its visionaries.

Because nations don’t rise by accident. They rise because men and women like Alex Apau Dadey dare to build when others are busy tearing down.

“When history is written, it will not remember those who spoke the loudest; it will remember those who built the longest.”

Sidebar: The KGL Footprint in National Development
Revenue Mobilization: Digitization partnership with NLA generating hundreds of millions in state revenue.

Employment Creation: Thousands of direct and indirect jobs across technology, finance, logistics, and customer support sectors.

Education Support: Scholarships and ICT training through KGL Foundation.

Sports Development: Key sponsor of GFA and youth football programs.

Health Initiatives: Rural clinic support and health campaigns under SDG alignment.

Final Reflection
So here lies the irony: A man whose vision modernized systems, funded education, and supported communities is still viewed with suspicion by the very state that benefits from his success.

How many more visionaries like Alex Apau Dadey must Ghana quietly crucify before realizing they are its greatest national treasures?

Videos circulating on social media show thousands of desperate applicants jostling for a chance to have their documents assessed. But that quickly descended into chaos, claiming the lives of these compatriots in their prime and injuring dozens more.

The casualty rate, estimated at 34 injured alongside the fatalities, underscores the gravity of what happened. Beyond the immediate tragedy, however, lies a deeper systemic problem—our grim unemployment crisis and the urgent need to structure mass recruitment exercises safely.

Unemployment: A National Security Risk

This is the first major stampede in Ghana’s recent history, and it is not an isolated accident. It is a symptom of a widening gap between job seekers and opportunities.
Over the years, security experts, including the venerable Dr. Emmanuel Aning of the Kofi Annan International Peace Training Centre (KAIPTC), have repeatedly warned that joblessness poses a national security threat.

The World Bank has stated that Ghana faces a severe jobs challenge despite years of economic growth. Over 500,000 young people enter the job market every year, according to the Bank, yet job creation has not kept pace, leaving many stranded in low-quality or informal work.

The Bank has also warned that Ghana’s youth population will grow by 1.6 million over the next decade, reaching 11 million by 2035, with more than half of the population under 30 years old.

Currently, only 13% of workers aged 15–64 hold high-quality jobs. Low-skill and informal employment accounts for over 53% of the workforce. This mismatch between rising education levels and limited opportunities is fueling desperation and instability, as evidenced by the swelling numbers at such recruitments year in and year out.

For many of these applicants, the military and other security agencies represent the closest thing to a guaranteed, stable job in an economy where opportunities are scarce. The promise of a steady income, housing, and social respect makes enlistment into these security services highly attractive—so much so that desperation drives thousands to risk their safety just for a chance to be considered.

But enlistments into these services have not been conducted openly and on a large scale for some time now. The then-opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) alleged that the exercises during those periods were either suspended or carried out quietly, fueling perceptions of limited access and favoritism. This prolonged gap only heightened the desperation when the recent opportunity arose, as thousands saw it as their first real chance in years to secure a stable, respectable job.

That is why the stampede is more than a tragic accident—it is a wake-up call that unemployment is not just an economic statistic. It is a ticking time bomb. If left unchecked, it will continue to manifest in ways that threaten public safety and national cohesion.

The Need for Proper Planning

While unemployment is the root cause, the incident also requires us to re-examine our planning and organization of public events. The Ghana Armed Forces is not new to this, and their record speaks of them as a disciplined, diligent, and trustworthy institution. That is why one would expect them to infuse that discipline into how exercises of this nature are conducted, setting an example for other security agencies and institutions that require large gatherings of people.

The sight of thousands crammed into a single venue, competing for front-row positions, should never happen in a country with the capacity to digitize processes.
Why were applicants not staggered by time slots?
Why was there no robust online pre-screening system to reduce physical congestion?
These are questions the authorities must answer.

Recruitment into security services is a sensitive national exercise. It demands meticulous planning, not ad hoc arrangements that endanger lives.

Political Points-Scoring

Sadly, even as families mourn, some political actors have rushed to exploit the incident for partisan gain. This is unacceptable. The loss of young lives should unite us in grief and resolve, not divide us further.

Political utterances that trivialize the tragedy or weaponize it for electoral advantage dishonour the victims and distract from the urgent reforms needed.
Leaders must rise above the urge to always seek political gain in every situation and focus on solutions.

What Next?

Firstly, the government must treat unemployment as a national emergency.
This means aggressive investment in job creation, skills development, and entrepreneurship—not lip service. This is why the government’s efforts to roll out the Big Push, the 24-Hour Economy policy, and the reformation of the mining sector around domestic value addition are vital.

Secondly, recruitment exercises must be restructured to prioritize safety and efficiency. Digital platforms and staggered schedules can drastically reduce congestion.

Thirdly, social gatherings of this scale should be subject to strict safety protocols, with security personnel trained to manage crowds effectively and emergency measures duly activated.

Finally, we must confront the uncomfortable truth: Ghana’s youth are not lazy—they are desperate. They are willing to risk their lives for a job that pays a modest salary because the alternatives are bleak. Until we fix this, tragedies like this will recur.

The stampede at the military recruitment centre is a national tragedy. But it can also be a turning point if we choose to act decisively. President John Mahama has shown clear and credible signs of capacity and commitment to reforming the country, and we must now rally behind him to achieve that.

Ghana cannot afford to ignore the warning signs any longer.

The writer is an entrepreneur and philanthropist.

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Since accepting the role of running mate, Dr. Bawumia has devoted 17 solid years to the party, serving diligently and faithfully without fear or favor. He has contributed significantly to the growth and success of the NPP as the Vice Presidential Candidate across four consecutive elections (2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020).

When the NPP won the 2016 election, Dr. Bawumia was sworn in as Vice President of Ghana, assisting President Akufo-Addo in implementing major campaign manifesto promises during the party’s two consecutive terms in office from 2017 to 2024. In the 2024 general elections, he contested as the NPP’s presidential candidate, despite the party losing that election.

Given this extensive record of service, how can such an astute and committed individual—first as Vice Presidential Candidate for four terms, then as a star witness in the 2012 election petition, and finally as the party’s 2024 presidential candidate—be portrayed as an “outsider” simply because of internal elections?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Can an Outsider Contest the NPP Presidential Election?

Setting the Record Straight

Article 13 (3) of the NPP Constitution, as amended in 2017, outlines the rules for the election of a Presidential Candidate. It states:

“Any Member may, before the expiry of the period set out in Article 13 (2), apply for nomination as the Party’s Presidential Candidate.”

Furthermore, clause (7) of Article 13 specifies that no member shall be entitled to nomination unless they:

(a) have been a known and active member for at least five (5) years;
(b) are of good character;
(c) are in good standing, among other requirements.

These constitutional provisions clearly define who is eligible to contest the NPP presidential election.

Since the NPP announced the opening of nominations for the 2028 presidential elections, campaigns among contenders have begun ahead of the party’s national delegates’ election scheduled for 31st January 2026. One recurring narrative in the campaigns is the claim that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia—former Vice President and 2024 presidential candidate—is an “outsider” unfit to lead the NPP again.

This claim is illogical and misleading. It has created misconceptions among some party delegates, members, sympathizers, and the general public, many of whom either do not know the NPP Constitution or lack accurate information about the eligibility requirements for the party’s presidential elections.

What is particularly concerning is that this misinformation is coming from individuals expected to know better, given their backgrounds and experience within the party. Such narratives risk creating a negative impression of the NPP among the electorate ahead of the 2028 elections.

In fact, according to the NPP Constitution, no outsider can contest the party’s presidential election unless they have been a registered and active member for at least five (5) years, are of good standing, and meet the other prescribed requirements. Dr. Bawumia, having served the party for 17 years, clearly exceeds these criteria.

In conclusion, a careful review of the NPP Constitution and Dr. Bawumia’s service record demonstrates that labeling him an “outsider” is not only inaccurate but motivated by ill intent.

Yaw Marvin
Development Communication Practitioner
Writing from the corners of Kwesimintsim Zongo

#WinWithBawumia
#Bawumia2028
#OyeNumber3

And today, as parts of the New Patriotic Party whisper that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is a stranger in his own political home, history echoes loudly, warning us that the last person you call a stranger today often becomes the one who reshapes your tomorrow.

Kwame Nkrumah was once that stranger. When he returned from America and Britain—young, restless, radical, and unapologetically determined—the colonial-era elites of the UGCC looked at him with suspicion.

He did not belong to their wealthy families. He did not speak their polished colonial English. He mobilised market women and workers instead of mingling with aristocrats. He was Nzema from the Western Region, neither Ashanti royalty nor Fante aristocracy. They tolerated him until they realised he was unstoppable, and then they called him an outsider. But the man they dismissed as “not one of us” built a nation and became the heartbeat of Africa’s liberation.

The same script played out decades later in America. Barack Obama emerged from Chicago’s streets with a name the political establishment struggled to pronounce. His father was Kenyan, his mother from Kansas. His identity confused old Washington. They said he was too young, too intellectual, too different, too hopeful. They called him “other,” they questioned his belonging. The stranger became the President. And eight years later, the world remembered not the accusations but the hope.

Zohran Mamdani’s story recently shook New York. Born in Kampala to Indian parents expelled by Idi Amin, raised between continents, and too progressive for the city’s traditional political machinery, he had all the markings of an outsider. His age, his faith, his energy, his name—everything placed him outside the predictable mould of New York’s leadership class. Yet in 2025, the world’s most complex city elected him mayor. Why? Because youth recognise value, promise, and competence long before gatekeepers do. Outsiders speak the language of tomorrow; insiders recite the slogans of yesterday.

Which brings us home—back to Ghana, back to the NPP, back to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

For seventeen years, Bawumia has stood at the party’s core, shaping economic messaging, defending electoral integrity at the Supreme Court, mobilising national policy, and carrying the digital transformation agenda that quietly repaired decades-old inefficiencies. He has been at the party’s side in victory and in defeat. He has campaigned in every region, worshipped in every faith setting, endured every insult, and carried every responsibility given to him—loyally, competently, consistently.

And yet, in a moment of political anxiety, a few voices have found confidence in calling him a stranger.

Stranger to what?
To service?
To loyalty?
To sacrifice?
To the party he helped deliver two consecutive presidential victories?
Or stranger to the old entitlements that fear modernisation?

The youth of the NPP know the answer. And they know the danger.

In a world ruled by algorithms, not ancestry, who leads matters. Ghana is entering an age where governance is digital, public services are automated, and leadership demands competence that transcends tribal politics. The youth recognise that the politics of exclusion is a luxury Ghana cannot afford. They know that shrinking the party’s leadership options based on region or lineage is political suicide. A party that claims to be the most national cannot afford to indulge the most primitive instincts of tribal whispering.

What the elders call “stranger,” the youth call “modern.” What the insiders call “outsider,” the youth call “competent.” What those afraid of change call “not one of us,” the youth recognise as the future.

Because the real stranger is not the man who has served seventeen years. The real stranger is the one who divides when unity is required. The real outsider is the voice that shrinks the party’s vision to the size of fear. The real threat is not a northern economist who digitised government, but the tribal rhetoric that threatens to drag the party backwards into a past it once worked hard to escape.

The Danquah–Dombo–Busia tradition is not a story of exclusion; it is a story of men who challenged exclusion. Danquah confronted colonial elites. Busia bridged intellectual communities. Dombo, himself once marginalised, became an embodiment of inclusion. The tradition was never tribal; it was ideological. To call Bawumia a stranger is to misunderstand the founders.

And so, the NPP faces a choice—not between one candidate and another, but between the future and the past, between inclusiveness and insecurity, between the energy of youth and the fear of old politics.

History has shown, again and again, that the one they call stranger today becomes the one whose leadership defines tomorrow. Nkrumah proved it. Obama proved it. Mamdani proved it. The youth of the NPP understand that Ghana’s future will not be built by gatekeepers afraid of innovation but by reformers unafraid of possibility.

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is not a stranger. He is the modern Ghanaian story—multi-regional, multi-ethnic, globally exposed, digitally fluent, nationally committed. He represents a Ghana that is bigger than tribe, stronger than region, and ready to compete globally.

If the NPP embraces fear, it will fracture itself into irrelevance.
If it embraces competence, it will secure its future.

History has spoken.
The youth must answer.

It started somewhere mid 2024. I had just returned from the United Kingdom to the home of my temporary sojourn. One of my teeth started to feel sensitive and slightly shaky. I wondered why my supposedly strong teeth were suddenly sensitive to almost everything. Need I tell you about the numerous times I’ve boasted about how powerful my teeth were, to the point where I didn’t waste time using an opener to open the crown caps of bottled soft beverages because my teeth could perform the job more effectively?

But here was I. I couldn’t even drink water without feeling a tingling sensation. I suddenly lost my appetite for food, particularly the chewy ones that I loved to eat. I had to resort to a gentle, slow sip of Tom Brown and Kooko just so I did not starve myself into slimming down an already not-so-big body.

A few days went by, and I knew I had to seek dental care. Google spoiled me for choice. Each option of a dental clinic or hospital came with its distinctive hallmark services and perks, including the seemingly affordable ones and the ones meant for those who seek extra and want to satisfy the bourgeoisie in them. I settled on one; your guess is as good as the choice that I made.

The dental clinic was not far from where I lived, so I thought. The photos on Google also gave me the impression that it would be a welcoming environment. Google also nicely led me to their website, and I realised that I could book an appointment ahead of my going. I thought that might make things easier for me. I did and got a slot suitable for my usually heavy schedule. I was set to visit sooner.

I didn’t have medical aid, and not knowing how much it would cost made me a little anxious, but I thought I had a fair balance in my bank account to give me enough confidence to go. Did I even have a choice? Considering the pain and the barrage of discomfort that had visited me, I could do anything for relief. I picked up my bag, dropped my visa card in it, and off I was on a journey to the dentist.

With initial OPD administrative formalities out of the way, I was ushered into the consulting room and welcomed by a pleasant-looking dentist and his assistant. After telling him what had brought me there, he proceeded to do some examination. He was impressed with how (seemingly) modestly clean and healthy my teeth were and wondered what could have caused the sensitivity. He suspected trauma that my tooth might have experienced in the past. I went into my memory box to fish out when and what that might have happened, but I could not even find a teeny-tiny shred of reason.

The immediate solution they thought to give me was a deep cleaning session, and to wait a while to see how the tooth heals on its own. However, the dentist was quick to caution that I might need to splint my tooth as the sensitive tooth was also showing a sign of looseness and needed to be immobilized and to prevent further damage and possibly to allow it to heal. The X-ray result, as was explained to my layman self, showed that indeed my tooth was manifesting the consequences of trauma it might have suffered in the past. I was told it might have happened many years ago, and because I was not regularly seeking professional dental care, it had been left undetected.

I was given a special toothpaste to use for a period. I found some good relief after about two days. But I noticed that my tooth was not the same again. From time to time, I could feel it was a little sensitive, albeit not as sensitive as what drove me to the dentist the first time. I began to think about going back for professional care and advice. But I decided I would not go to the same clinic because the alert that came after I swiped my visa card set me on the path of anguish for some days, thinking about the many other things I could have done with the money.

Sometimes I try to take walks to balance my admittedly not-the-best-of-healthy lifestyles. One of such walks came with a gratifying discovery – a dental clinic just about a kilometer away from my house. It looked like the family-type dental clinic that would go easy on my pocket. When I googled them, I realized that they even offer free dental care to the community from time to time. That sure must be a dental clinic that is welcoming of all pocket sizes, lol.

Seeing that my tooth issue was not leaving me alone, I decided to give them a try. The cherry on top was that getting there was only a short walk away, and I could convince myself that I had exercised for the day.

The visit to my latest discovery of a dental facility landed me in a splinting “operation” as the other dentist had predicted. It so happened that my stubborn habit of chewing bones and biting into hard stuff suddenly exacerbated my already traumatised tooth and caused my tooth to nearly split in two. It felt as though my tooth was coming off. It happened during one of those proud “Chef Theo” moments.  I was biting into a hard part of a crab that I had prepared with my palm nut soup.

With the splint done, I found relief for a while, but my life was not the same again. Then I hatched another plan. I would be going to Ghana, and I would seek a second opinion and find out how I could find a more permanent solution.

Another X-ray was done. Similar things that were said to me during my other visits were said again. I got them to do a regular cleaning for me and some reinforcing of the splint. I also sought information about what could be a more permanent solution. I was told about the options. Nothing about the cost.

Back at my base. My tooth got triggered again by my usual “bad habit”. I reserve the details of the whats and the whys. This time, I wanted a “permanent” solution. I didn’t want dentures. Eventually, the choice I made stretched my bank account a little bit, but I managed to convince myself that I could bear the stretch.

With a new visitor in my mouth, I was relatively better. But I realised that aesthetically it was not as natural as I wanted it to be. I went back and was told there was even a much better option. The price! “Ei! hmm”, is all I could say. By the time they fixed it for me, I knew I had to just pretend that I was on an elective fast for a miracle for God knows how long. The rest, they say, is history.

I did what I believed was best for me in many ways, but I also learned to value what God has freely given me. The amount of money I have spent fixing a tooth – just one tooth – is a memory that will stay with me forever.

Indeed, the blessing of the Lord – in this case, the Lord’s blessing of a tooth – is without sorrow. If only I had reminded myself about this, I would have kept this blessing sacred.

The author is a senior lecturer in media and communication studies.

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What began as an academic exercise within the Law and Technology class quickly transformed into a model of civic scholarship a student-led, faculty guided review of a Bill that will shape the boundaries of Ghana’s digital democracy for decades to come.

Guided by the Head of Department, the students dissected the 80-plus sections of the draft
line by line, benchmarking it against Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, international conventions
such as the ICCPR, and continental standards under the African Charter and the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information.

The resulting submission, filed officially by the School on Monday 10th November 2025, represents a call to protect society from disinformation without eroding the constitutional pillars of free expression, press independence, and civic participation.

At first glance, the MDHI Bill carries noble intent, indeed, it is meant to curb deliberate
falsehoods, hate speech, and the reckless sharing of private or harmful content.

Yet, as GIMPA’s team argues, the path to cleaner information cannot be created with vague powers, criminal overreach, and administrative censorship.

“Truth cannot be protected by fear,” the submission notes, warning that, in its present form, the Bill risks turning public debate into an offence rather than a duty.

When Protection Becomes Control the School’s analysis begins at the heart of the Bill which is its object clause.

The stated aim to protect individuals from “disrepute, embarrassment or ridicule” may sound harmless, but in legal effect it authorises state intrusion into political commentary, satire, and investigative journalism.

GIMPA’s submission recommends rewriting this clause to confine limitations strictly to serious, demonstrable harm to national security, public order, public health, or the
rights and reputations of others, and only where measures are necessary and proportionate in a democratic society.

Equally troubling is the Bill’s approach to “false information.” Under sections 19 and 22, a
person could be sanctioned merely for publishing information deemed “false or misleading,”
even without intent or proof of harm.

This, the School warns, “creates strict liability for speech” and invites arbitrary enforcement.

Instead, the submission defines falsity as material inaccuracy and anchors liability on intent, recklessness, or negligent publication that causes serious harm, harm meaning verifiable violence, imminent threat to health, substantial economic loss, or interference with elections.

By drawing this boundary, the school insists, the law would distinguish genuine disinformation from the everyday errors, opinions, and evolving truths that characterise a free marketplace of ideas.

GIMPA also challenges provisions that allow public institutions themselves to seek redress
for disinformation.

In a democracy, the school argues, the state is the most powerful speaker in society, allowing it to sue citizens for “official defamation” flips accountability on its head.

The submission proposes that government bodies should respond to criticism with
counter speech and correction, not coercive sanctions, except where demonstrably false
statements imminently endanger life or public safety.

The Bill’s treatment of public-health emergencies and election periods also raises alarm. By
reversing the burden of proof and enabling rapid takedown orders, it risks muting journalists, fact-checkers, and civic observers exactly when public scrutiny is most essential.

GIMPA’s corrective proposal is precise: delete the burden shift, restore normal proof standards, and require that any removal or blocking of electoral content in the 21 days before voting be authorised only by a High Court order within 48 hours, on clear proof of intentional falsehood and imminent interference with results.

On hate speech, the school endorses a calibrated approach, essentially targeting only
advocacy of discriminatory hatred that incites imminent violence, consistent with the Rabat
Plan of Action and Ghana’s own Criminal Offences Act.

Offensive or unpopular speech, no matter how uncomfortable, must be countered through dialogue and education, not imprisonment. “If we criminalise offence,” the commentary notes, “we will soon criminalise dissent.”

The same spirit animates the school’s proposals on privacy and confidentiality. While
commending the intent to protect personal data and state secrets, the review warns that the Bill’s wording could criminalise whistle-blowing and investigative journalism.

To strike balance, it introduces explicit public-interest and journalistic defences, harmonised with the Right to Information Act, ensuring that disclosures exposing corruption, illegality, or gross rights abuses remain protected when done proportionately.

A Blueprint for Rights-Sensitive Regulation Beyond substance, the GIMPA Law School turns its sharpest focus to institutional design and due process.

The proposed “Division” that will administer the law is placed under the National Communications Authority, with members appointed through executive discretion
and bound by ministerial directives.

This, the school warns, “erodes the independence essential for a credible information-governance framework.”

Its alternative blueprint proposes an independent, multi-stakeholder authority including nominees from the Judicial Council, CHRAJ, the National Media Commission, academia, civil society, and industry, including a security of tenure and budgetary autonomy insulated from ministerial control.

Procedurally, the School recommends expanding response windows from two days to seven
working days (72 hours for emergencies), guaranteeing the right to be heard, requiring
disclosure of evidence, and mandating publication of all orders in a public online registry.

Remedies should follow a hierarchy of restraint: correction as the default, removal only when strictly necessary, and access-blocking permitted solely by court order after a rigorous proportionality test.

Account closures of media houses or political actors, it insists, have no
place in a democracy unless tied to direct incitement to imminent violence.

On sanctions, the submission calls for the removal of custodial sentences for speech offences short of violent incitement, and for fines to be scaled proportionately to organisational turnover.

Education and counter-speech programmes should replace punitive enforcement as
the cornerstone of national resilience against misinformation.

The submission also critiques the Bill’s heavy compliance demands on online platforms and
newsrooms. Mandatory algorithmic audits, risk assessments, and annual fact-checking
certification, if applied across the board, could cripple small media outlets and start-ups.

The school advocates a tiered system, reserving stringent duties for very large platforms and licensed national broadcasters, while encouraging co-regulation through the National Media Commission and Ghana Journalists Association codes.

“We must not regulate innovation out of existence,” the review warns, “nor make truth a luxury of the well-resourced.”

Taken together, these proposals form a rights-centred roadmap for reconciling truth,
accountability, and freedom in the digital era.

They affirm that the state’s duty is not to decide what citizens may know, but to create conditions where citizens can discern truth for themselves through transparency, open dialogue, and independent institutions.

A New Trajectory for Digital Democracy
The GIMPA Law School’s submission is more than a critique; it is an act of civic leadership.
It transforms the classroom into a policy laboratory, demonstrating how academic inquiry can directly shape national legislation.

Students from the Law and Technology class, after weeks of study, simulation, and debate, helped craft amendments that bridge theory with public interest.

Their work reflects the school’s broader philosophy, that law schools must not only
teach the law but also help make it better.

In its conclusion, the Department reminds policymakers that the fight against misinformation cannot become a fight against citizens.

Every society must protect itself from deliberate falsehoods and hateful propaganda, yet those protections lose legitimacy when they muzzle legitimate scrutiny, satire, and dissent.

The submission thus calls for a decisive pivot: from punitive control to participatory governance, from censorship to accountability, and from fear of misinformation to the cultivation of public media literacy.

As the Ministry reviews inputs from across the country, the GIMPA Law School hopes that
its research will change the trajectory of the Bill steering it away from executive overreach
toward a balanced, rights-respecting framework.

“Combating disinformation should not create a Ministry of Truth,” the submission asserts, “but a Republic of Reason.”

If Ghana gets this balance right, it will stand as a continental example proving that a
democracy can defend truth without silencing freedom.

In that outcome, both government and citizens win: the government gains trust, and the people retain their voice.

The writer
Desmond Israel, Esq. is the Head of Department of Public Law and Governance at the Ghana Institute for Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) Law School.

Comrade Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has delivered a powerful Pan-African clarion call for reparations. Reparations is a bold, unapologetic 152-page demand for reparative justice — not only for slavery but also for colonialism.

The strength of this book is evident in how much it influenced President Mahama’s 2025 UN address, a speech that was hailed across the African continent and diaspora.

My favorite chapters are Chapters 3 and 4. In Chapter 3, titled The Case for Reparations, Mr. Pratt writes, “On a moral level, it is pretty straightforward. The transatlantic slave trade led to the kidnapping and forced labour of over 12 million Africans, along with countless deaths.

After that, colonialism brought even more misery: taking land, forced labour, stealing resources, destroying cultures, and mass killings. These were not just mistakes; they were deliberate actions by governments and institutions looking to profit off African lives.”

Elsewhere, he observes, “Reparations are also about reshaping the story. They take history back from those who oppressed and give it back to those who were oppressed.”

Mr. Pratt supports his argument with strong historical precedents, including the billions paid by Germany to Israel and Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, by the United States to Japanese Americans, and by Western nations to indigenous populations. He notes that the African Union’s calls for reparations are grounded on these very precedents.

He transforms the call for reparations from a purely African demand into a global movement by citing the case of India, which lost an estimated USD 45 trillion to Britain between 1765 and 1938.

He insightfully identifies the debtors of reparations as “states, corporations, religious orders, and wealthy families whose fortunes are built on the backs of enslaved Africans, colonized people, and pillaged resources.”

Mr. Pratt also explores possible models of reparations — including cash payments, debt cancellation, and investment in infrastructure, technology, and education.

Particularly compelling is his call for the establishment of Pan-African universities to educate and empower the continent’s youth. He proposes that reparations should be both continental and diasporic, estimating the cost at $2 trillion in slave labour and between $4–6 trillion for colonial resource extraction.

