Day: July 15, 2023

Reverend Father Dr Stephen A. Koya of the Saint Theresa’s Parish in Nandom has appealed to the youth to use advocacy to prevent communal, civil and electoral violence always to promote peace.

‘You are key to providing security and preventing communal, civil, and electoral violence, especially during, before and after elections. Peace, harmony, and security are key, core and critical for justice and freedom in growth and development,’ he said.

Rev Father Koya urged Ghanaian youth and all other stakeholders to pledge unconditionally and unequivocally that before, during, and after the NCCE’s engagements, they would stand firm for peace in their various constituencies as ambassadors of peace, bridge builders and agents of transformation, growth, and development.

These he said should be hinged on building cultural standards synergies, principles, values, talents and traditions towards harmonisation, integration, integrity, and synchronisation.

‘Let each of us undertake an inquiry into the socio-cultural or traditional ways and means of building or ensuring peace and resolving conflict in our various traditional societies or cultures,’ he said.

Reverend Father Koya made the appeal when he spoke on: ‘Preventing electoral violence and peace building mechanisms’ during an engagement with students of the Nandom Midwifery Training College.

He called on stakeholders to consider investing in peacebuilding mechanisms as a worthy investment for sustained growth and development, sanity and security, stability and sensitisation coupled with empowerment to address poverty in all its ramifications, integration, integrity, and harmonisation.

He said in peace building, there was an urgent demand for a sustained need for focus, assiduity, patience, integrity, perseverance, truth, mutual trust, and respect coupled with a sense and spirit of decorum, direction, and discipline.

He said it was better for the youth to always resort to dialogue, mediate, lobby, and network, arbitrate, intermediate, cooperate, collaborate, negotiate, sensitise and responsibly socialise than to mobilise resources to silence the guns and heal the wounds of conflicts, noting: ‘jaw-jaw rather than blow-blow.’

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Seth Sasu appealed to the students to provide information and intelligence of suspicious occurrences at their communities, the hospitals and schools.

He advised the students to develop the spirit of patriotism, civic responsibility, a sense of national belonging and social cohesion and bond together as a group on campus to safeguard their security.

DCOP Sasu urged the students to improve their knowledge and attitude towards the culture of tolerance and non-violence and become ambassadors for peace in the communities and at their working places.

Mr Victor Nuworkpor, the Upper West Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education, said Ghana was a peaceful country but was not immune to atrocities of widespread violent extremism across the West Africa sub region.

‘In that regard, Ghanaians must therefore consider themselves as active partners in curbing extremists’ activities and in the country’, he said.

The engagements formed part of the National Commission for Civic Education’s (NCCE) efforts to educate the youth, especially students on ‘preventing and containing violent extremism’ and deepening their understanding in peacebuilding mechanisms, social inclusion, and community-based mechanism for countering violent extremism, identifying early warning signs and community surveillances to promote peace.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr George Akuffo Dampare, the Inspector General of the Ghana Police Service, has disclosed that only Ghanaian songs that meet their standards will be aired on the newly launched television (TV) station of the Ghana Police Service.

According to him, one would need to fulfill a specific quality to earn such promotion on the platform and would mostly be used to promote entertainment and arts.

He made this known when he was speaking to some selected musicians and business leaders on police television.

‘So, what we are doing is that we are bringing on board the Ghanaian acts that meet the standards. Over here, if you do not meet the standard, your song would not be played.’

Nonetheless, Mr. Dampare said that qualified acts would enjoy the benefits of having their music video aired and also have their events promoted on the platform without cost.

‘We would give them this platform to air all their albums and when they are doing any programme and they want, we would advertise for them for free.’

‘So, we advertise for you and then you bring your music videos for us to play for you. That is what we are going to do,’ he said.

However, the specific standards were not mentioned, yet he advised artistes to produce good tunes for their fan base.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Fast rising Ghanaian Hip-Hop sensation, Ugly Dray amazes fans with his new single tilted ‘Never Lose’.

The song featured Ghanaian tongue-twisting rapper, Lyrical Joe, which has gathered massive social media attention since its release a few days ago.

The ‘Never Lose’ song journeyed lyrically on the life struggle of the rapper which opens up with a tragic verse revealing the death of his father at age eight.

‘… my daddy died when I was eight, he said never stop till you end up being in the grave.’

In an interview with GNA Entertainment desk, he acknowledged that the lyrics in which he talked about his father’s death wasn’t just a routine phrase, but it actually happened.

When asked about how collaboration came about, Dray said ‘It was a complete surprise, it was supposed to be a freestyle because I just recorded and decided to release but I sent it to him, he liked it and decided to drop a verse’.

Dray gained popularity after a video of Ghanaian-American rapper Victor Kwesi Mensa professionally known as Vic Mensa was seen listening to Drays’ song went viral.