However, I noted two major omissions and a few cautions in this otherwise commendable work.

First, the book overlooks the Arab slave trade, which lasted longer and may have extracted even more labour from Africa. Secondly, it does not adequately address the complicity of African interior empires and coastal elites who became indispensable partners of European slave traders. These elites transformed cities such as Anomabu, Cotonou, and Dakar into wealthy trading hubs that rivalled Liverpool, Charleston, and Savannah in their time.

Additionally, I am concerned about accountability for reparations funds. If some elites in Ghana could misappropriate Covid-19 relief funds, and Nigerian kleptocrats could loot recovered Abacha assets, who can guarantee that reparations funds would not suffer the same fate?

Despite these minor blemishes, Comrade Pratt has written a classic that deserves to stand beside Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost, Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America, and Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. It is a vital contribution to global justice and should be required reading for anyone who believes in moral restitution and historical truth.

In salute, I say, “Comrade Kwesi Pratt, Aluta Continua, Victoria e certa!”

Arthur Kobina Kennedy

I had published an investigation that resulted in the cancellation of a $74 million fraudulent contract awarded to the Jospong Group.

The GJA President issued a press statement attacking my story. The press statement did not state anything wrong with the investigation, which was adjudged the overall best story in the 2018 West Africa Media Excellence Awards (WAMECA).

The GJA’s statement was concerned that a so-called profitable Ghanaian business was affected, saying such businesses should not be destroyed “in the name of investigative journalism.”

Last month, the GJA again offered its platform for a similar attack against The Fourth Estate, which had published a report on the KGL contract with the National Lotteries Authority (NLA). That contract diverted the income that should have been coming to the NLA to the private company, while the NLA gets only peanuts.

I am yet to see any rebuttal to the substance of The Fourth Estate report, but at the GJA’s award launch, the Executive Chairman of the KGL Group, Mr. Alex Apau Dadey, said, among others:

“The tendency to undermine our own across the country is worrying. The default reaction to successful local champions is often suspicion rather than celebration. Why do we cheer foreign conglomerates but question the success of local ones?”

Of course, he mentioned The Fourth Estate and referenced the publication on the NLA-KGL contract.

This is unfortunate, and the GJA should not follow money and allow private businesses caught in accountability journalism to spread this tired and false narrative that seeking accountability for public resources means destroying local businesses.

Such false narratives incite the public against journalists and media houses doing accountability journalism. It paints the journalists as enemies of the state, enemies of Ghanaian interests.

I don’t remember the GJA awards ever being named together with a sponsor, but this year’s event goes by the joint name GJA/KGL Awards. Irrespective of KGL’s sponsorship package, its officials shouldn’t be given the platform to undermine the very journalism that the GJA awards were created to honour.

Besides, it is not true that Ghanaian journalists are against local businesses. There are thousands of local businesses that have been built with the support of the media. There are also so-called businesses that sprout overnight, connive with politicians to sign obscene contracts that are detrimental to the interests of the state.

To say that the media should not expose them because they are local businesses is like saying a thief or an armed robber who attacks you should be set free if he is a Ghanaian.

Exposing corruption or unconscionable business dealings is not synonymous with targeting Ghanaian businesses. I have been reporting on Zoomlion’s operations since 2013, but not once have I reported on its contracts with private companies.

If, for instance, a private bank signs a private with Zoomlion, it is that bank’s responsibility to ensure that Zoomlion delivers. If the bank decides to pay Zoomlion for no work done, that is the bank’s problem.

However, if a business enters into a contract that involves public funds, it should be prepared to account to the public. It should not see accountability as an attack on Ghanaian business. Being a Ghanaian business doesn’t mean corruption.

If KGL thinks the publication got any facts wrong, the company should point it out. The company has the right to a rejoinder. And they have other remedies.

Using a GJA platform to dampen the spirit of the few media houses doing accountability journalism with such false and sweeping claims is detrimental to journalism.

The GJA must resist corporate capture and act in the interest of its members and good journalism.

Source: Manasseh Azure Awuni

When Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson assumed office as Minister for Finance on January 22, 2025, Ghana faced such a crossroads. The economy, weighed down by crippling debt and a crisis of confidence, required not just a manager but a master technician with the intellectual courage to execute a surgical and lasting fiscal reset.

Dr. Forson’s performance in the months that followed is not a story of minor adjustments; it is a narrative of intellectual rigor, decisive execution, and the swift restoration of Ghana’s credibility both domestically and internationally.

What sets Dr. Forson apart is the seamless blend of academic authority and political mastery. Unlike many finance ministers who learn on the job, he arrived with a blueprint for national recovery, crafted during his years of rigorous study.

His PhD in Finance from KNUST, earned in 2020, focused precisely on Ghana’s debt sustainability, concluding even then that the nation’s debt was on an unsustainable trajectory.

The policies he is now implementing are not speculative—they are the calculated application of his own evidence-based conclusions. Complementing this foundation is his qualification as an Oxford-trained Tax Professional (MSc in Taxation) and his experience as Ghana’s Alternate Governor to the IMF, where he played a key role in negotiating the 2015 Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Programme. This technical expertise allowed him to hit the ground running, essential for a nation in crisis.

A true measure of leadership is the speed and clarity with which one addresses public pain. Dr. Forson’s first actions were both fiscal and moral, aimed at restoring public trust.

In his inaugural address, he declared a clear mission: a “war against wasteful expenditure.” This vision became the cornerstone of his early success.

A decisive move came with the announcement—and subsequent parliamentary approval—of the scrapping of the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy). This unpopular tax had become a source of public frustration.

The government’s ability to remove a major revenue source, while simultaneously implementing rigorous cost-control measures to eliminate wasteful spending, demonstrated strategic confidence and renewed the social contract with Ghanaians.

Beyond this tactical victory, Dr. Forson’s crowning achievement is the structural and legislative reform he engineered to make fiscal discipline permanent.

Through amendments to the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), he introduced two pillars of long-term stability: the Debt Rule, legally binding Ghana to reduce its debt-to-GDP ratio to 45% by 2035, and the Operational Rule, mandating an annual primary surplus of at least 1.5% of GDP. Supported by the establishment of an Independent Fiscal Council, these measures shield financial decisions from short-term political expediency and provide long-term assurance to investors and future generations.

To curb the chronic buildup of unpaid government commitments, Dr. Forson also implemented stringent controls requiring prior approval from the Ministry of Finance for all government contracts.

This discipline immediately paid off: in a high-level meeting with the nation’s bankers, he confidently assured that the government had built “sufficient financial buffers” to meet every obligation under the 2025 Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), stating firmly, “We do not intend to default.” This decisive action stabilized the domestic financial sector and restored confidence in Ghana’s sovereign commitments.

International recognition soon followed. After the successful Staff-Level Agreement at the Fifth Review of the IMF ECF, global financial institutions spoke in unison. Moody’s upgraded Ghana’s sovereign credit outlook, praising the government’s fiscal discipline and structural reforms.

The IMF and World Bank commended the Ghanaian economic management team for “prudent fiscal stewardship and a coherent policy framework,” while IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva personally acknowledged Dr. Forson’s “strong commitment to economic reforms.”

Dr. Forson’s tenure is a testament to disciplined, scholarly leadership applied to the realities of political economy. By linking his PhD research on debt sustainability to legislative reforms like the PFM Act’s debt rule, and directing all Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) revenues toward productive infrastructure projects, he has positioned Ghana to grow its way out of debt.

In transitioning Ghana from fiscal anxiety to structural assurance, Dr. Forson has proven himself the essential scholar-statesman for this era. His legacy is not only the stability he has restored but the foundation he has laid for “The Ghana We Want”—a nation built on prudence, discipline, and globally validated confidence.

He is a Finance Minister whose judgment the nation can trust, regardless of opposition or misunderstanding, and whose tenure is already shaping the future of Ghana’s economic destiny.

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The supposed person made some seriously misleading pronouncements against the use of bamboo as reinforcement in concrete works as opposed to that of iron rods.

Well, as the official founder of this all-important technology and a beneficiary award winner of this project, both internationally and locally, including but not limited to the coveted Socrates Award for Quality and Innovation received in Rome, Italy, almost a decade ago, I deemed it necessary to correct the wrong impression put out there by someone or a group of people who are supposed to know better.

But unfortunately did otherwise for reasons I can only guess are either complete ignorance or a deliberate attempt to degrade all the hard work put into this research by my organisation, hence, this piece.

In addressing this issue, this article picks up on the key reasons the resource personnel gave and compares and contrasts them with those of iron rods, analysing them scientifically, socially, and environmentally, leaving the socioeconomic and other analyses for another day. In the end, I will draw a conclusion for my readers’ judgment.

Reasons Given:

1. The alkaline content of the cement may weaken the strength of the bamboo when it comes into contact.

In Ghana and mostly across the world, Portland cement is the main binding agent used for almost all concrete work. These types come in either 32.5R or 42.5R, depending on the strength one is looking for in the mix. Research has shown that the alkaline content in these cement types ranges from 0.4% to 1.6% depending on the raw materials used and not the brand. Source: (Science Direct)

Therefore, whether one uses 32.5R or 42.5R, the alkaline (NaOH) content will remain within the above-stated range. Research has also proven that mature bamboo’s tensile ability will rather increase as the alkaline content increases to over 20% to 25% before it starts failing with more alkaline presence. (Source: ScienceDirect.com)

My argument is this: how can our Portland cement, with an alkaline content of less than 2% destroy the tensile strength of the matured bamboo when it requires about 25% and above before it begins to weaken its tensile ability?

In contrast, alkaline will improve the tensile strength of the bamboo up to a concentration of, say, above 20% before it starts affecting it negatively. Our Portland cement can only provide up to a maximum of 2% and therefore cannot cause any harm to the strength of the bamboo in any case. Hence, that assertion is completely false scientifically.

2. Bamboo expands by absorbing water with wet concrete, so when the concrete dries, there will be space between the bamboo and the dried concrete.

Yes, the easy expansion and contraction of bamboo in wet and dry concrete, respectively, is a special feature that allows bamboo to easily adapt to any kind of concrete mix and environment compared to iron rods. Undoubtedly, bamboo may expand in the wet concrete, but it will also shrink back to its original shape and size as the concrete cures. Therefore, bamboo, in short, will expand and contract with the concrete in proportional levels and hence leave no space between the dried concrete and the dried bamboo, contrary to what the president is proposing.

Iron rods may equally expand and contract over time in concrete. Although they may not expand immediately within the wet environment, their inability to easily expand and contract in different environments makes their adaptation quite complex compared to that of bamboo. This may lead to several cracking problems from drying shrinkage and easy rusting of the metal in a salty environment.
In contrast, in terms of bamboo’s ability to expand and contract in the wet concrete, it becomes an added advantage over that of the iron rods and therefore should not be seen as a problem but rather, a valuable asset of bamboo.

3. Bamboo will decompose over time; hence, Not Suitable for concrete work.

Well, iron rods will equally rust and even faster when exposed to a salty environment without the right amount of chemical treatment; hence, this argument falls short.

Generally, decomposition in organic materials occurs when agents like fungi, bacteria, and insects break down organic matter into simpler components. It is basically a natural process influenced by factors such as temperature, moisture, and oxygen. ( Source: Wikipedia.org).

From the above definition, decomposition, as proposed by the said engineer, is most unlikely when the bamboo is buried in the concrete. It becomes like an “embalmed dead body” and can last for centuries unless the strength of the concrete is compromised and the bamboo is exposed. Until such a time, the concrete material around the bamboo naturally forms the ‘protective coat” so long as the bamboo remains in the concrete without exposure to the atmosphere.

There is therefore no reason to believe that bamboo in concrete will decompose without exposure to the atmosphere or other agents that may cause it to do so, as proposed by the President.

4. Bamboo does not match the tensile strength of steel but possesses a High Tensile Strength and an excellent strength-to-weight ratio.

In contrast, matured bamboo has a tensile strength comparable to or even higher than some types of mild steel, with figures ranging from around 100-300MPa (14,500.43,500psi ) for bamboo and 250-415MPa (36,000-60,000psi) for mild steel, and 400-1000MPa or 58,000-145,000psi) for high tensile steel. (Source: Science Direct.) This means that, except for high-tensile steel, mature bamboo can match the strength of any of these regular mild steels at any point in time.

Again, as the President Engineer humbly admitted, it is true that mature bamboo has an excellent strength-to-weight ratio compared to that of iron rods. As part of my research, we have figures not less than six times greater, depending on the breed. Hence, to compensate for any loss in tensile strength during structural design using bamboo, all one has to do is double or increase the quantity of bamboo being used until the needed strength is attained. This may not necessarily overload the dead weight of the entire structure. It is important to note that the same cannot be said for the iron rods. These qualities and many others give bamboo an additional advantage over iron rods.

5. Economic Benefit.

Aside from the many other uses of bamboo in the construction industry, which time and space do not allow me to mention here, the cost of bamboo is far cheaper than that of iron rods in any part of the world; hence, there is no need for me to discuss the economic impact on construction projects when properly used. In Ghana, for example, the cost of one ton of bamboo is about ten times cheaper than that of ordinary mild steel rods, if not more.

6. Environmental Impact.

Iron rod production always comes with a huge negative impact on the environment in terms of energy consumption and the amount of heat and carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere, leading to climate changes such as global warming and other related climate issues. For example, in the production of every one ton of iron rods, about 400-700 kWh of electricity is used, and this also produces about 1.8 tons of CO2 in additional emissions into the atmosphere. Source: steelonthenet.com

Alternatively, the production of bamboo will provide more oxygen to the atmosphere, thereby making the environment friendlier, as plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) and give off oxygen during the process of photosynthesis.

7. Social Impact.

The use of bamboo in place of iron rods in modern-day buildings will demystify the social misconceptions and beliefs that high-rise buildings and other strong reinforced structures belong to a certain class of people. It seeks to bring building and otherwise sophisticated construction home to the ordinary; hence, the need to encourage its use within our local communities.

That said, I wish to state that mature bamboo’s ability to provide the needed tensile strength in concrete works exists in nature and hence is scientific. Therefore, no amount of propaganda can alter that.

Conclusion

In conclusion, let me admit that most of my research work in this area has not been officially published to provide others who may want to use bamboo as a reinforcement method. However, that publication was very misleading, especially coming from that source, and it needs to be completely disregarded and treated with the contempt it deserves. In the interim, I will be attaching some of my research works on bamboo, and at the appropriate time, I will publish the first volume of my book on bamboo structural reinforcement.

Thanks, and may God bless us all.

Source: Kofi Anokye, CEO, Koans Group.

(LLM, LLB, MBA, BSC, HND, B-TECH.)

As public institutions, banks, and private operators increasingly depend on digital infrastructure, the need to protect networks from cyber threats has never been more urgent.

Yet the proposed Cybersecurity (Amendment) Bill, 2025, currently before Parliament, has triggered legitimate unease within Ghana’s policy and legal community.

The Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation (ILAPI) has issued a detailed submission that welcomes the Bill’s intentions but raises serious constitutional and governance concerns.

The Institute’s analysis is not an indictment of regulation but a reminder that good cybersecurity policy must always coexist with civil liberties, fiscal prudence, and rule-of-law safeguards.

At the heart of ILAPI’s concern is a structural question: should a regulatory authority that was created to coordinate, advise, and build resilience now assume the powers of the police, prosecutor, and judge?

The proposed amendments, if passed without reform, could re-engineer the Cyber Security Authority into an entity with powers far beyond its original mandate.

The Institute warns that this would not only distort the purpose of Ghana’s Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038), but could also weaken the very legitimacy on which cybersecurity enforcement depends.

1. Blurring the Line Between Regulation and Law Enforcement

The first and most far-reaching issue arises from the Bill’s proposed Sections 59A and 59B, which empower the Cyber Security Authority to conduct criminal investigations, prosecute cybercrimes, and recover assets.

On its face, this seems efficient—a single body both detects and punishes offences. But ILAPI argues that such concentration of power breaches a constitutional firewall that has long safeguarded Ghana’s justice system.

Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution vests the exclusive right to prosecute criminal offences in the Attorney-General, who acts as the guardian of legality in all prosecutions. Any institution exercising prosecutorial powers must do so under a written delegation from the Attorney-General.

The Bill, as drafted, bypasses this requirement entirely. It allows the Authority to prosecute cyber offences and to institute civil asset recovery actions on its own initiative.

This dual role risks undermining the neutrality of enforcement by converting a technical regulator into a coercive law enforcement agency.

The Authority’s fundamental identity—as a civilian, coordinating, and capacity-building institution—would be replaced with a security-style apparatus operating outside established oversight channels.

ILAPI contends that this shift would not only violate the Constitution but could chill private-sector cooperation, deter innovation, and invite political manipulation under the guise of cybersecurity enforcement.

To preserve balance, ILAPI recommends explicit statutory language requiring all prosecutions to proceed only under written fiat from the Attorney-General, supported by Memoranda of Understanding with the Police and the Economic and Organised Crime Office.

Such coordination would preserve professional boundaries, ensure evidentiary integrity, and protect the Authority from accusations of overreach. Ghana’s cybersecurity framework, in ILAPI’s view, must remain civilian in character, technical in function, and constitutional in execution.

2. The Dangers of Warrant-less Power and the Erosion of Due Process

ILAPI’s second and perhaps most powerful intervention targets Section 59J, which authorises inspectors from the Authority to enter and audit premises with only seven days’ written notice—no warrant required.

The clause excludes domestic premises, which is commendable, but its reach remains alarmingly wide. Under this draft, any organisation operating a computer system or infrastructure deemed critical could be subject to unannounced inspection, document seizure, or data review by the Authority’s officers.

Such warrant-less entry, ILAPI warns, is constitutionally indefensible. Article 18(2) of Ghana’s Constitution guarantees the right to privacy of home, property, and correspondence, allowing interference only when necessary for public safety or national security under due legal authority.

Routine inspections without judicial authorisation cannot be justified as “necessary” within the meaning of the Constitution. They expose private companies, banks, and even state agencies to arbitrary intrusion, disrupt business continuity, and risk compromising sensitive or privileged data.

In response, ILAPI has drafted an alternative version of Section 59J that should serve as a model for the legislative drafters.

In the Institute’s proposal, judicial warrants become the default requirement, with warrant-less entry allowed only in narrowly defined life-or-safety emergencies.

The redrafted section defines “reasonable belief” with precision, requiring specific and articulable facts rather than vague suspicion. It also mandates written reports to be filed with both the Authority and the courts within forty-eight hours of any emergency entry, ensuring accountability through judicial review.

Perhaps most importantly, ILAPI introduces a “corrective-action plan” mechanism that transforms the inspection process from one of punishment to one of compliance support.

After each inspection, the Authority must issue written findings and give the inspected entity an opportunity to contest conclusions or propose remedial steps within thirty days.

This approach mirrors best practices in administrative law and international cybersecurity regulation—from the United Kingdom’s Network and Information Systems Regulations to Singapore’s Cybersecurity Act—and reaffirms that regulation must first guide before it punishes.

By advocating for procedural safeguards, ILAPI is not weakening enforcement; it is fortifying its legitimacy.

In a constitutional democracy, enforcement is only as strong as the fairness with which it is exercised. Warrant-less powers, undefined discretion, and absent reporting obligations are not hallmarks of strength; they are symptoms of administrative fragility. Ghana can build cybersecurity resilience without building a surveillance state.

3. Oversight, Fiscal Accountability, and the Spirit of Democratic Regulation

Beyond prosecutorial and inspection powers, ILAPI’s submission draws attention to the creeping fiscal and institutional autonomy embedded in several amendments.

The proposed reforms to the Cybersecurity Fund, accreditation powers, and certification of emerging technologies risk turning the Authority into a self-financing super-regulator without clear parliamentary control.

Under the current draft, revenue streams include administrative penalties, service fees, and a share of fines—mechanisms that directly conflict with the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).

Allowing a regulator to retain a portion of fines it imposes creates a perverse incentive structure, where enforcement becomes a source of revenue rather than a tool of compliance.

ILAPI insists that all funds collected under the Act should be paid into the Consolidated Fund, audited by the Auditor-General, and re-appropriated through Parliament.

This not only preserves fiscal discipline but also aligns with Article 173 of the Constitution, which centralises public revenue.

The Institute also warns against the creeping securitisation of the Authority’s personnel and benefits, proposed under Section 20A, which seeks to align staff conditions with those of intelligence and security services.

Such a move, it argues, blurs the Authority’s civilian identity and could lead to opaque financial management outside the reach of conventional public-sector accountability systems.

The submission further critiques the Authority’s growing mandate over the certification of innovative technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and blockchain.

While the intention to ensure secure technology deployment is commendable, ILAPI argues that this field already falls within the mandates of the Ghana Standards Authority, the National Communications Authority, and the Bank of Ghana.

Duplicating these roles creates regulatory congestion and increases compliance costs for innovators and small businesses.

The Institute therefore calls for Regulatory Impact Assessments before introducing any new licensing or certification regime, ensuring that rules are proportionate, evidence-based, and economically justified.

Underlying all these fiscal and institutional concerns is a deeper constitutional principle: the rule of law demands bounded power, transparent finance, and public oversight. When regulators operate without checks, they risk losing public confidence.

ILAPI’s call for redress is therefore not adversarial but restorative—it seeks to align cybersecurity governance with the constitutional fabric of Ghana’s democracy.

Conclusion: Security with Liberty, Power with Accountability

The cybersecurity conversation in Ghana must not be reduced to a choice between safety and freedom. True security lies in upholding the rule of law even in the face of digital threats.

ILAPI’s intervention in the Cybersecurity (Amendment) Bill, 2025, captures this delicate equilibrium. The Institute recognises that cybersecurity is a public good, but it insists that it must be pursued through lawful means that respect privacy, procedural fairness, and fiscal transparency.

The proposed amendments, if passed without modification, could unintentionally weaken the constitutional foundations of Ghana’s digital governance.

By empowering a regulatory body with prosecutorial and inspection powers that bypass judicial oversight, the Bill risks turning cybersecurity enforcement into a domain of unchecked authority.

ILAPI’s alternative vision—rooted in judicial warrants, Attorney-General supervision, and fiscal accountability—offers a blueprint for reform that both strengthens national resilience and protects civil liberty.

As Parliament considers the Bill, policymakers must remember that the digital future of Ghana will not be secured by force of power but by fidelity to principle.

Every statute that touches the digital domain should reflect the same constitutional care that underpins the physical one. The Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation’s recommendations remind the nation that even in cyberspace, law remains the strongest firewall.

Source: Desmond Israel Esq. Senior Policy Analyst
Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation

A video recently went viral of a teenage girl sobbing as her long locs were cut off to meet her school’s entry requirements.

The incident at Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ Senior High School, where all female students must keep their hair cropped short, sparked public outrage and renewed scrutiny of rules that have remained unchanged for decades.

It’s an issue that never truly disappears, only re-emerging every few years when a new story goes viral and reignites the debate.

Each time, we are forced to confront the same uncomfortable truth: our education system continues to cling to outdated notions of discipline and conformity, even as the world around us evolves.

This was not an isolated incident; it exposes a deeper issue within our schools, one where outdated ideas of discipline continue to masquerade as developmental virtue.

Some authorities have doubled down in the face of criticism, insisting that these rules are essential for building character and focus.

But these regulations are relics of another era, policies rooted more in control than care, and they do little to nurture the confidence, creativity, and curiosity that healthy learning environments require.

When Rules Become Relics

Across Ghana’s public schools, students are forced to confront rules that barely feel relevant to them, not least because they are rarely explained.

Among the most notorious are those governing “hair upkeep,” whose consequences fall most visibly on girls, for whom hair carries deep cultural, personal, and even spiritual significance.

What was once likely introduced as a matter of practicality has endured as a rigid tradition. Beneath these explanations lies something more complicated: a lingering colonial inheritance that equates control with respect and sameness with virtue.

There is no evidence that a student’s hairstyle determines their focus, diligence, or academic success.

Yet the insistence on conformity persists. In truth, such rules are a quiet form of moral policing dressed up as tradition, policies that flatten individuality, discourage self-expression, and, perhaps most concerningly, teach young people that obedience is a higher virtue than curiosity or confidence.

The recent video of the young girl has reignited this national conversation. It was a painful image, not only because of her distress, but because it revealed how deeply our thinking remains tethered to the past.

And like clockwork, the controversy is following a familiar pattern: public outrage, official defensiveness, and eventual silence.

Every few years, another story surfaces, forcing us to confront the same uncomfortable truth: that our education system continues to cling to outdated notions of discipline and decorum, even as the world around it changes.

The Cost of Control

In 2021, Tyrone Iras Marhguy, a brilliant Ghanaian student, was denied admission to Achimota School because he refused to cut his dreadlocks, an expression of his religious identity. It took a High Court ruling to affirm what should never have been in question: his right to education.

Tyrone’s story has since become a symbol of principle. He not only excelled academically, earning straight A’s in his final exams, but has been admitted to study Computer Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania on a full scholarship.

His success exposes the hollowness of the arguments that justified the form of control he had to endure.

In his own words, Tyrone reflected on the absurdity of the fears projected onto him:

“There is a beautiful caution from the house I live in, which says that keeping your hair can and will impair your learning, force you against authorities, and influence you into hard drugs till you fail. I kept my hair, and obviously, it’s failed me miserably! … It’s the ultimate ‘failure’: gaining admission to the University of Pennsylvania to study Computer Engineering on a fully awarded scholarship.”

He ends with a question that should haunt policymakers:

“But what has uniformity got to do with equality?”

Tyrone’s experience is not an anomaly; it is a mirror. It reflects an education system that is more concerned with enforcing sameness and equates control with virtue.

His story is proof that hair, like individuality itself, has never been the problem. The problem lies in a system still guided by the fear that freedom leads to disorder.

Education for the Future, Not the Past

The future is already here: it is global, it is digital, and diverse. Yet our policies remain rooted in the paranoia of the past. We fear that without strict uniformity, we’ll lose control. But what we’re really losing is relevance.

Education prepares young people to think critically, express themselves, and navigate a world that values diversity and innovation. We cannot raise creative problem-solvers by forcing them into conformity from the classroom to the hair salon.

The qualities that matter most in tomorrow’s leaders—empathy, curiosity, resilience, and respect, cannot be cultivated in an environment obsessed with appearance.

Countries around the world are rethinking outdated school policies. In the United States, the CROWN Act now prohibits discrimination based on natural hairstyles, recognising that such biases are both racial and cultural.

Closer to home, scholars at KNUST have called for the decolonisation of hair policies, urging schools to embrace Afrocentric styles such as braids, locs, and twists.

Their argument is simple but profound: to truly educate the African child, we must allow her to exist as herself.

A Call for Common Sense

If the goal is discipline, there are better ways to achieve it. Schools can maintain standards of neatness, cleanliness, and respect without resorting to blanket bans on hair length or style.

They can promote equality by ensuring all students have access to affordable grooming and hygiene resources, not by erasing their individuality.

And they can teach respect not through punishment, but through participation, by involving students and parents in setting fair, reasonable guidelines.

Are these rules making our students more focused, disciplined, or curious? Or do they simply make them more fearful and compliant?

A fearful and compliant student body should never be the outcome of an education system; it is a symptom of failure rather than accomplishment.

Education should cultivate minds capable of critical thought and leadership, yet we continue to produce students trained to conform in a world that rewards the opposite.

Technology is transforming industries, economies, and even the nature of work at a pace never seen before. In such an era, young people who are taught to obey without questioning are already at a disadvantage on the global stage.

Africa’s youth are set to become the most prominent and populous generation in the world, a demographic powerhouse with the potential to redefine innovation and leadership. Our education policies must rise to meet that future, not stifle it. We should be preparing young Africans to shape the world, not simply fit into it.

Let Go of the Past

Ghana’s education system has a proud legacy, but it requires evolution. The world our children are stepping into values creativity, critical thinking, and self-awareness, not blind conformity.

It’s time we recognised that a student’s sense of self, including something as simple yet symbolic as their hair, is not a distraction from learning; it is an expression of identity that shapes how they learn, lead, and engage with the world.

We often say education is the passport to the future. If that’s true, then we cannot keep stamping that passport with the ink of the past.

Let us build an education system that embodies confidence, inclusion, and respect, one that treats students not as subjects to be controlled but as citizens to be prepared, empowered, and inspired.

Because in the end, it does matter, not just the rules we enforce, but the kind of people those rules help our children become.

Source: Marcia Ashong-Sam, MCIArb

Whether real, staged, or symbolic, it has once again stirred a national conversation that resurfaces every few years because it sits deeply in the soul of our identity as a people.

The video mirrors what many Ghanaian girls have experienced for generations and reawakens a question we can no longer ignore: What place does identity hold in our education system today?

Across Ghana, many still recall the long-standing tradition that requires female students in senior high schools to keep their hair short.

Rooted in discipline, equality, and uniformity, it was introduced with good intentions to promote focus, humility, and sameness in an environment that moulds young minds. Yet, in this modern age of cultural rediscovery, that tradition also invites us to pause and reflect.

Hair, especially for the African girl, is not merely cosmetic. It tells history. It holds memory. It speaks culture.

For some, it is a spiritual expression; for others, a badge of identity and belonging. When such a symbol becomes a point of tension, perhaps what we need is not argument but honest conversation.

To date, the Ghana Education Service (GES) has not issued a national directive that mandates the compulsory cutting of girls’ hair in senior high schools.

What exists are institutional traditions and interpretations of discipline and neatness that have solidified over time.

Some schools, particularly private ones, have begun to adapt, allowing girls to maintain their hair under clear hygiene and grooming rules, proving that neatness and identity can coexist.

This reflection is not a criticism of the GES or of the discipline that Ghanaian schools have upheld for decades. Rather, it is a call to collectively re-examine the parts of our system that consistently evoke public debate.

If, year after year, a simple question about a girl’s hair triggers such strong emotion, then it is no longer a trivial issue. It is a mirror showing us something about who we are becoming.

Our Constitution already gives us guidance. Article 15 guarantees the right to dignity. Article 17 ensures equality before the law and protection from discrimination.

Article 25 guarantees the right to education for all. These principles remind us that school should be a place of discovery, not suppression; a place where discipline shapes confidence, not fear.

The 2021 High Court ruling on the Achimota case reinforced this. By declaring that denying students admission because of their hair was unconstitutional, the court reminded the nation that grooming rules must serve education, not erase identity.

Beyond the law, Ghana has also signed global commitments that protect the rights and dignity of the child, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

These frameworks, like a moral compass, guide us toward systems that uplift rather than diminish.

Amid this reflection, We Naturals joins countless Ghanaians, educators, parents, policymakers, NGOs, civil society organisations, and cultural advocates in calling for an open, national dialogue.

A conversation that is not about rebellion but about balance. One that protects both discipline and dignity and finds harmony between neatness and self-expression.

We are ready and willing to collaborate with schools, the GES, and relevant partners to design simple grooming and hair-care education programmes that help students maintain neat and healthy hair within school standards.

This is not about promoting a style or brand, but about helping young people understand care, discipline, and identity from a place of pride.

If Ghana is to remain a light on the continent, then our systems must reflect both our history and our growth.

Allowing our girls to wear their hair neatly and confidently will not erode discipline. It will deepen it, because discipline born from understanding lasts longer than that born from enforcement.

This is the time to look again, to listen again, and to rebuild from understanding.

Because the hair we cut is not just hair. It is story, strength, and soul.

Source: Dorinda Mawuenya Quashie, CEO, We Naturals

The late Apostle was not only the founder and leader of the Kristo Asafo Church, but he was also regarded as a ‘living genius’ in Ghana.

As Ghana and Africa envision being at par in technological advancements with their counterparts in Western countries, Apostle Safo Kantanka arguably led the vision for Ghana.

From developing talking vehicles, toilets, to building armoured vehicles and aircrafts locally, his brainpower earned him many respects from diplomas and the citizenry.

In fact, he was a ‘demigod’ to the thousands of congregants in his church.

It was, therefore, not surprising to see his church members celebrate what they believed was his revelation to them since his departure in such a spectacle.

The church members have suffered social media ridicule for their actions on the day.

But I am not here to judge anyone. I am simply here to conduct my duties as a journalist to explain what happened in the humid skies.

That day was not the only time this ‘circular rainbow’ has been beheld in Ghana.

Ghana travel guide

In fact, the first time I saw one was in 2012 when I was only a JHS 2 student in Obuasi.

Just like the members of Kristo Asafo who reckoned the mystery in the skies was how their leader wanted to reveal his presence to them, I only reckoned it was the second coming of Jesus Christ after my friends showered me with some stories about the end times.

But really, what was that in the skies?

Similar to rainbows you see in the skies occasionally, this is known as ‘Halo’, otherwise known as the ‘22-degree Halo’.

A halo is a ring or light that forms around the sun or moon as the sun’s or moonlight refracts off ice crystals present in a thin veil of cirrus clouds. It is usually seen as a bright, white ring, although sometimes it can have colour.

Imagine the sun as a white torchlight thrown into a dark room, and in between the beam of light sits a glass prism – a transparent optical structure with a flat, polished surface.

As the ray of light passes through the optical structure, it is separated into the rainbow colours – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (ROY G BIV). This scientific principle is known as refraction – essentially the redirection of a wave [in this case light] as it passes through one medium to another.

Now, as the sunlight hits the surface of the earth, it is interfered with by the ice crystals of the clouds – typically cirrus or cirrostratus – suspended in the atmosphere.  This visible light is then separated at a 22-degree angle into the rainbow colours in a disc-like fashion in the sky.

This is simply the physics behind whatever happened in the sky.

It is usually common in colder regions of the earth, but in hotter climates, they usually appear during the rainy seasons.

Some schools of thought have associated this phenomenon with Ixion’s punishment in Greek mythology.

School supplies

But appearing on the 40-day observance of the Apostle, “is that a coincidence of an unexplainable mystic which shows the church has lost a true gem and a demigod to the heavens?”

I will leave that to the spiritualists and prophets to explain or unravel the mystery.

Source: Emmanuel Quaicoe

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One story in particular, 70-year-old Prince Anthony Opoku Acheampong, who died in his car after 7 hospitals turned him away over claims that there were no beds, captured national attention.

Many citizens were irate that, in the midst of this, the newly constructed University of Ghana Medical Centre still stood empty and unused.

There were protests and demonstrations over the non-operation of the hospital. The government had to act quickly; there was a need to find a capable leader to operationalise the hospital. One name that quietly emerged behind the scenes, Dr Darius Kofi Osei, a medical doctor and hospital manager known more for results than for rhetoric.

He had established a track record as an astute hospital manager. At Kwahu Government Hospital in Atibie, where he had his first post as a medical doctor, he rose to become Medical Superintendent at a young age and turned a struggling rural facility into one of the most efficient hospitals in the Eastern Region.

Before his tenure, the hospital had become notorious for high maternal mortality, low attendance, poor staff morale, bushy surroundings and generally poor public perception. Many doctors did not want to be posted there.

Through his leadership, the facility turned around and was awarded the best hospital in the Eastern Region. Many leading hospitals such as Korle Bu, Komfo Anokye, and Trust Hospital came for study tours to observe the transformation that had taken place.

After his resounding success at Atibie, he was posted to Interbeton, officially known as the Central Regional Hospital, at Cape Coast. Again, he went to work and leveraged management principles, a knack for data analysis and systems thinking, and built the hospital into a top-notch institution that raised both service quality and staff morale. Perhaps, what had become his most remarkable accomplishment at the time was the hiving off, restructuring and rebranding of the SSNIT Hospital to Trust Hospitals. 

In July 2006, Dr. Osei was appointed General Manager of the medical arm of SSNIT to take over leadership of the SSNIT Hospital. He met an institution that was in disarray, struggling financially and constantly seeking support from the mother organization.

He professionalized operations, improved governance structures, modernized management systems, and turned around the financial position of the hospital that it became independent of SSNIT.

He presented a new business plan that led to the rebranding of the hospital and the eventual establishment of satellite clinics in various locations under the Trust Clinic brand. By the end of his tenure, he had successfully positioned the hospital as one of the most respected private healthcare providers in the country.

It was this achiever who was appointed as the founding CEO to operationalize the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC).  When he took office as Interim CEO in July 2018, the facility had no operational budget. Not a cedi had been allocated to start operations.

The government, straining under immense political pressure, had put him at the helm with no budget, no staff, no equipment, just empty buildings. But within months, systems began to take shape. Recruitment was done transparently, departments were structured, and governance frameworks were built from the ground up.

Under Dr. Osei’s leadership, UGMC became a hub of medical excellence, blending clinical care, training, and research. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the hospital played a crucial national role as a treatment and research center. Its “Covid Connect” telemedicine platform allowed patients to consult doctors remotely, demonstrating how technology and preparedness can save lives.

This amazing story of a lifetime of achievement, leadership and transformation has been documented in his upcoming memoir of the title Not Easily Beaten. In it, Dr. Osei describes the exciting highs and lows of his life and the remarkable impact he has had on the institutions he has led. He details the processes and approaches he used in leading and transforming some of Ghana’s leading medical institutions.

“Leadership,” he writes, “is not about comfort. It is about staying calm in the storm and finding solutions when others see impossibilities.” It’s a book not only for medical doctors or hospital managers, but for every person who desires a life of leadership, impact or transformation. Its lessons will spur you on to dream and design a compelling future for yourself. No challenge is too great, and no system too broken to be rebuilt.

Source: Kelvin Gyimah

This high-level visit represents an affirmation of Ghana’s strategic orientation toward the East, in recognition of the accelerating global shift in economic gravity and development cooperation toward Asia, particularly China.

I am a Ghanaian residing and working in China. Over the past few decades, I have witnessed a significant portion of China’s remarkable economic transformation.

I attended the Presidential Business Forum with my Chinese business partner, a national event that brought together Ghanaians living in China, alongside numerous Chinese business representatives. The forum was well attended by both Ghanaian entrepreneurs and their Chinese counterparts.

The optimism and opportunities that such a platform fosters between the two nations are truly commendable. We extend our appreciation to President Mahama for this visionary initiative.

The Presidential Forum took place at a time when the international community continues to navigate the aftermath of the post–COVID-19 economic recession.

President Mahama’s visit stands as a timely and visionary manoeuvre. It demonstrates Ghana’s resolve to reposition itself within a global framework increasingly defined by new alliances, mutual economic interdependence, and South–South collaboration.

Domestically, the visit comes on the heels of President Mahama’s resounding re-election victory and the formation of his “Reset Government”—a governance framework imbued with renewed optimism and anchored on the aspirations of the Ghanaian people.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s overwhelming parliamentary majority has provided the President with the political latitude to implement his transformative agenda with decisiveness.

Yet, this mandate also comes with a profound responsibility—to translate political capital into tangible socio-economic outcomes for the citizenry.

At the core of the Presidential Business Forum in Beijing lie seven thematic policy pillars:

Economic revitalisation and stimulus,

Agricultural modernisation through mechanisation,

Job creation and employment accessibility,

Promotion of trade and international commerce,

Advancement of green energy, industrialisation, and infrastructural transformation, encapsulated in the NDC’s 2024 manifesto as “The Big Push.”

President Mahama’s engagement with China, therefore, is not incidental—it is a deliberate, strategic initiative aimed at leveraging China’s developmental experience, industrial might, and technological prowess to accelerate Ghana’s own modernisation process.

The Economic and Diplomatic Implications

During the Presidential Economic Forum hosted by the Ghanaian Embassy in Beijing, President Mahama articulated his vision of an economically transformed Ghana—a nation where prosperity is equitably distributed and development reaches even the most marginalised communities.

The highlight of the visit was the signing of a bilateral trade agreement with President Xi Jinping, introducing a zero-tariff regime for Ghanaian exports to China. This landmark accord effectively opens the gates of the vast Chinese market to 100% of Ghanaian exportable goods, offering immense potential for value addition and foreign exchange earnings.

This initiative signals the dawn of a new export era for Made-in-Ghana products—ranging from cocoa derivatives such as chocolate and coffee to shea butter, tropical fruits (avocado, oranges, guava, bananas), and authentic Ghanaian textiles and handicrafts.

The Chinese market’s vast consumer base presents a unique opportunity for Ghanaian entrepreneurs to globalise their operations and elevate national pride in locally produced goods. This could serve as a catalyst for sustained export growth, foreign revenue generation, and domestic employment expansion.

Agriculture and Mechanisation: Lessons from China

A central theme in President Mahama’s economic diplomacy is the modernisation of Ghana’s agricultural sector. Drawing inspiration from China’s remarkable transformation in food security and mechanised agriculture, Ghana aims to reposition agriculture as a driver of national prosperity.

With its expansive arable land and favourable climate, Ghana possesses untapped potential to achieve agricultural self-sufficiency and even become a net exporter of food products.

President Mahama’s call for foreign and domestic investment in agro-industrial ventures—spanning crop cultivation, aquaculture, and livestock farming—underscores his recognition that agriculture is both an economic and social stabiliser.

Through mechanisation, innovation, and value-chain integration, Ghanaian farmers can emulate China’s model of large-scale productivity, thereby reducing dependence on food imports and mitigating inflationary pressures linked to external shocks.

Employment, Industrialisation, and Skills Development

The ripple effects of agricultural modernisation extend directly to job creation, particularly for Ghana’s burgeoning youth population.

By reconceptualising employment beyond the confines of white-collar work, President Mahama advocates for a new paradigm that celebrates vocational and technical skills as vital engines of national productivity.

Industrialisation—rooted in skilled labour and technology transfer—is a key pillar of this transformative vision. China’s meteoric industrial ascent offers invaluable lessons in how a developing nation can harness disciplined human capital, state-led planning, and private-sector dynamism to achieve inclusive growth.

Ghana must, therefore, invest substantially in technical education, apprenticeships, and innovation ecosystems to bridge the skills gap and empower its workforce for a rapidly evolving industrial landscape.

Green Energy and Environmental Stewardship

Equally significant is Ghana’s commitment to sustainable development and environmental protection. As global concerns about climate change and resource depletion intensify, Ghana must align with international best practices in renewable energy, ecological preservation, and responsible mining. President Mahama’s renewed emphasis on green energy initiatives reaffirms Ghana’s dedication to a cleaner, more resilient economy.

This commitment demands not only technological adaptation but also civic responsibility. Ghanaians must embrace a culture of environmental stewardship, safeguarding national resources from exploitative practices while ensuring that foreign investments operate within the parameters of sustainability and national interest.

Conclusion: A Renewed Vision for Ghana’s Future

In summation, President Mahama’s state visit to China is emblematic of a new chapter in Ghana’s developmental trajectory—a chapter defined by pragmatic diplomacy, economic inclusivity, and visionary leadership.

The visit encapsulates the government’s unwavering determination to revitalise Ghana’s economy through agro-industrial expansion, export diversification, and strategic integration into the global economy, with China as a principal partner.

As President Mahama eloquently declared, “Ghana is open for business.” The success of this national renaissance, however, depends on the collective resolve of all Ghanaians—entrepreneurs, workers, policymakers, and citizens alike—to transform optimism into action, and vision into reality.

As the Government of Ghana continues to open the country for business, the state must develop the institutional capacity necessary to safeguard local enterprises and to curb unchecked exploitation by foreign expatriates and corporations.

Furthermore, Ghana’s national interests must be protected to prevent undue influence or abuse by foreign entities.

Ayekoo, President Mahama! Long live Ghana–China friendship! Long live the Republic of Ghana.

Source: Ohene Opoku Agyemang, PhD

I learnt of this risk in about 1990 in Obuasi when AngloGold (Ashanti Goldfields) installed its globally acclaimed innovative sulphur treatment plant (the STP-BIOX), which uses bacteria to remove sulphur compounds (pollutants) from water as part of its gold recovery process.

My cousin was the Mechanical Engineer in charge of running the plant. I was then a BSc Mathematics undergrad at KNUST.

When he took me on a visit to the plant, he told me of the risks of excessive poisons which the mining industry is unleashing into our environment and warned that Ghana shouldn’t allow individuals to do mining because they cannot safely handle these deadly pollutants in the same way Ashanti Goldfields was doing by investing in the expensive sulphur treatment plant.

Directly, he mentioned kidney damage risks associated with the chemicals used in recovering gold. – the compounds of cyanides, mercury, arsenic, etc. Being a science student then, I understood and appreciated the explanations he gave me.

So over the past 35 years, I have keenly observed the kidney damage risks unfold. For example, availability of dialysis machines in our hospitals hasn’t been a mainstream news until recent times.

Unfortunately, my cousin himself, then a Mechanical Engineer and who later became Contracts Manager for Anglogold Ashanti after studying law, died of kidney failure and I have had a reduced kidney function from my last test.

His words to me when he discovered he had kidney damage was “Taywee, I’ve been hit”. Yes, he calls me Taywee, short form for Tawiah.

After saying to me he has been hit, my question to him was “Hit by what?”. He said “I have been hit by kidney damage and you know I’ve been talking about this risk for a long time•.

This conversation took place in his office in Accra. He was then the Executive Secretary for Ghana Institution of Engineers.

Since then, I have been interested and observing kidney related news and it keeps becoming alarming. At this stage, the question will remain “who will act to save the people of Ghana from the increasing risks of kidney diseases?”

Amongst friends, I have told this kidney disease risks story for 35 years ever since my cousin educated me about it but I think the time is right to tell it publicly to increase awareness. May his soul continue to rest in perfect peace.

The author is a former Minister of Public Enterprises and former MP for the Effia Constituency

Source: Joseph Cudjoe

Introduction
Hospital laboratories play a central role in disease diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment outcomes.

In general, laboratories play pivotal roles in disease surveillance, with the WHO estimating that about 60% to 80% of all clinical decisions, including those regarding diagnosis, treatment, and discharge, stem from outcomes of accurate and reliable laboratory investigations and data from these laboratories

(1). Despite its critical contribution to healthcare delivery, many public hospital laboratories in Ghana face significant financial and operational challenges. The lack of a dedicated funding mechanism for laboratory operations often leads to frequent shortages of reagents, malfunctioning equipment, and delayed diagnostic services. To address these challenges, there is an urgent need to establish a Hospital Laboratory Account modeled after the existing Hospital Pharmacy Account system

Background and Context
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Ghana faced frequent shortages of essential medicines and significant inefficiencies in procurement. In response, the Ministry of Health (MOH) implemented the Drug Revolving Fund (DRF). Established in 1989 under the ‘cash-and-carry’ scheme, this initiative allowed health facilities to retain proceeds from drug sales to replenish their stock (3,4).

The policy aimed to ensure the continuous availability of medicines while reducing reliance on central government budget allocations. Recognized as one of the most impactful interventions in the health sector, it has fostered self-sufficiency and made affordable medicines accessible to the average Ghanaian. The policy continues to operate under the National Health Insurance System (NHIS) to this day.

Over the years, this mechanism has ensured a steady supply of drugs, improved accountability, and reduced dependence on central government funding (4,5). Public hospital laboratories continue to depend significantly on erratic budget allocations and donor funded programs, which frequently prove to be inadequate or delayed.

The lack of a consistent financial framework hampers their ability to maintain operational efficiency and respond to diagnostic needs.

The sense of professional embarrassment, moral and ethical frustration, and financial irony (given that laboratories are often seen as revenue generators for hospital facilities) substantially affects staff morale.

Furthermore, it raises questions about institutional practices, especially considering the high level of training and expertise of Ghanaian Medical Laboratory Professionals.

It is disheartening to hear the Ministry of Health suggest that outsourcing our laboratories to the highest bidders or relying on equipment placement and profit sharing alone with these hospitals will resolve Ghana’s health challenges, particularly as it attempts to separate the NHIS tariff for diagnostics.

The case of the Taylor & Taylor Company Limited offers critical insights for the Hon. Minister.

The first large-scale equipment placement initiative in the country was destined for failure due to a significant oversight, lacking a sustainable funding mechanism to ensure that the vendor would be compensated for their investment.

Consequently, the funds generated from the equipment placement were diverted into a consolidated fund within the hospitals, which, as is often the case, was poorly managed and inadequately accounted for. To address these issues, the establishment of a Hospital Laboratory Account is essential.

This initiative would enhance the efficiency, accountability, and sustainability of laboratory services within our institutions. Furthermore, it would effectively reduce diagnostic costs, modernize laboratory facilities, and equip them with the necessary tools, all of which align perfectly with the Ministry’s objectives (6,7).

The Case for a Hospital Laboratory Account
Establishing a Hospital Laboratory Account would enable laboratory units to generate, retain, and reinvest revenue from diagnostic services. Such a model, which is intended to follow the mechanisms of the Pharmacy account arrangement, would enhance efficiency, accountability, and sustainability of laboratory operations (8).

The following are additional reasons why there is an urgent need for the creation of the account: Parliament of Ghana. Health Sector Reform and Sustainability Bill (Draft). Accra: Parliament;

Sustainability of Laboratory Operations:
Establishing a dedicated account will guarantee a continuous supply of essential reagents,
consumables, and maintenance of equipment, independent of the often delayed central funding. This ring-fenced account, supported by legal provisions, would safeguard against political interference, even with changing government administrations. Unlike the current scenario, where a new government might replace existing contracts under the guise of “creating jobs for the boys,” this approach would prevent arbitrary shifts in staffing. It also avoids the risk of altering contractual agreements related to equipment placement at facilities or profit-sharing arrangements with facility management, which has been proposed by the ministry (9).

Retooling and Infrastructure Upgrade:
Funds accumulated through laboratory services could be used to procure modern diagnostic
equipment, upgrade infrastructure, and improve service delivery. The recent direction by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, asking management to return funds that were used from the Revolving Drug Fund, is enough assurance that, should the Hospital Laboratory Account be created, there would be no opportunities for mismanagement, as has become the common practice of most hospitals (8,9,10).

Enhanced Quality Assurance:
Financial autonomy would allow laboratories to allocate resources to internal and external quality control programs, accreditation, and staff capacity building, ensuring standardization and reliability of laboratory results (8,9).

Reduced Service Interruptions:
With a revolving financial mechanism, laboratories can and would quickly respond to supply
shortages, avoiding diagnostic service disruptions that affect patient care. It will also eliminate the levels of professional embarrassment, moral and ethical frustration, financial irony (considering laboratories remain the cash cow of hospital facilities), impact on staff morale and institutional reflection that are commonly witnessed in our healthcare facilities, considering the level of training and the pedigree of Ghanaian Medical Laboratory Professionals (comparable to only Nigeria in the sub region) (10).

Improved Accountability and Financial Transparency:
Like the pharmacy account, the laboratory account will promote transparency in revenue generation, procurement, and expenditure tracking (11).

Support for National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS):
By ensuring the timely provision of laboratory services, the account will enhance the strengthening of the NHIS implementation and hospital reimbursement processes (12)

Alignment with Health System Strengthening Goals:
Establishing this account would ensure alignment with the Ministry of Health’s agenda to build resilient health systems and strengthen diagnostic capacity across public hospitals (13).

Legal and Policy Considerations

While no specific Act currently mandates the establishment of a Hospital Laboratory Account, it can be instituted through policy directives from the Ministry of Health, similar to the Revolving Drug Fund. The framework could be integrated into existing hospital financial management systems and aligned with the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), to ensure accountability and transparency. Clear guidelines on fund management, approved expenditures, and signatory authority that safeguard the integrity of the account (14,15).

Expected Outcomes of Establishing the Hospital Laboratory Account
The funds from the Hospital Laboratory Account is expected to provide, among others:

1. A sustainable funding source for routine and specialized laboratory services.
2. A reduction in equipment downtime and an improved diagnostic turnaround time.
3. An enhanced laboratory accreditation, quality assurance, and staff motivation.
4. An increased public confidence in laboratory services within public hospitals and
5. An improved data availability for disease surveillance and health planning (16).