The song, produced by ‘Ddante’ is now available across streaming platforms as Ugly Dray walks hip-hop music lovers through his unique musical journey.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghanaian record breaking musician , Black Sherif, has achieved a milestone of being the first Ghanaian to ever hit the 300 million stream mark on boomsplay.

Black Sheriff’s debut album ‘The Villain I Never Was’ received a tonne of attention both before and after it was released, making ripples in and across seas accumulating to his success.

He gained popularity in 2021 with his song ‘First Sermon’ released in May and later followed up with the ‘Second Sermon’ in July where his breakthrough came in March 2022 with his hit single ‘Kwaku the Traveller’, which reached Number One on the Ghanaian and Nigerian Apple Music charts.

The 14 listed track album, ‘The Villain I Never Was’ was released on October 5, 2022 which he only featured Nigerian’s finest Afrobeat sensation, Burnaboy, for the remix of ‘second sermon’.

Black Sherif bagged the numerous awards in the just ended Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) including Artists Of The Year, Best Music Video, M

Most Popular Song of the Year, Best Collaboration Of The Year.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Key stakeholders in the mining sector have converged, in Takoradi, to discuss pertinent issues affecting the sector and develop strategies geared towards repositioning it to be responsible and profitable for socio-economic growth.

The event, Ghana Gold Expo and Mining Week, which was the fourth in a series being organised by the Western Regional Coordinating Council (WRCC), was held on the theme: ‘Sustainable Mineral Resources Development and Well-being of Mining Communities’.

It was organised in collaboration with ViewTag Ghana Gold Expo, a partner of Aurum Monaco and leader of Global Responsible Jewellery Council and the United Nations Environmental Programme.

It afforded stakeholders the opportunity to share ideas and information on the investment opportunities and challenges in the African gold sector to help implement strategies for accelerated growth in the mining industry.

Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Western Regional Minister, in his opening remarks, said the Ghana Gold Expo served as a solution-oriented platform for stakeholders to discuss and address critical issues surrounding mineral resource exploration in Ghana and around the globe.

‘Our goal is to accelerate progress and ensure the long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability of our mining endeavors and thus position our mining brand as a country’, he noted.

Mr Darko-Mensah said sustainable mineral development required a comprehensive approach encompassing responsible mining practices, environmental stewardship, and the empowerment of mining communities.

That, he added, was one of the surest ways through which the mining sector could contribute to driving economic growth and creating employment opportunities for citizens in the mining value chain towards national development.

The Regional Minister said: ‘The Western Region and Ghana, known for its rich mineral resources, hold great potential for sustainable mineral development, and we are committed to harnessing this potential responsibly and inclusively to create the desirable local communities we want’.

Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, commended organisers of the Ghana Mining Expo for their relenting efforts to highlight Ghana’s mineral resource potential, promote the country’s mining sector to the international community, and build strong partnerships to develop the country’s mineral resources for sustainable development.

He said though the mining sector had contributed significantly to the country’s socio-economic growth, more efficient measures were needed to optimise all stages of the mining value chain as a panacea for sustainable, inclusive, and holistic national development.

‘Despite its contribution to our national economy, let us face it, we have not benefited optimally from our mineral resources. This is due to over-reliance on the export of minerals in their raw state, absence of linkages with other sectors of the economy, lack of domestic capacity, inadequate monitoring mechanisms, and irresponsible mining practices,’ Mr Jinapor noted.

He, therefore, gave the assurance that the government was committed to working with the private sector and other relevant stakeholders to adopt strategies that would not only exploit the country’s mineral resources, but also transform mining into a catalyst for industrialisation.

Various activities took place during the Expo including; exhibition, a mining policy forum, and presentations and panel discussions on various mining industry related topics with focus on the theme.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A streetlight at CMB on the pavement opposite the Accra Regional Police Headquarters in the Klottey Korle Constituency, is on the verge of collapse.

Traders there told the Ghana News Agency that a vehicle crashed into the pole one Sunday leaving it in such a state, posing threats to passers-by and traders.

‘We were fortunate the crash happened on Sunday when we don’t come to sell. The vehicle crashed into two street lights; one fell completely and was taken away leaving this one here,’ a trader explained.

The traders admitted that selling under the falling pole was dangerous, however, they had no other alternative.

They said they did not know how to contact the Assembly so, relying on God for divine protection from the looming danger.

‘We have faith in God that it won’t fall on us. Even if it does, we know that just as the crash happened in our absence, God will let the same thing happen if it falls,’ another trader said.

The GNA also saw a collapsing electricity pole at the Kinbu traffic light area across the street adjacent to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).

Traders in the area said the pole had been in that state for about two years.

They said about two weeks ago some personnel from the Electricity Company of Ghana came around to carry out wiring on the pole besides it, but left the falling one unfixed.

The traders asked the Aseembly and the Electricity Company to fix the pole to avoid any disaster.

Source: Ghana News Agency