Conclusion and Recommendations

In conclusion, the establishment of a Hospital Laboratory Account is not only necessary but urgent. The Hospital Pharmacy Account system has proven effective in sustaining medicine availability and promoting financial autonomy in Ghanaian hospitals (17). While not explicitly created by an Act of Parliament, its basis in MoH policy and the National Medicines Policy ensures its legitimacy and operational importance. Establishing a Hospital Laboratory Account would provide similar benefits, enhancing sustainability and efficiency of diagnostic services. As the healthcare landscape evolves toward evidence-based decision-making, robust laboratory systems form the backbone of effective diagnosis and treatment. By adopting a model like the Hospital Pharmacy Account, public hospital laboratories in Ghana would achieve financial autonomy, sustainability, and improved service delivery.

It is recommended that:

1. The Ministry of Health develops a national policy framework for Hospital Laboratory Accounts.
2. The Ministry, through its agencies, pilots the system in selected facilities to demonstrate its effectiveness.
3. Laboratory and finance departments collaborate to design transparent accounting and reporting mechanisms.
4. Parliament considers integrating laboratory financial autonomy within broader health sector reforms (18). Thank you.

Source: Dr. Dr. Felix Kodzo Besah Sorvor, President, Democratic Forum for Medical Laboratory Professionals (DFMLP), Dated 16th Oct. 2025.

Legal education has become a national obsession, with thousands struggling to enter law faculties and the Ghana School of Law.

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine’s ongoing reforms – abolishing the Ghana School of Law’s monopoly and decentralising legal training – promise to open the doors even wider.

But while we celebrate the rise of lawyers, we must confront a sobering truth: Ghana is not producing enough engineers, doctors, scientists, and technicians, the very professionals who build the real economy that drives litigation.

Ghana has about 11,000 lawyers, with roughly 8,000 actively practicing, according to available data. This translates to about one lawyer for every 2,000 citizens.

Yet, some engineering and science departments in our universities graduate fewer than ten students annually. This imbalance is not just academic, it is existential and speaks to the development priorities of our dear nation.

While many have proffered various theories for this anomaly, in an attempt to justify it, the truth remains that we cannot litigate our way to development.

A courtroom victory does not build a bridge. A legal argument does not irrigate a farm. A brilliant submission before a judge will not turn poisoned rivers back into sources of life. Neither will it establish a business and employ any of the hundreds of unemployed graduates idling about.

Exodus of critical professionals
While the law profession is enjoying adequate if not excess replenishment, Ghana is bleeding its most essential talent.

A recent study found that 71.8% of Ghanaian doctors intend to emigrate, with the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Canada as top destinations.

The reasons are painfully familiar: poor working conditions, low pay, slow career progression, and lack of postgraduate training. The International Council of Nurses reports that Ghana loses between 400 to 500 nurses every month to emigration. Even though our health workforce density has doubled in two decades, from 16.56 to 41.92 per 10,000 people, many professionals remain unemployed due to fiscal constraints, while others leave for better opportunities abroad.

In effect, we are spending our meagre resources to train healers who heal other nations. We are educating builders who build elsewhere.
And yet, we continue to produce more lawyers to argue over what we have failed to build.

Engineers built nations
It is a fact that nations that transformed their economies did so by prioritising engineering and technical professions:
• Singapore rose from a third world country to first-world status by investing heavily in engineering, technology, and scientific research.
• China produces millions of engineers annually and other technical professionals every year, powering its rise as a global manufacturing and tech leader.
• South Korea made engineering a prestigious profession, fundamental to its industrial success.
• Germany and Japan built global reputations on engineering excellence and vocational training.

These nations did not build their futures on legal arguments only as we seem to be doing; they built them on bridges, railways, software, and factories.

That is why Ghana needs to reevaluate its educational investments to stop starving essential sectors such as agriculture, mining, construction, energy, and manufacturing which contribute billions to economic growth, revenue generation and job creation.

Despite these sectors serving as the heart and soul of the economy, technical education, through which adequate professionals will be churned out, remains underfunded and misaligned.

An August 2025 UNICEF study found that only one out of 57 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in Ashanti Region offers agricultural training, despite high demand.

Information, communication and technology (ICT) training is similarly scarce. The Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET) warns of a skills mismatch and infrastructure strain due to rising enrollment without adequate investment.

Lawyers need the real economy
Let me emphasize that I know the value of legal education. I assembled a formidable legal team to defend myself through nearly eight years of persecution. I am, therefore, not against more lawyers.

But I, like many others am for Ghana becoming more deliberate in nurturing the professionals who build the economy. Lawyers are indispensable but they thrive when the economy thrives. They draft contracts for factories, negotiate mergers or takeovers for businesses, and litigate disputes in mining, tech, banking and manufacturing deals, among others.

Without a vibrant real sector, the legal profession has fewer cases to handle, beyond crimes related to social vices, which are largely outcomes of a faltering economy, and political persecutions like what I suffered.

That is why Ghana must rebalance its national priorities.
We must make it just as prestigious to be a neurosurgeon, a robotics engineer, or a renewable energy expert as it is to be a lawyer. We must invest in technical education, align curricula with industry needs, and retain our critical professionals.

We must have vociferous advocates for an open, non-bias or secluded medical education system just as my good friend, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare did for the opening up of the legal profession.

Let us not become a nation of brilliant litigators arguing over broken systems.

Let us not raise generations of lawyers to defend what we failed to build. Let us not celebrate the courtroom while our clinics are empty, our roads unfinished, and our industries underdeveloped.

Let us expand the real economy so that the lawyers we train have industries to advise, contracts to draft, and deals to close. Let us build a Ghana where prestige meets productivity. Where law serves industry. Where education fuels transformation.
Let us reprioritise. Let us rebalance, and let us build, starting now.

Source: Alhaji Seidu Agongo

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On 19th September 2025, Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah claimed that, NLA has exchanged a prime business for a peanut of GHS 170 million from KGL for the year 2025.

On 9th October 2025, Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah indicated that, NLA received GHS 157.6 million from KGL for 2024, and surprisingly today, 16th October 2025, Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah are misinforming their gullible readers that, “KGL makes millions in profit while NLA makes zero”.

The question many intelligent Ghanaians are asking Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah is that, if per their own narrative published on 19th September 2025 and 9th October 2025, if NLA received GHS 157.6 million in 2024 from KGL, and to receive GHS 170 million from KGL in 2025 then on what basis is Fourth Estate telling Ghanaians that, KGL makes millions in profit while NLA makes zero? So, according to the mathematical brains of Fourth Estate, GHS 157.6 million(2024) + GHS 170 million(2025) equals to ZERO PROFIT for NLA?

In total, NLA would obtained GHS 327.6 million(GHS 157.6m + GHS 170 m) from KGL for the financial years of 2024 and 2025.

This amount of GHS 327.6 million paid by KGL to NLA shall definitely goes up if monies NLA received from KGL in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 are added.

Also, on Monday, 13th October 2025, Fourth Estate published that, “in 2019, for the first year of the NLA-KGL deal, NLA’s PROFIT for the State reduced to GHS 17 million”.

So, if NLA could make a profit of GHS 17 million for the State in the first year of NLA-KGL deal in 2019 then why is Fourth Estate turning 360 degrees to say that, “KGL makes millions in profit while NLA makes zero”?

KGL Profit in 2024

For the avoidance of any doubt, KGL make a profit of GHS 70 million while it pays GHS 157.6 million to the NLA. This data clearly shows that NLA rather makes more money than what KGL earned as a profit in 2024.

A fact check from Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA) also indicate that, KGL paid taxes to GRA in 2024, an amount higher than the profit earned by KGL in 2024.

By the end of 2025, both the National Lottery Authority(NLA) and Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA) shall receive payments from KGL which would be eventually higher than the profit of KGL for 2025.

In the beginning of their “JANDAM” investigative journalism, Fourth Estate Lied that KGL was controlling a GHS 3 billion prime business but today, 16th October 2025, the same Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah are telling us that, “KGL makes millions in profit while NLA makes zero”.

What kind of inconsistency is that. How can a “billionaire KGL” according to Sulemana Briamah and Fourth Estate on 19th September 2025 is now rather “making millions as profit” instead of making billions as profit? This should let the gullible readers of Sulemana Briamah and Fourth Estate understand that, they are being “fooled” by Jandam Journalism.

DEBTS of NLA in the Absence of NLA-KGL deal

From the audited accounts of NLA below were the DEBTS of NLA from 2012-2019:

2012 – – – GHS 16, 754,642.18

2013 – – – GHS 56, 917, 633.63

2014 – – – GHS 11, 597, 177.79

2015 – – – GHS 18, 306, 364.73

2016 – – – GHS 21, 035, 212.20

2017 – – – GHS 14, 601, 385.04

2018 – – – GHS 560, 155.27

2019 – – – GHS 26, 624, 188.53

Based on the aforementioned debts of NLA from 2012-2019, would it be appropriate and justified to put the blame on NLA-KGL deal? Certainly not.

The provisional license of NLA-KGL deal was signed in November 2019, so definitely the deal has no role in the past debts incurred by the NLA.

NLA started making its losses long before KGL was issued exclusive provisional license agreement by NLA in November 2019.

The total debts of NLA BEFORE NLA-KGL deal was around GHS 233, 121, 889.28 million, as accumulated debts, which comprises:

1. Unpaid Lotto Prizes to winners of national lotto.
2. Unpaid Contractors
3. Unpaid Withholding Tax(Income Tax) to Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA).
4. Unpaid SSNIT Contributions.
5. Unpaid Technical Service Providers(TSP) Fees.
6. Unpaid Lotto Commission to Lotto Marketing Companies.
7. Unpaid Provident Fund
8. Unpaid Staff Union and Association Dues Deductions.

Some of the problems of NLA are the:

1. existing revenue sharing agreement with Technical Service Providers(each receiving 6% on the gross revenue generated by the Authority via Point of Sale Terminals).
2. 25% commission to Lotto Marketing Companies retailing lotto products via Kiosks and Point of Sale Terminals(previously it was 20%).
3. Illegal lottery operations.
4. Higher Win – Ratios
5. No capping on the amount of money used for staking Lotto by the public.

NLA Transfers to Consolidated Fund Has Nothing to do with NLA-KGL Deal

The duty of NLA to transfer money to the Consolidated Fund is a political and management decision which has absolutely nothing to do with NLA-KGL deal.

The responsibility of KGL is to pay its fees to the NLA in accordance with the terms and conditions of its license agreement.

What NLA does with the money paid by KGL is NOT the business of KGL, just like KGL cannot dictate to Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA) on how it uses the taxes paid by KGL to the State.

Would you also blame KGL if GRA is unable to transfer the paid taxes of KGL to the Consolidated Fund?

For the purposes of education, it is extremely difficult to even fault the Board and management of NLA if they fail to transfer monies to the Consolidated Fund on monthly basis as stated in Section 32(4) of National Lotto Act, 2006(Act 722) because Section 32(4) of Act 722 can ONLY be fully implemented if Section 32(3) of Act 722 has been fully implemented.

According to Section 32(3) of Act 722, “The Authority shall pay out of the Lotto Account prize monies for winners of National Lotto and commissions to Lotto Marketing Companies licensed by the Authority”. This provision must be satisfied before you can proceed with the implementation of Section 32(4) of Act 722 which states that, “The Authority shall transfer the net balance in the Lotto Account on monthly basis to the Consolidated Fund”.

So, what if there is NO net balance in the Lotto Account after the payments of:

1. Prize monies for winners of National Lotto as stated in Section 32(3) of Act 722?
2. Commissions to Lotto Marketing Companies licensed by the Authority as stated in Section 32(3) of Act 722?
3. Operational and capital expenditure from the Lotto Fund as stated in Section 50 of Act 722?

For political expediency, the NLA mostly rob winners of national Lotto, Lotto Marketing Companies, Technical Service Providers, operational and administrative expenditures in order to transfer money into the Consolidated Fund. For instance, the NLA in:

(a). 2012, transferred GHS 20, 000,000.00 to the Consolidated Fund yet the Authority was indebted to winners of national lotto, Lotto Marketing Companies, Technical Service Providers etc. at a cost of GHS 16, 754, 642.18.

(b). 2013, transferred GHS 25, 000, 000.00 to the Consolidated Fund yet the Authority was indebted to winners of national lotto, Lotto Marketing Companies, Technical Service Providers, etc. at cost of GHS 56, 917, 633.63

(c). 2014, transferred GHS 11, 850, 000.00 to the Consolidated Fund yet the Authority was indebted to winners of national lotto, Lotto Marketing Companies, Technical Service Providers etc. at a cost of GHS 11, 597, 177.79.

(d). 2015, transferred GHS 33, 270, 000.00 to the Consolidated Fund yet the Authority was indebted to winners of national lotto, Lotto Marketing Companies, Technical Service Providers etc. at a cost of GHS 18, 306, 364.73

(e). 2016, transferred GHS 16, 000, 000.00 to the Consolidated Fund yet the Authority was indebted to winners of national lotto, Lotto Marketing Companies, Technical Service Providers etc. at a cost of GHS 21, 035, 212.20.

(f). 2017, transferred GHS 30, 000, 000.00 to the Consolidated Fund yet the Authority was indebted to winners of national lotto, Lotto Marketing Companies, Technical Service Providers etc. at a cost of GHS 14, 601, 385. 04

(g). 2018, transferred GHS 33, 927, 000.00 to the Consolidated Fund yet the Authority was indebted to winners of national lotto, Lotto Marketing Companies, Technical Service Providers etc. at a cost of GHS 560, 155.27

(h). 2019, transferred GHS 16, 962, 000.00 to the Consolidated Fund yet the Authority was indebted to winners of national lotto, Lotto Marketing Companies, Technical Service Providers etc. at a cost of GHS 26, 624, 188.53

(i) 2020, transferred GHS 22, 400, 495.24 to the Consolidated Fund yet the Authority was indebted to winners of national lotto, Lotto Marketing Companies, Technical Service Providers, Contractors, Suppliers etc. at a cost of GHS 66, 725, 129.91

From the evidence above based on Facts and Data, it is very clear that, in order for NLA to transfer monies to the Consolidated Fund in accordance with Section 32(4) of Act 722, there is the need for the NLA to breach Section 32(3) of Act 722. This has always been the case from enactment of National Lotto Act, 2006(Act 722).

From 2012-2020(9years), NLA transferred a total amount of GHS 209, 409, 495.24 to the Consolidated Fund yet within that same period of 2012-2020, NLA was indebted to winners of national lotto, Lotto Marketing Companies, Technical Service Providers, Suppliers etc. at a cost of GHS 233, 121, 889.28

So what is the justification for Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah to needlessly blame KGL Technology Limited as the cause of NLA inability to transfer money to the Consolidated Fund in accordance with Section 32(4) of Act 722? Completely no basis at all.

And why should NLA necessarily transfer monies to the Consolidated Fund if they haven’t been able to pay winners of national lotto, commissions to Lotto Marketing Companies, Fees to Technical Service Providers, Salaries and benefits of NLA Workers etc.?

KGL Contributions to National Development of Ghana

About 50-70% of KGL’s Profits are invested into Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) and Corporate Social Investments(CSI) across the country to champion national development, and some of the CSR and CSI activities of KGL are as follows:

1. Construction of multimillion-dollar ultra-modern Mental Health Facility in Kumasi in collaboration with Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
2. Face-lift for Accra Psychiatric Hospital.
3. Support to Akropong School for the Blind.
4. Donations to Flood Victims at Keta
5. Democracy Cup initiative by the Parliament of Ghana.
6. Sponsorship to Ghana Football Association
7. Sponsorship to Ghana Black Stars and other National Football Teams.
8. Millennium Marathon
9. Scholarships to Orphans, Needy, and Destitute Children.
10. Two Million Ghana Cedis annually to support NLA Good Causes Foundation.
11. Three Million Ghana Cedis annually to support NLA-KGL Stabilization Fund.
12. Refurbishment of NLA’s Draw Studio, Brennan Hall.
13. Payments of Live Lotto Draws of NLA
14. Several others not mentioned.

Source: Razak Kojo Opoku(PhD)
Former PR Manager of NLA.

This deadlock requires immediate judicial intervention, setting an irreversible legal precedent.

Lumba’s End: A Global Icon’s local crisis

Charles Kwadwo Fosu (Daddy Lumba) passed away in Accra on July 26, 2025, at age 60.

As one of Ghana’s most celebrated highlife musicians, his death triggered a nationwide outpouring of grief. Crucially, he held dual citizenship (Ghanaian and German), having been legally married in Bornheim, Germany, to Akosua Serwah Fosuh.

This dual nationality and dual marital life directly precipitate the current crisis, turning a private family dispute into a complex international legal affair.

Global tributes, Local dispute

Lumba’s death sparked global mourning, underscoring his influence beyond Ghana. His career spanned nearly four decades, yielding over 33 albums and countless hits.

In honour of this legacy, the Creative Arts Agency, in collaboration with the Fosu family, organised a candlelight vigil at the Independence Square on August 2, 2025.

The funeral is planned for Kumasi, (December 6, we are told), but the date remains dependent on the legal resolution. A one-week memorial observation was held in Accra on August 30, 2025.

The crisis began when the immediate family, led by Akosua Serwah Fosuh, sought a court injunction against the extended family’s unilateral December 6 funeral plans, citing a “complete lack of respect” and non-consultation.

The extended family, led by Abusuapanyin Kofi Wusu, staunchly defends their actions, insisting that traditional leaders followed due process by notifying high authorities. Kofi Wusu issued a defiant challenge: “Our customs are older than any court in this land.”

The Widening Legal Gulf: Divorce, Bigamy, and Burial Control

The conflict has been amplified by two major legal precedents and a new defence:

I. Customary Dissolution vs. Statutory Marriage

The core legal crisis rests in the musician’s 2004 German statutory marriage, which under German Civil Code (BGB Section 1306), strictly enforces monogamy. Ghanaian law generally holds that a subsequent customary marriage would constitute bigamy.

However, the Fosu Royal Family has redefined the dispute with a powerful counter-claim:

• In an October 1, 2025 letter, the family’s lawyers asserted that Akosua Serwah Fosuh’s marriage was no longer legally valid. They allege her refusal to relocate to Ghana with her then ill husband constituted desertion and that she subsequently presented traditional drinks to signify customary dissolution.
• If proven, this customary dissolution would legally predate Daddy Lumba’s death, potentially invalidating the German statutory marriage in the Ghanaian court system.
• The family explicitly states they now recognise Priscilla Ofori (“Odo Broni”), who lived with the musician for over fifteen years and has six children with him, as the late musician’s wife. They also cite holding pre-demise instructions, suggesting the existence of a will or final directive that could dictate arrangements and estate distribution.

The court must now rule on the capacity of an Akan customary rite to legally terminate a preceding German statutory marriage under Ghana’s pluralistic system, which typically requires a court decree.

II. Legal Precedent on Burial

Despite the legal widow’s strong claim over marital status and inheritance, Ghanaian law separates marital rights from burial control.

The key precedent, Neequaye v. Okoe, established that under customary law, the body belongs to the extended family, not the nuclear family.

This suggests Abusuapanyin Kofi Wusu has the ultimate authority to proceed with funeral arrangements, provided the widow is consulted. However, the family’s claim of holding Daddy Lumba’s final instructions (a will) could override these customary burial rights.

Imminent Judicial Showdown and Global Impact

The Lumba funeral dispute is a profound test of Ghana’s legal pluralism, confronting diaspora statutory rights against indigenous customary law.

The eventual judicial outcome will mandate how Ghana treats the Latin legal principle of lex loci celebrationis (law of the place where the marriage was celebrated) when it conflicts with domestic customary norms.

This high-profile case sets a critical court precedent for the Ghanaian diaspora, impacting inheritance, property division, and burial rights globally.

Upholding the customary dissolution would legitimise Odo Broni’s status and potentially entitle her to a share of the estate under the Intestate Succession Law (PNDCL 111), which otherwise grants clear statutory rights to the legal spouse and children.

The next critical moment is the court appearance scheduled for October 16, 2025, where the judge is expected to hear arguments on the injunction application, providing the first major legal clarity on the burial control and marital status claims.

The judiciary faces the difficult task of rendering a judgment that respects the rule of law while providing a path for the Fosu family to perform culturally appropriate final rites.

This judicial wisdom is essential, not only to lay a highlife icon to rest with dignity but to provide clarity for the millions of Ghanaians who live between the global statutory world and their traditional roots.

Source: Nana Karikari, Senior International Affairs and Political Analyst

On April 13, 2023, Brazil’s President Lula asked in Shanghai, “Why must global trade rely on the dollar?” His question—Who decided the dollar’s post-gold standard supremacy?—still resonates.

For all the headlines about “de-dollarization,” the reality is straightforward: the dollar’s dominance endures because it provides liquidity, scale, and a deep reservoir of trusted assets unmatched by other currencies.

Paul Blustein’s King Dollar (2025) reports that approximately 60 per cent of central bank reserves are held in dollars, primarily in the form of U.S. Treasuries. More than three-quarters of global trade outside Europe is dollar-denominated, and in the Western Hemisphere, it’s 96 per cent.

The dollar accounts for about 60 percent of cross-border deposits and loans and 70 percent of all international bonds.

It appears in about 90 percent of currency trades; for instance, Nigerian businesses trading for Chilean pesos typically transit through the dollar.

Why the Dollar Still Dominates

Exporters bill and borrow in dollars to avoid currency risk. Once paid in dollars, conversion for local expenses further boosts demand on FX markets. Most risk management relies on dollar-based instruments.

According to Bank for International Settlement (BIS) figures, daily FX trading reached $9.6 trillion in April 2025, with the dollar involved in 89 percent of those trades.

The U.S. Treasury market, at $18 trillion with $600 billion traded daily, is the world’s largest, letting investors transact vast sums without distorting prices.

As David Mulford, who advised the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency in the early 1980s and chronicled his experiences in Packing for India (2014), notes, even $5–10 million trades can move prices in other markets. U.S. capital markets remain a crisis refuge thanks to strong property rights, contract enforcement, and monetary independence.

What About the Euro and the Yuan?

The euro aspires to global status but faces limits. Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank (ECB) President, wrote in the Financial Times (June 17, 2025) that “Europe faces structural challenges.

Its growth remains persistently low, its capital markets are still fragmented, and—despite a strong aggregate fiscal position, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 89 percent compared with 124 percent in the U.S.—the supply of high-quality safe assets is lagging behind.

Recent estimates suggest outstanding sovereign bonds with at least a AA rating amount to just under 50 percent of GDP in the EU, versus over 100 percent in the U.S.

For the euro to gain in status, Europe must take decisive steps by completing the single market, reducing regulatory burdens, and building a robust capital markets union.”

While the eurozone also benefits from the rule of law and an independent central bank, its government bond supply remains fragmented across member states.

This fragmentation limits liquidity and uniformity of safe assets, preventing the euro from matching the depth of U.S. markets.

China, meanwhile, has advanced the yuan’s role via the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), roughly doubling daily value from 2020 to 2023 to $90 billion.

Yet this remains small compared with the $1.8 trillion processed each day through Clearing House Interbank Payments System (CHIPS), the dollar-based system.

The yuan currently accounts for about 4.5 percent of international payments and only 2 percent of global foreign exchange reserves. CIPS is also used by far fewer banks than SWIFT for dollar transactions.

Options for investing surplus yuan remain narrow because China’s capital controls restrict cross-border flows, judicial independence is limited, and many market transactions require official approval—making the yuan far less versatile than the dollar.

This reality surfaced in 2018 when Xi Jinping asked Saudi Arabia to denominate oil sales in yuan; the main question became what to do with any excess yuan.

Similarly, in May 2023, the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergei Lavrov revealed that Russia, after selling oil to India for rupees, couldn’t easily use the proceeds: “We need to use this money, but for this, rupees should be converted into other currencies, and this is being discussed.”

What This Means for Africa

When the dollar rises—as when the Fed began hiking rates in 2022—the effects can be

severe for African economies. Dollar debts and import costs balloon. As United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and The New York Times reported, Egypt’s local wheat price soared 112 percent between 2020 and 2022 (versus 89 percent worldwide), while in Ethiopia it jumped 176 percent.

In Ghana, household costs for essentials rose by two-thirds in one year, and the nation’s borrowing costs on global markets soared from 8 percent in 2016 to over 35 percent by 2022.

Lessons and Next Steps

The experience of Asian nations after the 1997 crisis offers a blueprint, summarized by Kenneth Rogoff, former chief economist at the IMF, in Our Dollar, Your Problem (2025), as the “Tokyo consensus”:

•             Accumulate large reserves to avoid reliance on the IMF (Japan $1.2 trillion, India $650 billion, Brazil $300 billion, South Africa $50 billion).

•             Strengthen financial regulations, including capital and liquidity requirements in the financial sector.

•             Restore selective capital controls to limit volatile short-term inflows.

•             Grant central banks independence to fight inflation and deepen local currency markets—with explicit emphasis on enabling governments and private borrowers to raise funds in local currencies, thereby reducing dependence on the dollar.

•             Implement a managed exchange rate regime—neither strictly pegged nor fully floating, as generally recommended by the IMF—to boost trade competitiveness and better manage shocks from dollar volatility.

Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Malaysia’s central bank governor (2000–2016), stressed that building robust domestic markets is tough, demanding regulatory and governance improvements, but emerging-market central banks are determined.

For Africa, it is imperative to adapt a series of critical steps: stabilizing exchange rates, empowering central banks to maintain price stability, implementing regulations to strengthen the financial sector, and—most importantly—the expansion of capacity to borrow in local currencies in order to reduce excessive reliance on the dollar.

African finance ministers and central bank governors possess the authority to profoundly improve lives across the continent by drawing inspiration from and modifying the principles of the Tokyo Consensus to fit Africa’s unique realities.

This approach offers the most expedient route to accelerated progress, contingent on the political will to enact over time the necessary reforms and the resolve to resist the pressures that run counter to this reform agenda.

As Paul Volcker—former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve and widely regarded as one of the most influential central bankers in history—observed, “The exchange rate is the most important price in an economy.”

By mastering this most important price, Africa can more effectively shield itself from global shocks, strengthen social stability, and position itself to attract the capital needed for transformative growth.

Source: Aboubakr Barry, CFA

The author is founder and managing director of Results Associates, based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

It generates proverbs, from the profound to the profane. My favourite, for inspiration, is “Every big, beautiful breast you see was once a nipple.”

This gives encouragement to all, wherever they are in life. Unfortunately, despite the obvious visibility of the breast, breast cancer is widespread and, for Africans, extremely deadly.

It affects one in eight women across the world. While the 5-year survival rate in North America is about 91%, it is only about 50% in Sub-Saharan Africa!

This is mainly due to the fact that 60-70% of breast cancer in Africa is diagnosed late. In 2022, according to the National Institute of Health, 198,300 new cases were diagnosed and there were 91,300 deaths in Sub-saharan Africa.

I believe these figures are on the low side. This is projected to double by 2050! This is a real crisis. We need to increase breast cancer awareness and screening.

Beginning around 40, women should have mammograms, combined with Clinical Breast Exams every one to two years till they are 75.

In addition, they should know that smoking, alcohol, obesity and lack of exercise are risk factors. While screening is important, women–and men who are also at some risk for breast cancer need to know the signs and symptoms to look out for.

These include breast lumps, nipple discharge and flattening, breast skin changes etc. These must be reported.

Governments too must increase resources and support the training of more cancer doctors.

My appeal here though is to every African. Don’t just sing sweet mother– encourage her to get a mammogram. Don’t just get her a phone, pay for her mammogram.

Don’t just think of smooching– ask whether she had a mammogram.

Don’t just say, “Black woman, woman of Africa– Say black woman, get a mammogram”! Make this breast cancer awareness month count. God bless you and God bless Africa.

Source: Arthur Kobina Kennedy, MD

Ghana, in its quest to revitalize economic growth under the government’s proposed 24-hour economy initiative, can learn vital lessons from China’s practical approach to job creation, industrialization, and poverty reduction.

At the heart of China’s success are three key principles: the operation of a functional 24-hour economy that runs every day of the year, the establishment of small-scale industries and manufacturing hubs, and the creation of a secure, business-friendly environment that encourages investment and innovation.

For Ghana, the path to a successful 24-hour economy begins with clear goals and a phased approach.

The focus should be on manufacturing, food processing, distribution, and essential services—sectors that can operate around the clock. By starting small and ensuring coordination and consistency, the nation can build a sustainable model for growth.

Significant opportunities exist within Ghana’s economy for job creation and industrial development.

The government must identify priority sectors and support them through targeted policies and financial incentives.

Food processing, packaging, and distribution should be top priorities, addressing two critical challenges at once—reducing hunger and minimizing post-harvest losses.

To achieve this, the government can collaborate with the private sector through public-private partnerships (PPPs) and provide funding through local banks. Creating a robust and secure business environment will be essential for long-term success.

China’s model demonstrates that with state-backed security, access to finance, and efficient coordination of production and supply chains, small and medium enterprises can thrive.

Ghana can emulate this approach to stimulate industrial activity, reduce imports, and improve its balance of payments.

The 24-hour economy is not just an idea—it is a practical and achievable strategy. With strong political will, effective planning, and nationwide support, Ghana can transform its economy, create jobs, and ensure inclusive growth.

The time to act is now. Let’s learn from China and reset Ghana’s economy for a brighter, more productive future.

Oopoku56@gmail.com

Source: Ohene Opoku Agyemang, PhD

1. Telecom Business Model and Lottery Business Model of NLA-KGL

2. Dealers and Agents of Scratch Cards for Telecom companies and Lotto Marketing Companies for National Lottery Authority (NLA).

Comparing lottery business to selling of scratch cards in exchange for commission from Telecom companies clearly shows that Sulemana Briamah and the Fourth Estate lack full knowledge, understanding, experience, expertise, and competence when it comes to the lottery industry.

For the purpose of clarity, the Telecom Business Model has absolutely no correlation with the Lottery Business Model.

In fact, both business models operate under different industries and are regulated by different authorities.

The Telecom Business Model is under the regulatory body of the National Communications Authority (NCA), whereas the Lottery Business Model is under the regulatory body of the National Lottery Authority (NLA).

The NCA’s laws and NLA laws are completely different from each other, so comparing them is quite dishonest.

Based on their assumptions, can the Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah give honest answers to the following questions:

1. Do the Telecom Companies pay winning tickets to the customers of the scratch cards dealers and agents on daily basis?

2. Do the Telecom Companies pay 25% commissions based on the money used by the dealers and agents to purchase the scratch cards?

3. Do the Telecom Companies conduct “Scratch Card Draws” for the customers of the scratch card dealers and agents?

4. Are the Telecom Companies’ regulators just like the National Lottery Authority (NLA)?

5. Did Dealers and Agents of Scratch Cards invest millions of dollars into the  marketing of the cards?

6. Did Dealers and Agents of Scratch Cards invest millions of dollars into the I. T infrastructure and system engineering for the sale of scratch cards to the general public with zero investments from the Telecom companies?

Providing honest and concrete answers to the above questions would let the Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah appreciate the fact that, it was unfair to compare the scratch card business of Telecom companies to the lottery business under the National Lottery Authority (NLA).

Now to the perfect case of the NLA-KGL Deal:

1. Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah should kindly take their time to thoroughly read all the 58 Sections of the National Lotto Act, 2006 (Act 722) and point it out to their followers on Facebook, which section of Act 722 specifically made mentioned of NLA paying commission to a Lotto Marketing Company participating in Online lottery?

Can they indicate which specific Section of Act 722 talks about Online Lottery?

2. Just like the LMC selling in the kiosks using Point of Sale Terminals are required to pre-pay for the NLA coupons, KGL Technology Limited as an online LMC also pre-pays each quarter for NLA Coupons.

3. All the money NLA receives from KGL is paid into the Lotto Account as required by law. It is, therefore, the responsibility of NLA to transfer the *net balance* into the Lotto Account on monthly basis to the Consolidated Fund.

The net balance is rightly so because what if there is no net balance in the Lotto Account after payments of Winning Tickets, Commissions, Administrative, and General Expenses by NLA?

If at any point the money in the Lotto Account is not enough to pay winners, the excess can be charged against the Consolidated Fund (Section 33 of Act 722).

However, in practice, NLA has NEVER taken money from the Consolidated Fund to pay winners of national lotto.

Also, it does not even make sense to use public funds in the Consolidated Fund to pay winners of national lotto while the country needs funds to take care of very important national projects.

4. Despite the technology being used by KGL in partnership with the Telecom Companies to sell lottery products, all the monies NLA receives from KGL go into the Lotto Account.

What is the Lotto Account? Let me educate the Fourth Estate, and Sulemana Briamah.

The “Lotto Account is any official Bank Account operated by the National Lottery Authority (NLA)”.

5. What empirical research has Fourth Estate or Sulemana Briamah conducted in the lottery industry particularly Online lottery industry for them to conclude that about 90% of lotto stakers now buy their lotto on their phones directly using short codes (USSD)?

If 90% of Lotto Stakers buy lotto via USSD then how come banker-2-banker lotto operators and agents control 80% of the lottery industry in Ghana?

If 90% buy lotto via USSD, then how many buy lotto via Point of Sale Terminals (POSTs)?

And if only 10% are buying lotto via Point of Sale Terminals (POSTs), then how many are buying lotto via Paper issued by Banker-2-Banker lotto operators and agents?

If 90% are buying lotto via USSD, then how come Lotto Marketing Companies and Private Lotto Operators and Agents are still actively involved in the lottery business?

6. Was NLA successful in experimenting with different technology partners to reap full benefits from online sales of its lotto business?

If Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah care to know before KGL coming on board, the NLA in partnership with private technology companies FAILED to benefit from online sales of lotto such as “Mobi Game 2 Sure”, “Mobile 5/90” , NLA 5/90(*890#) and “NLA Soccer Cash”

Has Fourth Estate, as a patriotic CSO, researched on the financial losses NLA incurred during the operations of Mobi Game 2 Sure, Mobile 5/90, NLA 5/90(*896#) and Soccer Cash?

7. Yes, Keed Ghana Limited paid GHC 10 million as penalty to NLA for piloting *959# without the appropriate 5/90 Online License Agreement, and that was a good decision by both NLA and Keed Ghana Limited.

The general public would also like to know the answers from Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah regarding the following questions:

(a) How much Alpha Lotto Limited paid to NLA for illegally operating NLA 5/90 USSD and Web online lottery via *896# for 11 months?

(b) How much Onassis Lotto has paid to NLA for illegally operating NLA 5/90 USSD and Web online lottery via *859#?

(c) How much did operators of www.theb2blotto.com pay to NLA for operating illegally the NLA 5/90 lottery via Web Online?

The answers to the above 3 questions would illuminate the understanding of Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah that they are just being unprofessional in their investigations against NLA-KGL deal.

The decision of NLA not to pay commission to KGL is equally supported by Section 2(4), and Section 37(d) of the National Lotto Act, 2006(Act 722).

Respectfully speaking, I sincerely don’t think the Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah understand the lottery industry more than the Board Members of the National Lottery Authority(NLA); both the current and previous members of the Board.

9. KGL has every legal right to protect its huge investments in the setting up of a world-class I. T. Infrastructure and system for the sustainability of the NLA 5/90 USSD and Web online lottery.

Per precedence, no company was competing with the Private Company operating NLA Mobile 5/90 or Mobi Game 2 Sure or NLA Soccer Cash at the time such products were in existence.

Also, NLA has NEVER given multiple licenses to companies to operate the same NLA product. Every Online LMC or collaborator is licensed to operate a specific lottery product.

For example:

959 exclusively for KGL 5/90

766 exclusively for Atena

787 exclusively for Wotiriyie

446 exclusively for Daywa 5/39

946 exclusively for Game Park

987 exclusively for Lucky 3

Also, regarding the duration of the license, NLA has signed 10-15 years license agreements with several Lotto Marketing Companies and Private Lotto Operators in 2024.

Don’t forget that Lots Services Ghana Limited and Simnet Ghana respectively have a 15-year and 10-year contract with NLA subject to automatic renewal for another 10-15 years.

10. It is absolutely FALSE that 80% to 90% of lotto stakers in Ghana have moved to buying lotto online using just a USSD short code on their phone because there is no empirical research supporting this untrue claim.

The business of analogue lotto Kiosks equally owned by private companies and individuals started declining when majority of them decided to sell products on behalf of Banker-2-Banker Lotto Operators and Agents largely due to the attractive 35-40% commission they received from the Private Lotto Operators and Agents as compared to the 25% pay by the NLA.

The aggressive marketing approach, prompt payments, and higher commission of 35-40% by the Private Lotto Operators and Agents collapsed the lotto Kiosks business of LMCs, and not KGL’s presence in the lottery industry.

11. So, how many companies do Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah think that NLA should license to sell NLA 5/90 USSD and Web online? Can they provide the names of such companies? In accordance with precedence, has NLA ever licensed multiple companies in the world to operate one specific Online lottery product? Absolutely NO.

Again, it is absolutely FALSE for Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah to state that, a prime business of NLA which will generate 80% to 90% of the NLA’s revenue has been handed over to one company, KGL.

This kind of argument is fueled by jealousy or envy because KGL started making sales from the bottom before, through huge investments and marketing strategies, they have been able to reach where they are now.

At the time KGL started online lottery sales, NLA had ZERO presence in the online lottery sales space.

12. If NLA used 8years from 2013 to 2020 to pay GHC 182, 009, 000(182 million Ghana Cedis) into the Consolidated Fund then certainly any reasonable person would definitely applaud KGL for using one year(2024) to pay NLA GHC 157.6 million. How many license Agreements or contracts signed by NLA have been able to generate GHC 157.6 million to the NLA within one year? Absolutely None.

And if you argue that, NLA should rather pay a commission to KGL then seriously speaking you, maybe speaking from the standpoint of financial ignorance.

If NLA decides to pay commission to KGL, the Authority will be paying 31% of the gross revenue generated annually to KGL, and KGL will NOT be responsible for marketing cost, operations cost, payments of prize monies, risks and liabilities associated with the NLA 5/90 USSD and Web online.

Let me point it out to Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah that, KGL will be extremely excited if NLA agrees to rather pay the company 31% commission, but the question will be, does NLA own the I. T. infrastructure and the systems for the running of the NLA 5/90 USSD and Web online lottery?

KGL at the initial stages of their license agreement even proposed revenue sharing formula with NLA but the Board in its wisdom and in accordance with the provisions of Section 2(4) and Section 37(d) agreed not to pay commission to KGL as an Online Lotto Marketing Company.

The management of KGL Technology Limited, in the interest of the country, is always very open for reviews and renegotiations when it comes to its License Agreement with the NLA.

13. It is very misleading for Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah to create an erroneous impression that NLA doesn’t know the amount of revenue generated by KGL. So if NLA doesn’t even know how much of its digital coupons(online lotto) KGL sells, then how come Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah were able to know that KGL generates GHC 3 billion annually?

If GRA is fully aware of KGL’s revenue, how difficult is it then for NLA as a regulator to know the revenue generated by KGL?

Sulemana Briamah and Fourth Estate keep mentioning Lotto Account as if they don’t know that the Lotto Account is just a Bank Account owned and operated by NLA.

For the avoidance of any form of doubt, KGL’s quarterly pre-pay monies to NLA always goes to the Lotto Account.

Also, can Fourth Estate mention just one online lottery company in the world being paid a  commission by the State for its operations?

Anyone who understands Act 722 and Lottery Regulations 1948, would clearly educate Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah that, paying 31% commission to KGL on the gross revenue generated is a suicide mission for NLA and the State, and the Board of NLA is 100% right for rejecting the payment of 31% as a commission to an online LMC like KGL.

14. It is Never True that all NLA is left with at this stage as its business is the archaic analogue lottery sold in Kiosks with just about 10% or less of Lotto stakers.

If it is 10% of stakers, how come Lotto Marketing Companies haven’t closed their Kiosks?

If it is 10%, how come Banker-2-Banker lotto Operators and Agents are still in business making money?

The NLA, apart from generating revenue through the Kiosks also has the following games in operations.

They include:

(a) Caritas Lottery

(b) Atena

(c) Daywa

(d) Wotiriyie

(e) Game Park

(f)! Several other modern lottery products.

Respectfully, if Sulemana Briamah and Fourth Estate were thorough in their research, they would have realized that, not all the alleged GHC 3 billion comes to KGL as Profit.

Can  Fourth Estate please help their readers and followers on Social media know how much out of that quoted 3 billion was used to:

(a) Pay winning tickets(Prize moneys to Winners of national lotto)?

(b) Pay MTN, Telecel and Airteltigo?

(c) Pay for the service, running, management and maintenance of the I. T infrastructure and systems driving the online 5/90 lottery business?

(d) Pay for marketing costs?

(e) Corporate Taxes to Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA)?

(f) Pre-pay NLA?

(g) Pay NLA Stabilization Fund?

(h)Pay to KGL as Profit?

If it is true that, NLA’s total revenue for 2024 including what it received from KGL is under GHC 350 million then what is the basis of Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah’s worry on the NLA-KGL deal considering the FACTS and Data below regarding the trends of NLA’s annual revenue from 2013 – 2020:

GHC 299, 761, 074 for 2020

GHC 349, 220, 308 for 2019

GHC 381, 038, 324 for 2018

GHC 401, 711, 318 for 2017

GHC 397, 750, 549 for 2016

GHC 365, 529, 893 for 2015

GHC 315, 918, 378 for 2014

GHC 255, 229, 663 for 2013

Has the Fourth Estate ever done an assessment of NLA regarding its:

(a) increased number of employees which comes at extra cost to the Authority?

(b) increased amount of money paid to Technical Service Providers?

(c) Increased commission payments from 20% to 25% on the gross revenue generated by NLA?

(d). Increased operations of illegal lottery operators and Agents across the country?

The 25% commission payments alone paid to Lotto Marketing Companies would make it extremely difficult for NLA to make any meaningful gains more than the quoted GHC 350 million by Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah.

15. The current NLA Board and the Minister of Finance are NOT concerned about the Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah saga because:

(a). Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah have failed to establish any form of Corruption or suspected corruption regarding the NLA-KGL deal.

(b). Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah have FAILED to genuinely establish that KGL is taking away a GHC 3 billion business from the NLA.

(c) Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah have FAILED to establish any breach of Act 722 and L. I. 1948 in the NLA-KGL deal.

(d). Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah have FAILED to prove that the presence of KGL is a threat to NLA.

(e). Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah have FAILED to exhibit professionalism and higher ethical leadership regarding their investigations about the NLA-KGL deal.

(f). Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah have FAILED to demonstrate their full understanding of the lottery industry.

(g). Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah are pushing NLA and the Minister of Finance to incur a judgment debt of over $5 billion against the State regarding the NLA-KGL deal.

Moreover, Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA) is quiet about the brouhaha from Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah regarding a GHC 3 billion business of KGL because they know Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah are LYING about the figures, facts and data.

Finally, if the Car Owner (NLA) is satisfied with the performance of the Driver (KGL), who are the Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah to question the Car Owner (NLA)?

Which law can empower the car owner(NLA) to take over the ownership of the NLA 5/90 USSD and Web online lottery (the Car)?

Is the car owner(NLA) prepared to pay a judgment debt to the driver(KGL) if it changes the driver?

Does the new proposed driver by Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah have the capacity and competence within a year to pay more or the same amount of money paid by the old driver(KGL)?

And which law says that an Online LMC should be strictly paid by a Commission while NLA has no ownership over the I. T Infrastructure and systems built and managed by the Online LMC?

Clearly, the Fourth Estate and Sulemana Briamah are forcing to create a bad image around the NLA-KGL deal, but it keeps backfiring.

Source:Razak Kojo Opoku(PhD) 

Each disaster brings its own pain, yet the lesson remains the same; Ghana’s preparedness for such events is still far from where it should be.

Preparedness is not merely about reacting faster; it’s about anticipating risks, planning smartly, and building systems that can withstand shocks.

Unfortunately, the country’s approach remains largely reactive, with efforts intensifying only after disasters strike. As floods, fires, and epidemics grow more frequent and complex, Ghana cannot afford to wait for the next crisis before acting.

Disaster preparedness is the heartbeat of resilience as it saves lives, reduces losses, and lays the foundation for faster recovery.

But in Ghana, the path to true preparedness remains riddled with challenges that continue to test the country’s ability to withstand crises.

Some of the challenges are outlined below:

Inadequate coordination and institutional fragmentation

Ghana’s disaster management structure involves multiple agencies including NADMO, district assemblies, the Ghana Meteorological Agency, the Ghana Health Service, Ghana National Fire Service, among other service providers. Each has a specific mandate, but too often, their efforts exist in silos. Ineffective planning and role duplication are frequently the result of conflicting mandates and inadequate collaboration. This hinders disaster response and erodes collaborative contingency planning.

Despite decades of policy efforts by the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and its partners, Ghana’s disaster response often swings between heroic improvisation and systemic breakdown. The problem is not a lack of will, but a lack of coordination, resources and foresight.

From floods in Accra and Kumasi to fire outbreaks in markets and industrial sites, the country’s preparedness measures remain largely reactive. Institutions tend to mobilize only after tragedy strikes; a pattern that perpetuates loss and erodes public trust.

Unreliable and scarce funding

One of the most persistent obstacles to preparedness is unreliable funding. Preparedness efforts receive less funding than emergency response and recovery activities. Long-term planning is challenging since training, equipment, and community education budgets are inadequate and frequently reliant on donor financing. While emergency response often attracts political attention and donor support, proactive investment in preparedness  remains underfunded.

Lack of skills and low local capacity

There are major capacity shortages at local NADMO offices and district assemblies. The efficiency of many employees during emergencies is diminished by their lack of proper training in incident command systems, logistics, and hazard assessment. District NADMO offices frequently struggle to operate with limited logistics and outdated tools. The result is predictable; communities remain vulnerable, contingency plans remain untested, and local response capacity remains weak.

Inadequate risk information systems and missing data

Many communities lack accurate exposure assessments, vulnerability data, and hazard maps. At the community level, meteorological forecasts are not always converted into easily understood, actionable warnings. Preparedness thrives on information, but accurate disaster data in Ghana is scarce. Many vulnerable areas lack risk maps, hazard profiles, or reliable meteorological forecasts. Early warning messages, when available, often fail to reach communities in formats they can understand or act upon.

Weaknesses in the infrastructure

There is an unequal distribution of medical facilities, emergency shelters, and transportation infrastructure. Some essential facilities are even built in high-risk zones, exposing both responders and victims to greater danger when disasters occur.

Rapid urban expansion, weak enforcement of land-use regulations, and the proliferation of informal settlements continue to heighten vulnerability. Floodplains are being converted into residential areas, and building codes are frequently ignored or enforced only after disaster strikes.

Land use concerns, informal settlements, and urbanization

Widespread building in floodplains and on unstable slopes is the result of rapid urban growth and lax implementation of planning laws. Particularly at risk are informal settlements, which frequently lack essential services

Perceptions in the community and sociocultural barriers

Fatalism, poor risk perception, and mistrust of authorities can all be obstacles to disaster preparedness efforts. Planning processes frequently omit vulnerable groups, such as women, children, the elderly, and those with disabilities.

Short-term incentives and political economy

Political goals that prioritize short-term, conspicuous projects frequently eclipse preparedness measures. This jeopardizes long-term risk reduction expenditures like building code enforcement and robust infrastructure.

Inadequate implementation of building and planning codes

Vulnerability is increased when zoning and building codes are broken, especially in urban areas. Instead of being a preventative approach, enforcement is frequently reactive, taking place after disasters.

Supply chain and logistics issues

Emergency logistics, such as distributing, storing, and stockpiling aid supplies, are still insufficient. During disasters, access to remote and rural areas is especially challenging, which delays aid.

Inadequate integration of health readiness and multi – hazard

Plans for preparedness typically concentrate on particular risks rather than using a multi-hazard approach. There is also a lack of integration between public health emergency planning and disaster preparedness.

Changing climate and an increase in the frequency of hazards

Extreme weather events, such as high rainfall and sea level rise, are becoming more intense due to climate change. Climate projections are frequently not incorporated into risk assessments and planned in preparation plans.

The Way Forward: Turning Awareness into Action

Building a culture of preparedness in Ghana requires more than technical fixes; it demands systemic change.
The following steps are essential:

1. Strengthen institutional collaboration through clear mandates and regular inter-agency coordination.
2. Guarantee dedicated funding for preparedness initiatives at national and district levels.
3. Invest in capacity building for local authorities, emphasizing professional training and continuous drills.
4. Enhance risk data systems and community-based early warning networks.
5. Promote inclusive participation, ensuring that vulnerable groups are involved in planning and decision-making.
6. Integrate climate adaptation and health preparedness into national disaster management frameworks.

Disasters will always test the resilience of nations, but the outcome depends on what is done long before the sirens sound. Ghana’s current preparedness challenges; from weak coordination to funding gaps, are not insurmountable. They are calls to action. By investing in preparedness today, Ghana can save countless lives tomorrow.

Sources: 
David Attah, Raymond Kudjo Blewusi, Augustine Kojo Anquandah, John Kobena Quansah & Patricia Abrokwah

Once rooted in community survival and cultural heritage, it’s an unbridled monster today, breeding chaos, corruption, and ecological ruin. The line between survival and sabotage has long been crossed. How did we get here?

The term ‘galamsey,’ a portmanteau of words meaning ‘gather them (gold) and sell,’ has historically described artisanal mining practices in Ghana since the days of the Gold Coast.

Therefore, ‘galamsey’ has previously been associated with small-scale, community-based gold prospecting and mining in Ghana. While it’s important to recognise that artisanal mining has a rich history dating back over 2,000 years to around the 6th century A.D. in this country, the modern challenges we face stem from significant regulatory missteps.

Traditionally, gold extraction in Ghana involved labour-intensive methods, with workers digging shallow pits using rudimentary tools to sift through the soil.

While these operations typically involved manual digging using simple tools like shovels, head pans, and sluices, workmen relied on the luck of ‘trial and error’ due to the inadequate technical knowledge about the geology of mining areas.

The work was labour-intensive and shallow, targeting surface deposits that were far less complex to access than those mined by commercial companies.

Although informal and technically illegal, particularly when conducted on lands legally granted to licensed mining companies, ‘galamsey’ was once a lifeline for many rural Ghanaians seeking income from the land.

However, the landscape of informal mining in Ghana has changed dramatically. What was once the preserve of manual labourers has transformed into something far larger and more industrialized.

Today, many so-called ‘galamsey’ operations deploy heavy equipment such as excavators and mechanized dredging machines, drastically increasing their scale and environmental footprint. In fact, much of what is currently referred to as ‘galamsey’ no longer fits the original definition.

These operations, some of which even hold government-issued licenses, now constitute a form of irresponsible mining that poses far greater risks to communities and ecosystems than the traditional small-scale methods that we were hitherto accustomed to.

It is important to distinguish between the traditional form of ‘galamsey’ and what is happening today. The original model was community-based and small-scale, relying on human labour and rudimentary tools.

Today’s operations, despite being labelled as ‘galamsey,’ are often driven by commercial interests with access to advanced machinery. Some of these actors operate under the guise of legality, having obtained mining licenses, yet engaging in practices that are highly destructive to the environment and local communities.

This evolution demands a new vocabulary and a more nuanced understanding of mining in Ghana, one that separates illegal small-scale mining from licensed but irresponsible mining.

Unfortunately, instead of creating an ethical and sustainable mining environment, PNDC Law 218, which was intended to legitimize small-scale mining, did the opposite. It unleashed a torrent of licenses that only served to legitimize reckless practices. Between 1989 and 2006, a mere 40 small-scale licenses were granted.

However, data obtained from the Ghana Mining Repository reveal that a revision of the law under the Minerals Act of 2006, meant to streamline licensing, has ironically led to an explosion in license issuance—with over 1,800 licenses granted to date and more than 11,000 applicants still in limbo.

An analysis of mining license issuance underscores this shift. Between 1988 and 2008, under the administrations of Presidents Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor, only 40 mining licenses were issued. This number rose modestly to 59 during the tenure of Presidents John Atta Mills and President John Mahama between 2009 and 2016. However, from 2017 to 2025, under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the number of licenses skyrocketed to a staggering 2,151, a more than 3,000% increase. This explosion raises critical questions about regulatory oversight, environmental governance, and the motivations behind such rapid approvals.

The number of people involved in these mining activities has ballooned over the years. Early estimates suggested between 20,000 and 50,000 ‘galamseyers,’ including many foreign nationals, particularly from China.

By 2017, reports indicated that approximately 200,000 individuals were directly engaged in informal mining, with as many as 3 million people indirectly dependent on the sector. These activities are concentrated primarily in southern Ghana, near major commercial gold concessions.

Settlements around ‘galamsey’ sites tend to be poorer than nearby farming villages and often lack basic services, while workers, including women and children, face hazardous conditions such as frequent accidents and mercury poisoning from unsafe ore-processing methods.

Despite recent amendments to the Mining Act enhancing penalties in 2015 and strengthening regulatory powers in 2019, real change remains elusive.

The 2023 Minerals and Mining Policy Framework attempted to engage communities and promote environmental sustainability, yet broader systemic issues persist.

The recent President Mahama-led administration has made commendable progress in transforming mining into a sustainable industry, notably through the establishment of the GOLDBOD for gold trading regulation and the digitization of licenses to enhance transparency.

Still, the fight against environmental devastation faces gigantic challenges. The solution is not just adjusting regulations; it’s about reframing our understanding. Mining should be classified as either legal or illegal, with legality derived purely from the bureaucratic process of obtaining a license from the Minerals Commission.

There is ‘NO’ ‘galamsey’ in Ghana, mining is legal or illegal! Either way, it is the method of mining that makes it ethical and sustainable or otherwise.

In Ghana, all minerals are held in trust by the President, yet the current land ownership system has created a dual licensing structure: formal licenses for compliant companies and informal agreements through local chiefs and allodial title holders, often leading to unlicensed operations.

The rampant involvement of foreign actors alongside local collaborators in illegal small-scale mining, contrary to statutory provisions, is not merely a function of state capacity but a reflection of political leniency and corruption.

The discourse suggesting that ‘galamsey’ is merely artisanal is misguided. These operations now involve significant capital investments from both locals and foreign partners alike.

The failure to safeguard communities and the environment stems from a lack of political will. Chiefs, local governments, MPs, and even ministers often benefit from the status quo, making ‘galamsey’ more of a political rivalry than a matter of public welfare or legal enforcement.

We must evolve our understanding of this issue. Society often blames politicians, yet regulators and security officials also share responsibility and are frequently entangled in the complicity. The road to meaningful change must acknowledge these intersections and demand accountability from all stakeholders.

Only then can Ghana forge a path toward sustainable mining practices that truly protect the environment and the well-being of our communities.

Source: Ebenezer Amponsah Lartey and Evans Mawunyo Tsikata

He had called for price reductions, threatened licence suspensions, rejected what he labelled “illogical” proposals from MultiChoice, and pressed for more value.

But as with many hot-button political fights, the question arises: has his rhetoric matched the outcomes? Or is there a gap between what he promises and what is delivered?

“My goal wasn’t to destroy DStv, but to deliver value for Ghanaians.”

Good slogans, noble intentions. But let’s dig into the timeline and consequences, the points where the double standard charges stick.

Initial Demand vs Final Outcome
• In July 2025, George demanded 30% price reductions, citing improvements in the cedi and widespread dissatisfaction.
• Later, after weeks of regulatory pressure, a value upgrade offer was negotiated: customers would be moved to higher value bouquets. Some users would see “33 50% increased value” depending on their package.

The issue: “Increased value” is not the same as “lower cost.” Many expect lower monthly fees. What George initially framed as a demand for price cuts has morphed into upgrades, which may feel like more channels or features but might not reduce actual cash outflows for the consumer in all cases.
Threats vs Enforcement

• George publicly threatened to suspend DSTV’s broadcasting licence if price reductions were not applied by certain dates — August 7 was such a deadline. Then, in later statements (by late September), the offer from MultiChoice was accepted, and upgrades will begin from October 1.

The issue: Were these licences ever in real danger? Or were the threats largely leverage for negotiation? If so, is it fair to label the earlier stance as “firm enforcement” when what ensued was a compromise rather than a direct price cut?

Comparisons with Other Countries
• One of George’s arguments is that Ghanaian consumers are paying far more than customers in other countries (Nigeria is often cited) for the same Premium bouquet. Yet, while invoking those comparisons, the final measure does not seem to have fully aligned Ghana’s pricing with those benchmarked countries — rather, consumers are getting more “value” for the price. Which again begs the question: is the outcome meeting the original benchmark of fairness?

Promises about Local Content, Promotions, vs Sustainability

• The minister has argued that the pricing issue is not just about cost, but value, service quality, and content relevance.
• He’s also stressed the government’s regulatory role, public accountability, and that corporations should not be able to exploit cost differences.

The issue: For many consumers, what matters most is what comes off their bank balances. If the value upgrades require maintained or even increased payments in many bouquets, then “value” is a comforting word but may not relieve financial pressure. Some people see a difference between token “upgrades” and real price relief.

Some consumers indicated that “I’m happy I get more channels, but I still pay almost the same. Does that change much when bills rise?” While another said, “If they reduced the fees, I’d feel the relief. Getting more for the same doesn’t always help me save.”

So, is Sam George guilty of double standards? Maybe not entirely, but there are legitimate criticisms:
• When you promise a cut, people expect lower fees, not just fancier bouquets.
• When you threaten enforcement, people expect consequences if providers don’t comply, not just protracted negotiations.
• And when comparisons with other countries fuel expectations, outcomes that fall short risk eroding trust.

Conclusion:
1. The minister should clarify: for every bouquet, is the price dropping? Or are only features increasing?
2. Also, provide transparent comparisons of what people pay in Ghana vs Nigeria (or other markets) after the value upgrades.
3. Set clear enforcement and prevent non-achievement from being excused by “promotional offers.”

Until then, supporters will respect the drive, but critics will question whether it’s more showmanship than substance.

In the end, it’s not just about phrases like “fairness” and “value” — it’s about impact in people’s pockets. If Sam George’s mission truly is to deliver relief to Ghanaians, then the measure of his success will be seen in reduced burden, not just upgraded channels.

Source: Martha Crentsil Acquah

The country has still not heard the President of the Republic, H.E. John Dramani Mahama, giving a hint of any appointment with regard to a substantive Minister for Defence (MOD).

Although security agencies such as the National Security, National Intelligence Bureau, Ghana Police, and Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) are executing their mandate, it is essential to have a substantive MOD as soon as possible for some reasons enumerated.

1. The Defence sector is the top-most among every sector in any country, hence requires continuity by replacing officials as soon as possible to fill in the gap. This ensures continuity in dealing with threats and being abreast with the changing dynamics of threats.
2. The Ministry of Defence requires a substantive minister for direction and purpose. The Ministry of Defence is currently having an Acting MOD in the person of Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson. In an acting capacity, one is temporarily ‘holding the forth’ until someone is appointed permanently. Dr. Cassiel is also Ghana’s Finance Minister and at the same time Chairman of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development’s Board of Governors as at the time of this piece. This signals the quantum of workload he has. The Defence ministry is a very sensitive agency established to ensure Ghana’s territorial integrity and sovereignty through the formulation of essential policies and ideas aimed at combat readiness of the GAF.
3. A substantive Minister of Defence provides leadership with regard to the security space. Defence as a concept in itself is a very essential pillar when it comes to national security. A substantive minister would ensure clear and swift decision-making. Decision makers should not forget that, the Defence Minister is part of Cabinet hence a very important figure when it comes to decision making that bothers on not only security but also human rights, justice, and peace.
4. Reference to my article on January 10, 2025 regarding “Imminent changes within some key security agencies, state institutions, and its implications”, I stated that “… [t]he incoming Defense Minister must have the experience and knowledge not only on internal security issues and apparatus of the country but also the professionalism to collaborate with defence counterparts in neighboring states”. It is not a doubt that the late Defence Minister was very intelligent and abreast with security issues including having a very good rapport with the Service Chiefs. The new Defense Minister should be someone who commands respect from the various heads of the security agencies, Service Chiefs, and should be abreast with current security dynamics not only in Ghana but also within the sub-region.
5. Inter-agency coordination and collaboration is essential in the face of many threats we face. Leadership is paramount in this regard for the purposes of strategic policy planning and execution. The other most important aspect of coordination is in line with inter-state Defense collaborations in the sub-region and on the international front. A newly appointed Defence Minister will perform functions, which includes strengthening military ties with other states, sub-regional blocks and international institutions aimed at military collaboration, aid, joint training exercises, and capacity building. This gives the Armed Forces new dynamics to defence and security mechanisms. Effective collaboration also promotes coordination among the various arms of the Armed Forces. Lately, our men in uniform have come under severe criticism regarding their way of handling issues in the civilian space. When coordination is effective with state security agencies, it will result to an improved civil-military oversight. An appointed Minister of Defence will ensure an enhanced coordination between the President, various security agencies, service chiefs, and the civilian populace. What we have to know is that, any one acting in a capacity of Defence Minister may lack the authority and zeal to push for major defense agendas including the general welfare of the personnel’s in the sector.

What are some the threats in the country that warrants a substantive Minister of Defence?

Ghana faces rising threats such as terrorism & violent extremism close to our borders, illegal mining, communal clashes, inter-ethnic conflicts, and chieftaincy conflicts causing internally and externally displaced persons.

Furthermore, youth unrest, youth radicalization, political vigilantism, high unemployment, illicit drug usage, misinformation and disinformation, armed robbery, proliferation of small arms and light weapons, organized crime on the high seas and inland, and cybersecurity threats all add to the threats.

These are just some of the many threats that continue to test our security architecture, emergency preparedness, and operational capacity.

A substantive minister can mobilize resources and lead responses effectively, working closely with the Interior Minister and Service Chiefs.

Others may argue that these are for the Interior Minister to focus on or see them as internal security matters; hence, they do not necessarily call for the Defence Minister to be involved.

However, I am talking about the defense of the country in general (dealing with threats internal and external) and not one aspect of internal security. All these calls for the attention of a substantive Defence Minister, together with the Interior Minister to formulate ideas and address these pressing issues.

Let me just make a few points on what I consider essential areas to focus on regarding the threats the country faces. With regard to terrorism & violent extremism, the situation in Burkina Faso and Mali poses challenges, especially in the Northern part of Ghana, looking at the inter-ethnic conflicts and proliferation of weapons.

These conflicts notably the Bawku conflict, which I have reiterated before, could be a conduit for some armed and criminal elements to continue taking advantage.

On illegal mining, there are calls for the central government to declare a state of emergency to deal decisively with the menace. Instead, the government has rather opted for the declaration of security zones.

Declaring a geographical area a security zone in itself entails a lot; I may share insights regarding that in another write-up. I do not intend to sound pessimistic, but the fight against galamsey will be a lost cause if we do not implement the needful.

We have not seen anything yet; the real conflict has not started, and if it does, we may not be able to address it. The conflicts we are currently grappling with centers on chieftaincy and land-related factors.

The interior minister has attempted by setting up a committee to come up with a roadmap towards addressing the Gbenyiri conflict.

The Nkwanta conflict is also staring at us; this is just to name a few. Our approaches have been mostly direct prevention (curfews), which focuses on dealing with imminent threats without much attention to the structural approaches. Proliferation of weapons has been a challenge to not only security agencies but also the commission in charge of Small Arms and Light Weapons.

Do we have a way forward regarding the porous borders where these weapons come through? What is the state agency on weapons doing? How are we dealing with the politicization of conflicts? Have we identified stakeholders who profit from conflicts hence fund them?

The Council of State should call on the President to consider appointing a substantive Minister for Defence as a matter of urgency.

The Council of State should advise the president to appoint someone who will command respect from the Defence sector due to its sensitive nature.

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Interior should wade into this issue and call on the President to appoint someone. The defence sector is an essential one; hence, the need to have its Minister promptly.

Source: Doke Victor, PhD – Faculty of Academic Affairs – KAIPTC

The signing coincides with the rising demand for platform working, as companies of all sizes increasingly provide employees with access to a network of locations to maintain productivity and employee satisfaction

This opening follows a partnership agreement with the building owner, who has invested in the International Workplace Group platform to create a branded flexible workspace in their building.

The location comes on the heels of International Workplace Group signing 899 new locations globally in the first half of 2025, signing 496 centres & and achieving the highest ever revenue

International Workplace Group, the world’s largest platform for work with brands including Spaces and Regus, is opening a state-of-the-art flexible workspace in Accra.

With the long-term shift to more flexible ways of working, IWG is expanding its network to keep pace with rising demand across Ghana.

The addition of International Workplace Group’s latest location in Accra comes on the heels of the business posting its highest-ever revenue, cash flow and earnings growth in its history and achieving rapid network growth, with more new locations signed and opened in the first half of 2025 than in the entire first decade of its operations.

IWG’s network now comprises more than one million rooms in 121 countries.

Situated in the Airport Residential Area on the 3rd Floor of the Oil and Marine Agencies Ghana Limited (OMA) building, this new location is part of a drive by International Workplace Group to meet the sharply rising demand for top-class flexible working space in the area.

Opened on the 1st of October 2025, the 3-storey building will provide space for established firms and start-ups across a range of industries, including Aviation, Hospitality, Diplomatic services, Small businesses and Startups, while International Workplace Group’s Design Your Own Office service allows companies to tailor their space entirely to their requirements.

The new Regus location will include facilities such as private offices, meeting rooms, co-working and creative spaces.

The building owners decided to invest in the International Workplace Group platform to maximise the return on their real estate space by capitalising on the rapidly expanding demand for hybrid working.

Research by leading academics has found that greater flexibility over how and where employees work offers a multitude of benefits for workers, including enhanced work-life balance, financial savings, and health benefits.

Employers also reap the rewards of hybrid models through increased firm productivity, cost savings, and a more efficient, engaged workforce.

In fact, recent research by IWG and workplace consultancy Arup found that hybrid working can boost productivity by 11%. Facilitated by flexible workspaces, hybrid working could add up to $566 billion in GVA to the US economy annually by 2045 – the equivalent GVA of Austin, Texas[i].

With explosive market growth as companies of all sizes adopt more flexible and decentralised models for the long-term, it is predicted that 30% of all commercial real estate will be flexible workspace by 2030.

With International Workplace Group, partners are able to capitalise on this fast-growing sector while being supported by International Workplace Group’s unparalleled experience.

Hybrid working offers companies a significantly lower cost base with an average saving of $11,000 per employee [ii].

International Workplace Group is the leading global platform for work, featuring thousands of locations in more than 120 countries, with members able to access all of the locations and business services via the IWG app.

As the ongoing shift towards more flexible, decentralised and hybrid models of working accelerates, the potential for further growth is exponential, with an estimated 1.2 billion white collar workers globally and a total addressable market of more than $2 trillion.

In 2024, International Workplace Group welcomed 899 new partner locations and counts 83 per cent of Fortune 500 companies among its customer base.

Mark Dixon, CEO & Founder of International Workplace Group PLC, commented: “We are establishing a stronger and much-needed footprint in Accra with this latest opening. As an important business hub, the Airport Residential Area is a fantastic place for us to boost our expansion plans.

We are very pleased to work in partnership with Oil and Marine Agencies Ghana Limited to develop the Regus brand under a management agreement that will add a cutting-edge workspace to their building.

“Our opening in Accra comes at a time when more and more companies are discovering that flexible and platform working is incredibly popular with employees, improving their work-life balance and satisfaction, while also providing a multitude of benefits to companies.

“Our workplace model is proven to increase productivity and allows for a business to scale up or down at significantly reduced costs while providing access to thousands of locations.”

About International Workplace Group PLC

International Workplace Group (IWG) is the world’s leading platform for work, enabling companies of all sizes to work more productively and profitably.

We create personal, financial, and strategic value for the most exciting companies and well-known organizations on the planet, as well as individuals and the next generation of industry leaders. All of them harness the power of IWG’s platform to increase their productivity, efficiency, agility, and market proximity.

International Workplace Group’s unrivalled network coverage includes more than 4,000 locations across 120 countries, and 83% of Fortune 500 companies are amongst our growing customer base.

Our brands, including Regus, Spaces, HQ and Signature, serve millions of people, providing professional, inspiring and collaborative workspaces, and all our digital services are available via the IWG app.

Source: Melvin Tarlue

[i] Source: IWG Hybrid Working Productivity Report, June 2025 – https://media.iwgplc.com/IWG/MediaCentre/IWG_Hybrid_Working_Productivity_Report_June_2025.pdf
[ii] Source: Global Workplace Analytics – https://globalworkplaceanalytics.com/telecommuting-statistics

In just nine months from January to August 2025, 1,937 lives have been lost in road crashes across Ghana.

That’s more than eight people every day, ripped from their families and their futures.

But while the death toll is staggering, an even more alarming pattern is hiding in plain sight.

According to shocking new statistics from the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), four out of every five people who die on Ghana’s roads are men. Yes, you read that right.

Men account for 79% of road fatalities. Women? 21%.

That’s a 4;1 gender death gap, and it’s no coincidence. It’s a brutal, recurring reality that’s been consistent year after year, but largely ignored.

The gender gap in the graveyard

Why are so many more men dying? According to road safety analysts, the reason lies not in biology but in behaviour and exposure.

Men make up the overwhelming majority of drivers, commercial transport operators, and motorcycle riders. They are more likely to speed, drive under stress, flout road traffic regulations, and take risks behind the wheel.

But the cost is evident: funerals instead of family dinners, coffins instead of commutes.

VEHICLES OF DEATH: WHAT’S KILLING US?
When it comes to the types of vehicles most involved in deadly crashes, the breakdown for the first half of 2025 is as follows:
• Private Vehicles: 41%
• Commercial Vehicles: 34%
• Motorcycles: 25%
But here’s the most chilling part: motorcycle-related crashes have surged by a jaw-dropping 21% compared to the same period in 2024.

Motorbikes, often used as a cheaper, faster alternative in congested cities and rural areas, have become deadly machines.

Riders are frequently untrained, unlicensed, or simply reckless. And the passengers? Often, without helmets, safety, or any chance of survival.

Regional hotspots: Where blood flows most

If Ghana’s roads were battlefields, these are the most dangerous war zones:
1. Ashanti region: The deadliest of them all 
• 3,710 crashes
• 479 deaths in nine months — 60 more deaths than 2024

2. Greater Accra – A city under siege 
• 3,004 crashes
• 264 deaths
• Crashes are up, though deaths are slightly down, but still high

3. Eastern region: Fewer crashes, more crashes

• 1,360 crashes
• 405 deaths

Compare that to Greater Accra’s 10 deaths per 100 crashes — and you begin to see a disturbing truth: crashes in the Eastern Region are far more lethal.

Voices from the road: Drivers speak out

Many drivers in the Asante Region — where the most lives are lost — point to poor road conditions, police negligence, lawless overtaking, and overloaded commercial vehicles.

In Greater Accra, drivers cite congestion, impatience, and lack of enforcement.

But all agree: the roads are chaotic, dangerous, and often deadly — not just due to infrastructure, but because of human error and indiscipline.

“THE CARNAGE MUST STOP” — AUTHORITIES SPEAK
Simbiat Wiredu, Corporate Affairs Manager at NRSA, attributed the crash surge to a mix of:
• Overspeeding
• Wrongful overtaking
• Distracted driving
• Lack of maintenance on vehicles
• Poor road-user attitudes

Meanwhile, Chief Superintendent Alexander Obeng, in charge of Research and Monitoring at the Ghana Police Service, told Adom News that enforcement alone isn’t enough.

“We need a national mindset change. Education, enforcement, engineering — they must all come together.”

ACT NOW — OR MORE WILL DIE
The writing is on the wall — and on the tarmac in blood.
Ghana’s roads have become death traps. Every crash is more than a number; it’s a life lost, a family destroyed, a future cut short.

This is not just a transportation issue. This is a national emergency.
Until there is urgent action, the deadly gender gap will persist. The fatalities will rise. And the silence of the morgues will keep growing louder than the horns on our highways.

Have you lost someone to a road crash?
Please share your story in the comments below or tag us on social media with #GhanaRoadTruth
QUICK FACTS:
• 1,937 deaths (Jan–August 2025)
• 79% male fatalities and Females 21%
• Motorcycle crashes up 21%
• Asante Region: 479 deaths — the highest in Ghana
• Eastern Region: Highest crash-to-death ratio (28 per 100)

Source: Akwasi Agyeman, Editor in Charge of Special Assignments

Think wars, floods, pandemics, or violent clashes.

For Gen Z, who live online 24/7, like to be “outside” and don’t like long grammar, outspoken, creative, and highly connected.

They thrive on social media, value freedom of expression, and are quick to mobilize online movements.

A generation that balances “soft life” vibes seeking comfort, self-expression, and opportunities with a deep concern for social justice, jobs, and their future, this matters because it could affect your movement, your social life, and even how businesses run.

It’s about knowing what happens to our freedoms, our businesses, and even our Friday night hangouts if the country suddenly switches into crisis mode.

Imagine your “outside” life coming to a halt, road trips, the Sunday fufu and trying new places seized due to some greedy folks who do not care about your peace and sanity and have decided to destroy the country’s forest and water bodies.

No concerts, no link-ups, no weekend flexing. Social media, their main playground, might face tighter monitoring, dimming their loud online voices.

Think of a state of emergency as Ghana’s “crisis mode button.” It is the government’s way of saying that normal systems aren’t enough to handle a serious threat like war, violent unrest, a pandemic, or a natural disaster.

It gives the state special powers to move faster, but the Constitution makes sure it is not a free-for-all. There are rules, checks, and time limits built in.

Now let’s bring it closer to home. Recently, there has been a loud chorus of voices calling for Ghana to declare a state of emergency over illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.

Civil society groups, labour unions, and even the Ghana Journalists Association are saying galamsey isn’t just an environmental issue anymore; it’s a full-blown crisis.

Rivers are poisoned, forests destroyed, communities losing livelihoods, and water scarcity is looming.

If clean water is at risk, that’s literally life at risk. And under the Constitution, that could qualify as grounds for emergency powers.

But here’s the catch: Declaring a state of emergency in galamsey zones could mean tighter control curfews in mining areas, heavy military presence, shutting down illegal operations overnight. It might fast-track environmental cleanup and protect water bodies.

For Gen Z, that could mean safer drinking water in the future and less toxic land, but also restrictions on movement in affected communities and possible job losses for those who depend on small-scale mining.

The hustle and grind you put in to afford “the soft” life you want is pushed back, days, months or even a year. How would you survive?

In Ghana, only the President can declare a state of emergency. Even then, the President cannot just wake up and do it alone. He must first act on the advice of the Council of State, then issue an official proclamation in the government Gazette.

The moment this happens, Parliament must be informed immediately, with the facts and reasons clearly laid out. Parliament has seventy-two hours to decide whether to approve or reject the proclamation. If Parliament does nothing, the declaration lapses after seven days.

If a majority of MPs vote in favour, the emergency can run for three months, and any extension after that must be renewed month by month. Parliament also has the power to revoke it at any time, which means the executive cannot hold onto emergency powers unchecked.

The Constitution goes further to make sure people’s rights are not erased completely. During a state of emergency, some freedoms like movement, assembly, or even expression can be restricted if the situation demands it. Curfews, checkpoints, and bans on large gatherings are examples of measures that may come into play.

However, core rights such as the right to life and freedom from torture cannot be suspended under any circumstances. When someone is detained during an emergency, the law insists on strict safeguards: the detainee must be told the reason for their arrest in writing within twenty-four hours, their family must be notified, and after ten days a tribunal made up of judges must review the case.

That review is repeated every three months if the detention continues, and once the emergency ends, everyone held under those powers must be released immediately. The courts remain open, and citizens can still challenge abuses through processes like habeas corpus.

For ordinary people, the effects of an emergency declaration are felt in daily routines and in the economy. Nightlife and market activities are often the first to be disrupted because curfews force businesses to close early.

Taxi drivers, food vendors, and others who depend on night-time activity lose income, as happened during the Dagbon crisis in 2002 when Tamale and Yendi were placed under dusk-to-dawn curfew.

At the same time, government resources are often redirected to relief and security efforts, which can slow down normal development projects but bring in aid and emergency assistance.

Investors and businesses also pay close attention, since a prolonged emergency can shake confidence, at least temporarily.

Ghana has been very careful with this tool. Since the 1992 Constitution came into effect, a nationwide state of emergency has never been declared. It has only been used twice in specific regions: first in 1994 during ethnic clashes in the Northern Region, and again in 2002 after the assassination of the Dagbon king.

Both times Parliament renewed the declaration until calm was restored, and both times curfews, heavy security deployments, and stricter media controls became part of daily life. Later crises, such as the 2015 floods in Accra or even the COVID-19 pandemic, were handled with other laws rather than invoking Article 31, showing how rare and serious this measure is.

For Gen Z, the big takeaway is that a state of emergency is not just a dramatic headline. It is a constitutional process that balances swift government action with democratic oversight. It changes how society functions for a period of time, limiting certain freedoms while focusing on restoring order and protecting lives.

And because Parliament and the courts remain involved every step of the way, it is also a reminder that even in crisis, the rule of law still matters.

Not everyone thinks it’s the magic fix, though. Some experts warn that the galamsey problem is so deep tied to politics, corruption, and poverty that a state of emergency might end up hurting innocent people more than stopping the real culprits. Others fear it could give government too much power, risking abuse in the name of “fighting galamsey.”

So here’s the bottom line. A state of emergency is Ghana’s way of saying, “things are out of hand, let’s act fast.” It gives the government muscle to tackle urgent threats, but the Constitution makes sure that muscle has limits.

In the galamsey debate, declaring a state of emergency could show just how seriously the country takes the fight to save our environment.

But like every power move, it’s a double-edged sword and Gen Z needs to understand both sides, because the choices made today will shape the Ghana we inherit tomorrow.

Source: Carolyn Tetteh

Yet in Sub-Saharan Africa, where student–teacher ratios can reach 50:1 and many children still lack access to quality learning resources, the need for innovative solutions is urgent.

What excites me most about AI in African education is the potential to address persistent inequalities in ways that haven’t been possible before.

For too long, students in under-resourced schools have had fewer opportunities simply because their teachers lacked access to support, materials, or professional development.

AI can change this dynamic fundamentally, making world-class support accessible even in the most remote classrooms.

Across Africa, AI has the potential to drive change in schools, but only if it is shaped to fit the realities of African classrooms, rather than forcing classrooms to adapt to the technology.

The real promise lies in AI’s power to personalise learning at scale, helping teachers meet the needs of every student in classes that are often large and diverse. When AI is guided by local priorities, cultural context and teacher expertise, it stops being a futuristic add-on and becomes a practical ally.

The challenges

Three obstacles stand out most clearly from our work across the continent.

Connectivity remains a major challenge across much of Sub-Saharan Africa. Teachers want to use AI tools, but can’t always access them when they need them most. That means that classroom tools need to have offline capabilities, such as pre-generated material, and tools need to work effectively with intermittent internet connections.

Language barriers present another complexity. While many teachers are comfortable teaching in English, this is not their students’ mother tongue, and they often need to explain concepts in local languages. We’re working on multilingual capabilities through researching the African language capabilities of leading AI chatbots, but this remains an ongoing challenge that requires careful cultural and linguistic adaptation.

Perhaps most importantly, we’re hearing that teachers want more time to explore and experiment with AI tools. The demanding nature of teaching, particularly in resource-constrained environments, means that many educators struggle to find space for learning new technologies. If adoption is to succeed, professional development and time allowances must be built into the process from the start.

Making AI familiar

The beauty of AI integration in education lies not in expensive hardware or complex software, but in leveraging the tools teachers already have access to. Through our work across Sub-Saharan Africa, we’ve discovered that the most practical entry point is often the smartphone in a teacher’s pocket.

Our WhatsApp teacher support AI chatbot project in South Africa demonstrates this perfectly. Teachers are already comfortable with WhatsApp; they understand how to send messages, and they can access support instantly without needing new apps or training on unfamiliar platforms. When a teacher in a rural classroom needs help differentiating a lesson for mixed-ability learners or wants quick feedback on a lesson plan, they can simply message our AI assistant and receive immediate, contextualised support.

This approach works because it builds on existing digital behaviours rather than requiring teachers to learn entirely new systems. We’ve found that teachers who start with familiar interfaces, such as WhatsApp, develop confidence that naturally extends to other AI tools over time.

Empowering educators as architects of learning

At Cambridge, we believe the power of AI in education lies in a human-centred approach that starts “where teachers are,” respecting their agency and empowering them as architects of learning, not just consumers of technology.

It is this human-centred approach that is key to helping students navigate change and use technology effectively. A recent Cambridge report, ‘Preparing learners to thrive in a changing world’, which captures the views of nearly 7,000 teachers and students across 150 countries, shows that while technology is widely embraced to support teaching and learning, over a third of teachers surveyed (34%) selected over-reliance on technology as the greatest challenge that technology might pose in preparing students for the future. In this age of AI, we believe that it is essential for students to develop a solid foundation of subject knowledge to help them interpret information critically and effectively.

This insight is one reason we are especially focused on helping African education systems avoid the challenges other regions have faced with technology adoption. Our approach emphasises teacher training, infrastructure readiness, and gradual implementation, rather than rapid, large-scale deployments that too often fail to deliver their intended outcomes.

We’ve structured our Getting Started with AI in the Classroom guide around practical scenarios that teachers encounter daily, and our professional development programme for STEM teachers exemplifies this philosophy too.

Rather than starting with “here’s how to use this AI tool”, we begin with “here’s how AI can solve real problems you face in your classroom”. Teachers learn to evaluate AI outputs critically, asking questions like: Does this explanation match my students’ cultural context? Are there biases in the examples provided? How can I adapt this suggestion to fit my teaching style?

A future built for teachers

Teachers in Africa are incredibly creative and adaptable, and we’re starting to see them use AI in ways that we never anticipated. They’re adapting tools to local languages, incorporating traditional knowledge systems, and developing approaches that reflect their deep understanding of their communities. This innovation from the ground up suggests that AI integration in African classrooms will look quite different from implementations in other parts of the world, and that’s exactly as it should be.

Our vision is AI that helps preserve what’s best about African education while addressing its most persistent challenges. This means supporting the strong relationships between teachers and students, the collaborative learning approaches, and the community connections that characterise many African classrooms, while using AI to reduce administrative burden, enhance personalisation and provide teachers with better support.

To make this vision real, three things are essential: deeper investment in teacher training, stronger collaboration with ministries and local tech innovators, and sustained infrastructure development to bridge connectivity gaps.

Ultimately, I’m excited about a future where every African student has access to excellent education, supported by teachers who feel confident, well-resourced and professionally fulfilled. AI won’t create this future by itself, but it can be a powerful tool in the hands of dedicated educators working toward that goal.

About Cambridge

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is part of the University of Cambridge. Our International Education group works with schools worldwide to build an education that shapes knowledge, understanding and skills. Together, we give learners the confidence they need to thrive and make a positive impact in a changing world. We offer a globally trusted and flexible framework for education from age 3 to 19 (the Cambridge Pathway), informed by research, experience, and listening to educators.

With recognised qualifications (such as Cambridge IGCSE, International AS & A Levels, and the AICE Diploma), high-quality resources, comprehensive support and valuable insights, we help schools prepare every student for the opportunities and challenges ahead. Together, we help Cambridge learners be ready for the world.

Learn more at www.cambridgeinternational.org

Media contact
Khanyi Mamba
Marketing Communications Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa, International Education
Cambridge University Press & Assessment
Khanyi.mamba@cambridge.org

Source: Melvin Tarlue

The Techiman-Bole-Wa highway, a vital economic artery connecting Ghana’s middle and northern regions, has deteriorated into a punishing trial for travellers and traders.

What should be a journey of commerce and connection is now a test of endurance, characterised by deep potholes, eroded shoulders, and unpredictable dust bowls that transform into slippery mudslides with every rainfall.

The deplorable state of the road severely impacts daily life. It inflates transportation costs, damages vehicles, and prolongs travel time, stifling economic activity and posing significant safety risks.

Former Majority Leader and Suame MP, Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, on April 9, 2021, revealed that the then-NPP government secured US$250 million to reshape Bole-Sawla-Wa road and US$150 million was received as the first part of the loan.

However, residents continued to pour out their frustrations, demanding immediate improvement in road infrastructure, especially the Sunyani-Techiman-Wa road.

On April 2, 2025, the government, through the Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwame Agbodza, acknowledged the crisis and charged the Ghana Highways Authority to undertake engineering studies and designs for sections of the corridor that are not currently under construction in preparation for the upcoming works under the “Big Push” initiative.

Despite announcements and campaigns, there is a visible delay in contractors moving fully to the site to begin substantive work.

A postgraduate student at UEW, Ernest Bokunoba Kuulale, who travels on the road regularly, expressed his frustrations.

“Travelling home from school is a nightmare. A twelve-hour trip now takes eighteen to twenty-two hours. We’re constantly anxious about accidents or our buses breaking down in the middle of nowhere,” he said.

Another regular user of the road at the Department of Biology Education, UEW, Mr. Isaac Tantie described the road as a disgrace to the leaders.

“This road is a major barrier to academic collaboration and discourages professionals from accepting postings here. Our leaders must do something about it, or else the people will lose confidence in them.”

The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa Constituency in the Upper West Region, Dr. Sebastian N. Sandaare, in March 2025 made an urgent appeal to President John Mahama, through the Minister responsible for Roads and Highways, to fix the Wa-Bole-Techiman Road.

Without mincing words, the lawmaker said, “Mr. Speaker, if this road is not fixed immediately, it will slow down economic activities, increase transportation costs, inflate the prices of goods and services, and deter investments and tourism. The longer we delay, the more these challenges will escalate,” the lawmaker said.

“Mr. Speaker, one of the most distressing consequences of this poor road network is the increasing spate of accidents. Common occurrences include tyre bursts and vehicle collisions as drivers attempt to dodge potholes.

The cumulative effect is that this road is both unsafe and unbearably long to travel. A journey that should take less than 12 hours -from Accra to Wa- now takes an average of 18 hours or more.

“Transport operators, including the State Transport Company (STC), are gradually abandoning the route, leaving many communities stranded,” he reaffirmed.

The Techiman, Bole, Wa-Hamile road forms part of the N12 trans-ECOWAS highway linking the Upper West and Savannah Regions to the Southern part of Ghana and neighboring Burikina Faso and la Co’devoir.

The promise of a new road is a beacon of hope, but for those navigating this hazardous corridor daily, action cannot come soon enough.

The economic vitality of the region depends on this crucial link being restored to a safe and motorable state.

Source: Jacob Booyere (Journalism and Media Studies student-University of Education, Winneba (JMS-UEW))

At 15, I made a decision that worsened the pain of growing up without a father. I smoked weed for the first time.

I left Akatsi in 2000 as a calm “Granny’s boy” who had never seen weed before. Two years later, I returned as a full-blown “ghetto boy.” My grandmother was devastated. She wished she hadn’t let me move to Takoradi for SHS. But the damage was already done.

Lost at 15

The first 14 years of my life were spent under my grandmother’s care. Then, suddenly, I was in Takoradi, far from home, far from her. My uncle, who was supposed to look after me, got transferred to Accra. I didn’t even know my father was back in Ghana. With no phones at the time and Akatsi three regions away, I was left completely on my own.

During my first SHS midterm, I had nowhere to go. While other students travelled home, I wandered through Takoradi, discovering nightspots like Cobbypop, Brotherhood, and Harbour View Casino. Those places became my classroom.

My First Puff

One night, outside Harbour View Casino, I met a man called Paa Kwesi. He looked like a junkie but spoke fluent English with a diaspora accent. He asked if I had weed. I didn’t, but I promised to get some.

The next day, I bought two wraps from Cobbypop. I never saw him again, but now the weed was in my pocket. After fumbling with it in the bush behind campus, I eventually got someone to roll it properly. And that night, at just 15, I got high for the first time.

That choice gave my enemies, including my father, a weapon against me. I was no longer just the abandoned child. I was now the “spoilt wee smoker.”

The Reality of Teen Smoking

Smoking weed as a teenager isn’t just about getting high. It comes with stigma, stereotyping, and victimisation. People stop trusting you. Parents warn their kids to avoid you. You get labeled as a “problem child” or “criminal.”

Weed also exposes you to harder drugs because the ghettos where it’s sold are usually hubs for pills, crack, cocaine, and heroin. I lost more than 10 promising friends, bright, intelligent boys who ended up as junkies or criminals. I was lucky not to join them.

Yes, I know some people who smoke and still make money, but most are scammers or dealers. And none of them would ever want their own children to walk that path.

Some Hard Numbers

95% of those who start before age 14 often end up a mess.

80% of those who start between 15 and 18 years (SHS age) may face the same fate.

Even starting at university isn’t safe, half of them still get trapped.

Weed may be a powerful economic crop for Africa if legalised and industrialised. But for teenagers, smoking it is a dangerous gamble that closes doors and destroys futures.

My Reflection

If I hadn’t started smoking at 15, I believe I could have rebuilt my life after SHS, even without my father’s acceptance. I could have become someone he’d be proud to call a son. But I became a “fire starter” instead.

I still believe ganja should be legalised, decriminalised, and used as an export product. But for teenagers, it is poison.

A Word to Parents

Please pay attention to your children in SHS. In Ghana, unlike in the West, we send our kids away for high school at 14 to 18 years. These are the years they need their parents most.

My story isn’t about condemning weed. It’s about telling the truth. Teenagers should not smoke. I lived it. I know.

Source: Selorm Ameza

Fishermen dipped their calabashes into it like mugs at a street-side cocoa beverage seller, while children asked if it came with sugar. Even the catfish swam about in confusion, wondering who had turned their home into a breakfast beverage gone wrong.

On the farms, the story is no less absurd. Cassava now sprouts with a side of mercury, kontomire leaves come seasoned with arsenic, and tomatoes carry the faint crunch of cadmium. The EPA, usually as quiet as a church mouse in harmattan, has broken into a funeral hymn: Ghana’s farm produce in mining zones is laced with heavy metals, fish in major rivers are unsafe for human consumption, and soils once rich with cocoa promise are poisoned beyond redemption. We are no longer eating food; we are nibbling away at slow-motion suicide.

Yet when Oliver Barker-Vormawor led the #StopGalamseyNow vigil in Accra, his cry was not about technical reports or laboratory data. He shouted, “Nine months is enough to give birth!” Nine months, indeed. Goats manage it on schedule, but our government midwives still sit in the labour ward arguing whether the contractions are genuine or just indigestion after too much fufu.
Citizens marched with placards, rivers groaned in silence, and the midwives leafed through their grammar books for another round of “robust frameworks” and “renewed onslaughts.”

The demand for a state of emergency keeps echoing like a church bell, but government insists it is “a last resort.” Last resort to what? Too much clean water? Too many healthy farms? Perhaps they fear the excess of responsibility.

Meanwhile, reclaimed lands are seized back by miners like shirts snatched from the drying line, and every announcement of reclamation sounds less like victory and more like rehearsal for the next invasion.

Both parties take turns blaming each other. NDC insists NPP is the godfather of the pits; NPP insists NDC’s promises were emptier than a broken calabash. And in the middle, the rivers laugh bitterly: “It matters little which colour your T-shirt is when you’re drinking poison from the same pot.” Even the Concerned Drivers Association calls out the hypocrisy, warning that politicians treat galamsey like trotro fares—changing their tune depending on who is at the wheel.

And through it all, the EPA’s data hangs like a dark cloud: poisoned fish, toxic cocoa, contaminated vegetables. The very things that sustain us have turned executioners. We are dining at our own funeral banquet, with a menu written in mercury and arsenic.

The rivers have given their verdict. They no longer flow as gifts of life but as grim reminders of neglect. The forests stand stripped, the farms yield poison, and the people trade health for gold dust. In the Republic of Uncommon Sense, we have perfected the art of eating death with a smile.

As the elders say, “He who sells the forest will soon drink poison in the shade.”

But in the Republic of Uncommon Sense, satire is not only for laughter; it must also proffer solutions. So here are the Republic’s prescriptions for the galamsey plague:

1. Declare a State of Emergency, but make it real. Not the PowerPoint type. Deploy boots to rivers, not just suits to conferences.
2. Measure success in rivers turned clear, not press statements. Until the Ankobra runs blue again, don’t tell us about “robust frameworks.”
3. Put every political promise on probation. If cocoa still tastes like mercury after your tenure, your pension should be paid in poisoned tilapia.
4. Reclaim and guard, not reclaim and forget. Lands taken back must be monitored with the same zeal used in monitoring election collation centers.
5. Offer livelihoods that beat galamsey. Give the youth decent work, so they don’t have to choose between dying of poverty and dying of mercury.

So yes, the Republic has solutions. Whether they are taken up or tossed into the nearest polluted river is another story.

As the elders say: “The one who refuses advice will bathe in poisoned water.”

Gong. Curtain.

Jimmy Aglah
Republicofuncommonsense.com

That is the opening line of US Rapper Eminem’s 2002 hit Lose Yourself.

And 23 years later, this played out perfectly for Ghanaian documentary photographer, Paul Addo, on the hallowed royal durbar grounds of Manhyia in Kumasi, Ashanti Region.

A moment of fatigue became a moment of destiny when he reluctantly grabbed the opportunity to take a shot; unbeknownst to him, that single photo would define his professional journey.

Tired from the intensity of hectic activities, Paul decided to find a spot to rest his feet. That simple act led him to a scene that would forever etch his name into the visual history of the Asante Kingdom.

The photograph he took that day, June 26, of the Asantehemaa, Nana Konadu Yiadom III, just seven weeks later, became the official obituary portrait shared across billboards, newspapers, and live broadcasts during the state funeral of the revered queenmother.

The Fateful Day at Manhyia Palace

Paul’s dedication leads him to festivals and royal events across the country, often self-financing his travels.

His account of the day he photographed the Asantehemaa is a masterclass in a photographer’s instinct.

“I was very tired that day; you know how intense these festivals could be. I wanted to go and rest my feet a bit. Just when I was about to move, I saw an all-women group singing and dancing. There weren’t many, and they were right in front of Nana Hemaa. I couldn’t see her directly. I first took a picture of the women singing and dancing, and then, through a small opening, I saw that she was there, sitting under her umbrella.”

Curiosity compelled him to move closer.

“I didn’t know she was the Asantehemaa when I got there, but she was just glowing under her umbrella, and that compelled me to capture her.”

Following an unspoken protocol, he sought permission without words.

“I just bowed slightly to ask for permission and then, with the slightest nod, she agreed. And, you know, she looked me straight into the camera.”

For a few precious seconds, he had her attention.

Then, as she turned to speak with an attendant, Paul continued to shoot, preserving a candid glimpse of royalty.

Paul’s story is one of passion fuelled by perseverance. His advice to aspiring photographers is simple yet powerful:

“You have to shoot all the time… You cannot sit in your room and be thinking or dreaming about a particular shot. You just have to go out, and there you will find the stories, or the stories will find you.”

For Paul Addo, this iconic image is more than a single lucky shot; it is the powerful culmination of a deeply personal mission to tell the Ghanaian story with dignity, beauty, and truth.

How it all began

Paul Addo’s journey into photography began in Ghana’s pulsating music scene, working with platforms like GhanaMusic.com.

It was here, in the world of entertainment and early blogging, that he first encountered the power of an image.

However, the true spark ignited when he stumbled upon the work of a Ghanaian photographer named Yaw Opare online.

“These were pictures from somewhere in the Eastern region… and they were totally different from the regular pictures that I normally see from Ghanaian photographers at the time,” he says. “I had not really seen a photographer moving around the country and taking pictures of the landscape, so when I saw those pictures, it captivated me.”

He reached out, met Yaw Opare, and began studying under him.

Paul Addo is deliberate in calling himself a documentary photographer. His work is not just about capturing news; it’s about telling sustained, beautiful stories. He noticed a glaring disparity between the Ghana he lived in and the Ghana portrayed to the world.

“I realised that, oftentimes, the images that represent us as a country, and if you want to expand it as a continent, it’s not really the reality on the ground,” he explains, his voice firm with conviction. “The beauty within us isn’t shown; it’s not talked about that much. Oftentimes, it’s images of maybe a hungry child or a shirtless child somewhere, and then negative stories. And these are the images that they used to represent us.”

This realisation became the driving force behind his art. He set out to change the narrative, to focus on the profound beauty that resides in Ghana’s landscapes, its vibrant festivals, its rich food culture, and the dignified spirit of its people.

He also speaks candidly about the challenges, especially the business side of photography. He finances his personal projects through commercial gigs, weddings, events, and portraits, a common hustle for artists. But he issues a poignant call for local support, highlighting a critical gap.

“In the developed countries, they have some grants that they give to sponsor photographers to undertake projects. Here in Ghana, I don’t find much of that…,” he laments. I plead with the government and NGO’s to offer their support.”

Looking ahead, Paul Addo’s dreams are as vast as the continent he wishes to document. “I would love to travel the world and have a bigger platform internationally to showcase these works that I’ve been doing in Ghana and in the future Africa as well.”

His campaign remains anchored on a powerful idea, “Telling the Ghanaian story with photographs that dignify us. Not always the negative… we’ve portrayed a negative part of us for more than a hundred years, so we should be able to talk more about the good aspect also.”

Source: Judy Yayra Avanu

Since assuming office in 2022, Rev. Owusu, together with the National Officers, has steered GNAT into a new era defined by bold reforms, strengthened governance structures, and an unwavering focus on teacher welfare.

His three-year leadership has reinforced GNAT’s institutional framework while enhancing the association’s credibility and responsiveness to its members.

Strengthening Institutional Governance and Communication
A hallmark of Rev. Owusu’s leadership has been his commitment to transparency and effective governance. Key initiatives include:

• Transparent Dissemination of Conference Decisions: The 2022 National Delegates Conference decisions were promptly published, keeping all members informed and aligned.

• Distribution of Amended GNAT Constitution: For the first time in recent history, the updated Constitution was printed and distributed nationwide, equipping members with the knowledge of their rights and responsibilities.

• National Orientation Programmes: Comprehensive training sessions for Regional Council Members, administrative staff, and GNAT representatives strengthened capacity, clarified roles, and promoted institutional synergy.

• Codified Standing Orders and Electoral Reforms: A formal Standing Orders document and revised electoral guidelines have brought consistency, fairness, and transparency to meetings and elections.

A Call for Continuity
Rev. Owusu’s tenure has ushered in progress, discipline, and reform. The foundations laid between 2022 and 2025 signal not just achievement, but the promise of an even stronger GNAT if his leadership continues.

As members prepare to head to the polls, many are reflecting on this legacy of transformational leadership, effective governance, and dedicated service to teachers. For a union at the heart of Ghana’s education system, the choice of leadership is more than political—it is a reaffirmation of purpose and direction. The record speaks for itself. The vision continues.

Source: Kodwo Mensah Aboroampa

Compounding this challenge are over 50,000 drug abuse cases, with about 35,000 involving young people aged 12-35.

Sedentary lifestyles and the lack of safe, inclusive recreational spaces are major contributors to these issues.

Shockingly, only 20% of Ghanaian adults meet the World Health Organisation’s recommended physical activity levels, and less than 15% of school children engage in regular structured exercise.

These trends threaten not just the health of individuals but also the socio-economic stability of the nation. Lifestyle diseases are silently draining the national health budget and cutting short the lives of Ghana’s most productive citizens.

The rise in NCDs presents a dual health and economic crisis, but it also offers an opportunity for transformation.

 Recreation: More Than Just Fun

Recreation is often seen as leisure, but its benefits extend far beyond entertainment. It is a vital tool for preventive health, youth empowerment, rehabilitation, wellness, and nation-building.

Just 30 minutes of daily moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) can reduce the risk of NCDs by 40%.

Moreover, children involved in school sports are 50% more likely to excel academically and avoid risky behaviours (UNICEF, 2021). On a community level, recreation fosters social bonds, reduces crime, and promotes peace and inclusion.

The Government’s Response: Introducing NARWEP

In response to these pressing challenges, the Ministry of Sports and Recreation, under the leadership of Hon. Kofi Iddie Adams, is launching the National Recreation and Wellness Programme (NARWEP).

This innovative initiative aims to embed recreation and wellness into the fabric of everyday Ghanaian life by making physical activity and wellness part of daily routines, strengthening school sports as platforms for fitness, talent discovery, and essential life skills and using community-based recreation to promote peace, inclusion, and cultural pride.

Aligning with President John Dramani Mahama’s vision of placing recreation at the heart of national development, NARWEP complements ongoing efforts in health, education, and social cohesion. It is designed to build a healthier, stronger, and more productive Ghana.

Why recreation and wellness are critical

Ghana loses billions of cedis annually to the treatment of lifestyle-related diseases. The economic burden of NCDs is staggering, and inactivity is a silent epidemic.

Less than one in five adults and one in seven children meet recommended activity levels, making this a national issue with wide-ranging implications.

NARWEP is more than a sports initiative; it is a strategic social investment that benefits multiple sectors by reducing non-communicable disease prevalence and promoting preventive health in health, enhancing academic performance and student engagement in education, providing pathways for talent, skills, and employment in youth development, and cultivating a healthier nation as part of national development.

 Seizing the Opportunity

Investing in recreation is cost-effective every dollar spent on active lifestyle promotion can save three dollars in future healthcare costs (WHO, 2019).

Recreational activities also contribute to safer communities by reducing crime and substance abuse, while fostering inclusivity for women, persons with disabilities, and the elderly.

Focus Areas of NARWEP

NARWEP is built around four interconnected pillars: active recreation, which promotes community participation through wellness walks, aerobics, indigenous games, and informal play, leading to improved cardiovascular health, mental well-being, and stronger community bonds; wellness, which includes health screenings, nutrition education, and inclusive, therapeutic recreational activities that restore dignity, promote recovery, and foster social inclusion.

School recreation, which strengthens physical education, inter-school competitions, and recreational festivals will be targeted to develop discipline, teamwork and  leadership

The success of NARWEP depends on stakeholder engagement, which involves citizens embracing active lifestyles, schools prioritizing recreation and sports, businesses and corporate entities supporting through sponsorships and wellness programs, development partners and civil society working to expand reach, and traditional and religious leaders mobilizing communities. 

A Call to Action

Recreation and wellness are investments in Ghana’s future, not luxuries. By supporting NARWEP, we are choosing prevention over cure, inclusion over exclusion, and health over illness. Together, we can make Ghana a nation that moves, plays, and thrives.

Let us walk, play, and build a healthier Ghana. The time to act is now.

Source: Bagbara Tanko

In my October 2023 address, “Redefining Leadership and Governance in a Nation in Crisis”, I cautioned against two threats that could derail democratic governance amid the wave of military takeovers sweeping our sub-region.

The first—speculation that the incumbent government might subvert the people’s will in the 2024 elections—did not materialize.

The second, a more pressing danger, is that if the newly elected NDC government under President Mahama adopts a business-as-usual approach, public expectations will again be dashed.

Ghanaians are now demanding swift, decisive action on two critical issues: the Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL) initiative and the galamsey menace.

These are not merely policy matters—they are existential and moral tests. Failure to act decisively risks igniting frustrations that could undermine democracy and erode trust in leadership.

A Nation at a Crossroads

President Mahama recently highlighted the growing preference among some youth for military rule—a sentiment born of disillusionment. This reflects a democracy failing to deliver safety, dignity, and opportunity. Instead, citizens face:

• Hate, division, and exclusion

• Impunity and corruption

• Economic mismanagement and environmental destruction

• Youth unemployment, poverty, and inequality

• Social unrest and political tension

This is not the democracy Ghanaians fought for. A national reset must go beyond rhetoric to leadership with moral purpose.

Key Elements of Resetting the Nation

1. Moral Leadership
   Ghana’s governance crisis is fundamentally moral. Religious leaders, traditional rulers, academia, and the media must act as the nation’s moral compass, holding leaders accountable and safeguarding honesty, justice, and fairness.

2. Ethical Governance
   Ethics must underpin political and corporate life. Stronger laws, ethics education, and enforcement mechanisms can restore transparency and accountability. Without this, trust in institutions collapses.

3. Collaborative Approach
   Nation-building cannot be left to government alone. Citizens, civil society, and institutions must share responsibility in redefining the social contract for sustainable and inclusive development.

4. Visionary Leadership
   Leaders must see beyond electoral cycles. Initiatives like the 24-Hour Economy, Youth Service & Skills Corps, and Women’s Economic Resilience Initiative reflect visionary thinking that empowers citizens and lays a foundation for growth.

5. Overcoming Identity Politics
   Ethnic, partisan, or regional divisions have weakened national unity. Leaders must prioritize the national interest and unite Ghanaians around shared values and collective aspirations.

ORAL and Galamsey: The Trigger Point

The government’s credibility will be judged by decisive action on ORAL and galamsey:

• ORAL: Recovering looted state resources is about more than finances—it restores public trust and demonstrates leadership willing to confront entrenched interests.

• Galamsey: Illegal mining is an environmental and governance crisis. Fertile lands destroyed, rivers poisoned, and rural communities abandoned demand urgent intervention.

Together, ORAL and galamsey are the trigger point: either the start of a genuine reset or the spark of disillusionment threatening democratic stability.

The End of Politics as Usual

Globally, transactional politics is failing to address crises—from unemployment and cost-of-living pressures to climate change and pandemics. Ghana must embrace transformational leadership: inclusive, selfless, and visionary.

Conclusion: Leadership With Moral Purpose

The reset agenda is not politics; it is leadership with moral purpose. Ghana needs leaders who:

• Sacrifice self-interest for the common good

• Unite rather than divide

• Act boldly against entrenched corruption and destructive practices

By pursuing moral leadership, embedding ethical governance, and taking decisive action on ORAL and galamsey, Ghana can move from a politics of frustration to leadership of transformation—restoring dignity, prosperity, and justice for all.

Source: Akwasi Opong-Fosu, Governance and Public Policy Analyst, Former Minister of State

According to BoG, the decision reflects confidence in falling inflation and a strengthening economy. Yet, even as borrowing costs ease, questions arise.

Can the central bank hold the line against possible utility tariff hikes, global shocks, and the stubbornly high stock of bad loans in the banking sector?

The coming months will test whether the BoG’s bold easing stance can withstand the pressures that threaten Ghana’s hard-won stability.

From January to September 2025, the monetary policy path has swung dramatically. The year opened at 27 per cent, unchanged through February.

In March, the rate was hiked by 100 basis points to 28 per cent, where it held steady until June.

Then came the pivot: a 300-basis-point cut in July brought the rate down to 25 per cent, followed in September by an even sharper 350-basis-point reduction, settling at 21.5 per cent.

In total, Ghana has seen a net 550-basis-point drop this year, marking a clear shift from earlier tightening to aggressive easing as inflation pressures subsided and economic fundamentals improved.

The rationale is clear. Inflation has been on a steady decline for eight consecutive months, reaching 11.5 percent in August 2025, its lowest in four years.

Growth remains broad-based, with GDP expanding 6.3 per cent in Q2, and non-oil activities surging by 7.8 per cent, led by services and agriculture.

Fiscal consolidation is yielding results: the deficit narrowed to 1.1 per cent of GDP, a primary surplus was achieved, and public debt fell sharply from 61.8 per cent of GDP at end-2024 to 44.9 per cent by July 2025.

External buffers are also stronger, with a record US$6.2 billion trade surplus, reserves of US$10.7 billion covering 4.5 months of imports, and a 21 percent cedi appreciation year-to-date.

Meanwhile, the banking sector remains resilient, with a 17.7 per cent capital adequacy ratio and improving loan quality, as non-performing loans declined to 20.8 per cent.

For households, this cut promises gradually lower borrowing costs, cheaper loans, and relief for personal finance.

For businesses, it offers room to expand, invest, and create jobs. For government, it reduces financing costs and strengthens fiscal stability.

But risks remain. Potential utility tariff adjustments, external headwinds, and persistent bad loans could all undermine progress.

In short, the Bank of Ghana has made a bold gamble, balancing stability with growth. The rate cut signals optimism, but vigilance will be the price of sustaining Ghana’s fragile disinflation path and ensuring the gains of 2025 are not quickly reversed.

The writer, Prof. Isaac Boadi, is Dean, Faculty of Accounting and Finance, UPSA; and Executive Director, Institute of Economic and Research Policy

Source: Prof. Isaac Boadi

This is exactly what the people of Israel were doing about 2,500 years ago, and God was angry with them. He declared that He would not change His mind but would punish them (Amos 8:1-2).

I have conducted auditing at both professional and academic levels, and I have seen firsthand how people circumvent laid-down control systems to cheat. By God’s grace, I served on the Public Accounts Committee of Ghana’s Parliament for four years, where I came face-to-face with how billions of Cedis are manipulated.

In recent years, audit reports have revealed that more than GHC 12 billion were misappropriated, leaving our hospitals without beds and essential drugs, our roads as death traps, and our schools lacking textbooks.

Even at the market, when you stop buying tomatoes, you find that the tins are stuffed with leaves or rags. Alonka measures have been tampered with. At some filling stations, pumps are adjusted to cheat customers. Cocoa and cashew scales are manipulated as well. In all these, it is the poor who suffer the most. This mirrors what the Israelites were doing, which provoked God’s anger.

Why are we repeating the same mistakes today? Can we withstand God’s wrath? Psalm 113:7 reminds us that only God can give true financial blessing — not stealing. We must introspect, admit where we have gone wrong, and ask God for forgiveness.

Let us remember that when we cheat or steal, we are taking food, medicine, and resources meant for others. The sad reality is that when we die, we leave everything behind on earth, but we will give an account of our actions and inactions.

It is my prayer that we change our ways so we may receive God’s blessings rather than His anger, in Jesus’ name… Amen.

Source: Dr. Alex Kyeremeh

In September 2025, social media lit up after a commentator claimed that E&P had filed a notice to withdraw its claims—an assertion that, regardless of legal nuance, stirred public curiosity about the tribunal and its conduct.

Public confidence in arbitration depends not just on the law but on perception. In this case, presiding arbitrator Madam Funke Adekoya recently delivered the keynote at a memorial lecture hosted by Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah—the Ghanaian firm representing the respondents alongside an international firm. That appearance occurred while she chairs the very panel hearing E&P’s case.

Even if permitted under applicable rules, the overlap raises questions: does the event-host relationship risk an appearance of alignment, and could it lead a reasonable observer to suspect subconscious bias?

The unease grew when reports of her keynote highlighted that Ghanaian counsel should build arbitration credentials by partnering with “established international firms.”

While defensible as a capacity-building view, in this context—where claimant’s counsel is a local firm and respondents have such an international-local pairing—the remark risks being read as indirectly favouring one side’s model over the other.

Here, the issue is not actual bias but whether a reasonable, informed observer could apprehend a real possibility of it. International best practice expects arbitrators to mitigate such risks—disclosing potentially relevant relationships, avoiding non-essential public appearances with counsel mid-proceeding, and tailoring remarks to prevent misinterpretation.

What should follow? First, disclosure: the chair could clarify the circumstances, prior relationships, and safeguards in place. Second, parties should use the ICC’s challenge and disclosure framework—not social media—to address concerns. Third, the profession can refine norms: during active appointments, arbitrators should decline keynote roles at events hosted by counsel in related cases, or, if unavoidable, adopt neutral topics and explicit disclaimers.

Arbitration rests on credibility. When perception falters, parties lose faith and awards face collateral attack. Ghanaians, already sensitive to narratives around this transaction, deserve a process that not only is fair but looks fair.

Perhaps this tribunal has followed the rules to the letter. But in arbitration, as in justice itself, optics matter too.

Source: Norvan Acquah-Hayford

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In the 2016 elections, the difference between Akufo-Addo and his closest contender was 1,984,630 votes. Then his reign began. Such goodwill by the people! Even the traders at Aborsey Okai voluntarily reduced prices.

Then started the little-little slips. At the end of his first term, Ghanaians voted to tell him that they were not terribly impressed with his performance.

When the votes were tallied in the 2020 election, the gap between Akufo-Addo and the first runner-up had narrowed to only 517,405 votes – one million people had decided to vote against him.

Other “sins” followed, which Ghanaians could not forgive, and in the 2024 elections, Akufo-Addo was trailing by a whopping 1,714,089 votes.

One of his unforgivable sins was the fight against galamsey.

Then came Mahama. Between January 2025, when he assumed the reins of government, and August 2025, he was on cloud nine.

The economy was working perfectly: the cedi’s performance against the dollar, rising from GH¢17.4 to GH¢10.4, was magical; fuel prices dropped to as low as GH¢12; GDP rose from US$75bilion to over US$130 billion, and inflation was down from 23% to 13%; Ghana’s debt burden reduced by GH¢150 billion; emission tax and E-levy were gone.

Ghanaians applauded.

But, come mid-August, and since then, the cedi’s strength has weakened, affecting fuel prices. The OMCs are putting it down to the exchange rate.

Nonetheless, because of visionary projects like Big Push, Goldbod and all of the above indicators, Mahama’s goodwill is still intact, to a large extent. Ghanaians seem to simply love Mahama’s personality and are willing to give him a chance to prove that the downward slide is temporary.

Nine months after he swept to power, however, the people are beginning to taste a “small” sourness in their mouths. All because of Galamsey and the President’s answer to the media’s question to him about the declaration of a State of Emergency.

As a government in Ghana, when you have the Catholic Bishops Conference, the Christian Council, CDD, medical professionals and other civil society groups ganging up against a major policy, the warning to any President is: “Beware!” Our ancestors said that one small load on top of another small load soon becomes an unbearable burden.

Galamsey is one load too heavy to bear.

Our water bodies have been poisoned by mining pollutants such as cyanide and mercury. Babies are being born deformed. Water shortages have become so severe that women and schoolchildren are walking five kilometres in search of water at prices that are best left to the imagination.

The last straw is the shutdown of the Kwanyako headworks of GWCL. Heavy siltation of the Ayensu River has caused this tragedy. As of Tuesday, 11 districts in the region do not have water. It’s Galamsey.

Soundbites from towns and villages in Central and Western Regions are harrowing, bordering on the apocalyptic.

Rather than act and act decisively, Ghanaians are doing what we are best known for: talking. The talkers are making excuses for the murderers, while the arguments are along party lines.

The havoc which illegal artisanal mining is wreaking has not been for lack of warnings. Dr Joseph Ampofo, former Director of the Water Research Institute of the CSIR, and Professor Rosemary Mamaa Entsua Mensah, a fishery scientist and aquatic ecologist, are “Galamsey prophets”.

Many, many years ago, long before galamsey assumed the proportions of an existential threat, Professor Entsua Mensah had foreseen, researched into and forewarned that life in Ghana could come to a stop if nothing was done to stop the threat that mining, in general, and galamsey, in particular, posed to our water bodies.

As far back as 2015, Dr Ampofo granted me an interview in which he warned: “A time is coming – and it looks like sooner than we had anticipated – when Ghanaians shall see water but we cannot use it. It is so serious that the water cannot even be used to water seedlings in nurseries!

That is why President Mahama cannot continue to dilly-dally about the call for a declaration of a State of Emergency.

The galamseyers are armed to the teeth, meaning they have declared war. They shoot to kill. To poison a people’s water source amounts to a declaration of war. They are committing mass murder.

Every government in Ghana in the Fourth Republic has declared “war on Galamsey”, but I beg to submit that wars are not fought with resolutions, arrests and threats.

Wars can only be fought with bullets that kill, and the only condition under which shoot-to-kill is permissible is in a state of emergency imposed on guilty communities.

Over to you, President Mahama. Ghanaians did it to Takyi (Akufo-Addo). They will do it to the NDC if….

Source: Enimil Ashon

Since assuming office in 2022, Rev. Owusu and the National Officers have ushered in a new era of proactive governance and member-centered reforms that have strengthened GNAT and significantly improved the welfare and working conditions of teachers across the country.

Below is a comprehensive reflection on their achievements from 2022 to 2025 — a legacy many believe deserves continuity.

1. Strengthening Institutional Governance and Communication

• Published the 2022 National Delegates Conference Decisions and distributed the amended GNAT Constitution to all members.

• Conducted national orientation exercises for Regional Council Members, Administrative Staff, and GNAT Representatives on Boards and Institutions, enhancing institutional clarity and responsibility.

• Developed codified Standing Orders for meetings and conferences and reviewed election guidelines to improve democratic processes within the association.

2. Advocacy and Tangible Economic Gains for Teachers

• Secured a 15% Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) in 2022 in collaboration with Organised Labour.

• Achieved base pay salary increments of 30% in 2023, 23% and 25% in 2024, and 10% in 2025.

• Negotiated a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), leading to:

  • 100% increment in CPD Allowance

  • Enhanced Data Support Allowance

  • Decoupling of Director I and II ranks from District and Regional Directors

3. Advancing Welfare and Social Protection

• Increased Death and Retirement Benefits from GHS 2,500 to GHS 3,500.

• Provided legal services to members facing workplace or legal issues.

• Offered financial assistance through the National Donation Committee.

• Paid all statutory grants across GNAT structures and fulfilled the 7% grant increment to GNAT locals.

4. Improving Educational Resources and Access

• Distributed printed copies of the approved GES Conditions and Scheme of Service.

• Donated school uniforms, bags, books, and footwear to over 500 pupils during Ghana Teacher Prize celebrations.

• Built two-unit classroom blocks in regions hosting the National Ghana Teacher Prize.

• Provided laptops to all eligible members, fulfilling prior commitments.

5. Female Empowerment and Support for Deprived Areas

• Awarded bursaries to selected female members for further education.

• Organised the GNAT Investment Forum for teachers in deprived areas, promoting financial literacy and empowerment.

6. Infrastructure and Institutional Development

• Completed and commissioned all uncompleted projects inherited from previous leadership across the 10 GNAT regions.

• Renovated and furnished district secretariats, procured new buildings, documented land, and obtained permits.

• Equipped regional offices with new furniture, desktop computers, and air conditioners.

• Supported the creation of 10 new GNAT districts in line with National Delegates Conference decisions.

7. Strategic Partnerships and Health Infrastructure

• Purchased a PET Scan Machine for the Sweden-Ghana Medical Centre.

• Established and inaugurated the SGMC and GNAT Foundation Boards.

• Created the Board of Council for the GNAT Institute for Research and Industrial Relations Studies, enabling the operationalisation of the GNAT University.

8. Technological Transformation and Transparency

• Launched the Teachers’ Fund Digital App, making access to fund services easier and more transparent.

• Conducted nationwide outreach with the Teachers’ Fund Board to assure members of the fund’s security and sustainability.

A Leadership That Listens and Delivers
From legal support and salary negotiations to strategic investments and educational infrastructure, Rev. Isaac Owusu’s administration has proven itself result-oriented, inclusive, and guided by the needs of teachers. His leadership philosophy has been clear: every decision must serve the collective welfare of GNAT members while strengthening the Association.

The Call for Continuity
As GNAT prepares for another leadership chapter, many within the teaching fraternity are calling for continuity — a chance for Rev. Isaac Owusu to consolidate progress and expand the gains of the past three years. With a track record defined by action, impact, and accountability, retaining him is seen not just as keeping a leader in office, but as securing a future where the voice and welfare of every teacher remain a national priority.

Source: Kodwo Mensah Aboroampa

The educational system in Ghana falls short of these offerings, which provide pre-made career roadmaps along with stipends, mentorship, and opportunity to conduct research abroad.

Possibilities Abroad, Deficits Domestically
Oversubscribed and scarce, scholarships in Ghana are hard to come by. Students are left to cover living expenses, research fees, and conference travel by the handful that do exist, with a concentration on tuition.

Applicants express dissatisfaction with the lack of feedback, ever-changing standards, and shortened deadlines. Laboratory funding is inadequate, and there is a lack of both journal access and possibilities for fieldwork.

There is an abundance of fellowships supported by corporations and foundations overseas.

Furthermore, they cover the costs of research, internships, and professional development in addition to tuition. Oftentimes, the choice becomes very obvious for Ghana’s brightest: focus on the outside world.

An Academic’s Narrative
Juliana Somuah’s story is a prime example of this trend. She studies sustainability, leadership, and facilities management while pursuing a doctorate at UNC Charlotte; all three areas are important to Ghana’s progress.

For the year 2024, Somuah was awarded the prestigious Buck Fisher Greater Triangle Scholarship from the IFMA Foundation in the US.

One of the perks of the award was a fully paid trip to San Antonio, Texas, to attend the IFMA World Workplace Conference, the biggest annual gathering of facility management experts in the world.

Building on that recognition, Juliana has continued to excel internationally. At the recently held World Workplace Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she received the Women in Facilities Management Award, a distinguished honour that celebrates her contributions to advancing leadership and sustainability in facility management.

This achievement further underscores her rising global profile and the irony of Ghana’s inability to retain such talent.

She helps out with research at IFMA that looks at things like leadership styles, workplace trends, and AI-powered facility solutions.

The way in which MNCs handle infrastructure, expenses, and energy is already being influenced by these projects.

There is a remarkable similarity to Ghana, where colleges, hospitals, and ministries have comparable problems but do not have the means to access such state-of-the-art research.

Honouring Our Nation, Persistent Irony
While celebrating Somuah’s achievement, we should not lose sight of the fact that our nation still faces a serious problem.

Though her early education was fostered in Ghana, she is thriving because of the enhanced help she receives from institutions abroad.

She will undoubtedly be known as “American-trained” as her career develops, a description that acknowledges her Ghanaian roots but also draws attention to the country’s talent loss.

Nobody has this problem except Somuah. The business sector in Ghana has not yet embraced philanthropy in higher education, and as a result, university funding is inadequate.

Scholarships abroad attract students who might otherwise remain because of the unique opportunities they provide, such as financial support, international experience, and connections that are difficult to get back home.

Brain Drain and Its Costs
Brain drain is an inevitable consequence. Graduates with a high level of talent typically depart for greener pastures and return with little to no inclination to stay.

Abroad offers better employment opportunities, more stable finance, and competitive incomes, so staying is the logical choice. This has led to a gradual exodus of knowledge from Ghana in areas that are vital to the country’s progress.

The paradox here is that Ghana’s brightest are making waves overseas in fields exactly where the country is struggling, such as with escalating energy prices, outdated infrastructure, and a lack of skilled workers. Ghana sits on its hands while other countries reap the benefits of this information.

Things That Must Alter
Ghana needs to do more than just honour its students studying abroad if it wants to turn this trend around. The system needs to be designed to make them feel at home. In other words:

• Local scholarship opportunities should be expanded to provide full coverage, including living stipends and research funding.
• Priorities for national development should inform investments in research-to-practice laboratories.
• Developing pathways for scholars studying abroad to receive funding and guidance upon their return.
• Motivating businesses to sponsor graduate programs in vital areas.

Until then, the outpouring of congratulations from around the world will continue, serving as a sombre reminder of the exceptional kids from Ghana and the possibilities that are passing the country by.

Source: Isaac Adams

Today, these pollutants hitchhike on every river, soil particle, breath of air and morsel of food.

“That’s the river we used to swim in as kids,” recalls an environmental activist, gesturing at a nearby tributary now coffee-brown with mine waste.

“We used to drink from it and irrigate our farms. Now it’s poison.” Across Ghana, from remote villages to the capital’s dinner tables, no one is truly exempt from exposure to galamsey’s chemical legacy.

Rivers Run with Poison

Galamsey miners sluice and dredge Ghana’s rivers by the thousands. They pour liquid mercury into the muddy pans to bind tiny gold flecks; after the gold is skimmed off, the miners burn the mercury, releasing toxic vapor.

This volatile mercury travels far, raining down onto fields and water bodies even hundreds of miles away. In the Pra, Birim, Offin and other river basins, freshwater sources are now widely tainted by mining chemicals. Ghana’s water utility warns that if this contamination continues, the country may have to import drinking water by 2030.

In the rivers themselves, the evidence is plain. Tiny fish along the Pra have turned bright yellow or died off entirely, suffocated by toxic water.

Markets along the riverside now see water that is golden-brown from chemical runoff; villagers lament that every fish and maize plant has been killed by the contamination.

In lagoons and lakes, arsenic and mercury have been detected in fish at levels unsafe for human consumption. In other words, every catch poses a health risk, especially to children and pregnant women.

Cyanide, used by some miners to dissolve gold, is extremely toxic. Accidental spills and acid runoff have caused acute poisonings, killing fish and leaving villagers with severe stomach and skin ailments. In some places, entire tributaries have been acidified, with fish dying and their skins peeling from chemical burns.

Arsenic levels in historic gold belts have soared many times above safe drinking limits. Groundwater wells in mining zones likewise show contamination, meaning the problem is not confined to rivers but is seeping underground.

Toxic Soils and Wilted Crops

It’s not just water — the very earth is poisoned. Every mine site leaves behind tailings and dust loaded with heavy metals. When rains fall, these toxins run onto adjacent farms.

Fields once filled with cocoa have been devastated, stripped of fertility and turned into pits. Entire cocoa plantations have been destroyed by mining. Farmers report that when they irrigate with polluted water, every flower and pod drops off the cocoa trees.

Mercury vapor from processing settles on soil, while arsenic and cyanide seep underground. Plants absorb these hidden toxins. Cocoa, cassava, maize and vegetables irrigated with contaminated water accumulate metals, passing them into the national food supply. Farmers who once sold food now travel to towns to buy what they need, unable to sustain their farms.

Airborne Hazards

Mining also fills the air with dust and fumes. When mercury amalgams are burned, toxic vapors drift into the atmosphere and travel long distances before settling back onto land and water.

Roasting arsenic-bearing ores sends arsenic aerosols skyward. Dust from open pits spreads cadmium, lead and silica. These airborne particles fall with rain, washing toxins into rivers or onto farmland.

Communities far from mining sites report unusual crop failures and clusters of illnesses. Mercury and arsenic in the air provide one explanation, showing how even areas that appear untouched are, in reality, part of the contamination map.

On Every Plate and in Every Cup: Human Exposure

The toxic trail inevitably leads to people’s bodies by many routes. Drinking water is the most direct. In mining districts, villagers drink from rivers and wells often laced with chemicals. Even in cities, water reservoirs may draw from tainted watersheds.

Food is another pathway. Fish are particularly dangerous because they bioaccumulate mercury and arsenic.

From Lake Volta to coastal lagoons, the fish sold in markets often carry dangerous loads of these poisons. Vegetables and grains irrigated with contaminated water add another route of exposure.

Occupational exposure is the most extreme. Thousands of miners and their families live at mining sites, inhaling dust, handling liquid mercury with bare hands, and bathing in contaminated ponds. Pregnant women in these areas pass mercury, arsenic and cyanide directly to their unborn children. Babies are born with birth defects linked to chemical exposure.

Even the wealthy are not immune. Families in Accra and Kumasi may drink bottled water and eat imported food, but much of Ghana’s fish and farm produce enters urban markets. A family dinner in the city may still contain cocoa, cassava or tilapia grown or caught in contaminated zones.

Illness and Inequality

The human toll is devastating. Mercury causes tremors, vision loss, hearing impairment and brain damage, especially in children.

Arsenic is a potent carcinogen linked to cancers of the bladder, lungs, liver and skin. Cyanide can kill quickly in large doses and damage the thyroid and nervous system in smaller ones.

The poor are disproportionately hit. They rely on untreated water and local crops, bearing the brunt of exposure. Miners’ families live in the most toxic environments.

But wealth does not guarantee immunity; even the president may dine on food unknowingly tainted by galamsey’s chemical reach.

Systemic Neglect and Accountability

Legally, Ghana has a duty to protect its citizens’ right to a clean and healthy environment. Yet enforcement remains weak. Officials often turn a blind eye or are accused of complicity. Activists have faced intimidation and even death for speaking out.

Environmental laws exist on paper, requiring miners to obtain permits and treat waste. But illegal operators ignore them with impunity. Communities protest, demanding their right to live in a clean environment, but accountability is rare.

Across the country, citizens march with banners reading “Our soil bleeds mercury; our crops wither.” They demand justice and accountability, calling for polluters to be held liable and for systemic neglect to end.

A Nation at the Crossroads

The choice is stark. Mining without accountability has turned a blessing into a curse. Heavy-metal toxins persist in rivers, soils and human bodies for generations. Ghana’s poisoned water and farmland stand as a warning: without urgent action, every citizen, from the president to the peasant, will continue to bear the toxic toll of galamsey.

The writer is a lecturer at the Department of Food and Nutrition Education, Faculty of Health, Allied Sciences and Home Economics Education, University of Education, Winneba.

Source: Dr Ekpor Anyimah-Ackah