Highlife artiste, Bisa Kdei romantically intruded Becca’s live TV interview Friday as she announced happily dating.
The ‘Mansa’ crooner placed a special call accompanied by a cake and rose of flowers on Gh One TV’s breakfast show, GH Today, to express his deep appreciation of their ‘friendship’ ahead of valentine’s day 2016.
And her response to the pleasant surprise was, “if everyone had a friendship like I have with Bisa Kdei, the world would be a better place. Thank you Bisa, I’ll see you after.”
Becca, born Rebecca Acheampomaa Acheampong, had just confirmed being lucky in her current relationship.
She said: “I’m dating. I’ll say I’m lucky, especially now, because he understands what I do.
“You need to be with someone who enjoys what you do…you also need someone who will give you space.”
The Ghanaian Afro-pop star, however, refused to reveal the identity of her man.
“I won’t say who I’m dating,” Becca told co-hosts Kafui Dey and Baisiwa.
Becca is currently promoting her latest single ‘Hw3 dea odo ay3 me’ ahead of a full album launch which will be announced soon.
Hundreds of clients of defunct microfinance company DKM Diamond Microfinance today poured onto the streets of Bolgatanga in a demonstration to appeal to President John Dramani Mahama to ensure that their investments with the beleaguered microfinance company are paid them or they would pull out of the 2016 polls.
A High Court in Bolgatanga earlier ordered the confiscation of assets belonging to the microfinance company in the region following the failure of the company to pay the plaintiffs a sum of GHC41, 850, as well as a cost of GHC6, 000 in an earlier ruling on January 12, 2016.
Some other assets including buses belonging to the company have been seized by security apparatus in the region for safe keeping.
Lead organizer of the demonstration Daniel Ayine in an interview on Day Break Upper East Show said the clients of the microfinance company are embarking on the demonstration to appeal to the President to take up the initiative of ensuring that their monies are paid them.
“We just want to appeal to our brother the president to do all his best to make sure we get our money. Those who have the capacity have been able to go to court but there are many of us who cannot do that and we think as a brother, he should be able to do something about it,” he said.
According to him, the Bank of Ghana can’t be absorbed of any blame and the regulators decision to place the moratorium and subsequent manner in which it handled the matter is what has brought about the current situation.
The demonstrators were clad in red and black and marched through the principal streets of Bolgatanga while chanting “No Money No Vote.” They submitted a petition to the Upper East Regional Minister for onward delivery to the president.
Located some few meters away from Karimenga a small deprived community in the Mamprusi West District of the Northern Region of Ghana is the Green House guest house that serves as both a tourist centre and also a place for lodging.
Naturally, most guest houses are built of cement blocks but what makes this particular guest house worth mentioning are the materials used in raising the building.
Built in 2010 through the efforts by members of the community, the facility has eight rooms, that is, two rooms for couples, six bedrooms for two persons, and a dormitory that can contain sixteen.
Like its name, “The Green House” is built of mud and roofed with thatch to represent tradition and culture.
Godwin Awuni, a resident who oversaw the building of the house said that “we wanted to come up with something that tells the story of the North. You will notice that traditionally, we are known to be forbearers in building houses with mud so we used mud because we wanted to make everything natural.”
The facility also has a computer lab and a craft village where European guests are educated on how local drums and other locally made crafts are manufactured. To provide lights, the facility has a solar panel that powers it, hence making “The Green House” a home away from home at night.
Another fascinating thing about this guest house is the thinking that has gone into providing lodgers with an improvised sink. The sink which is moulded with mud has a smaller gallon sitting on it. Around the lower parts of these gallons have holes punched with a pipe inserted to serve as opening for water.
Cooking is made simple and fun with the use of biogas which they get out of cow dunk. According Godwin the technology was introduced by European experts who visited the place in 2014.
The toilet facility of the structure is an ingenious KVIP with a water closet seat.
The facility has a summer hut on top of a structure built by Nubian Vault where visitors convene at night to listen to stories and also share their experiences.
The brainchild of the serenely irenic environment is a touching sight to behold. The well ventilated building provides warmth during the dry season when the sun is scorching, providing warmth at night.
This building although located in a remote part of Ghana draws Europeans who come as tourist to see the magnificent building whiles Ghanaians on the other hand do not appreciate the innovation.
According to Godwin, although the facility hardly gets Ghanaian revellers, it makes an appreciable profit from the Europeans who visit the place. He explains that, profits are invested into the education of the brilliant but needy students in the village.
“Proceeds gained from the building is used to further the education of children from here who are brilliant but do not have people to help push them. I know that about twelve students are and have been helped to attend Senior High School.”
The prime suspect in the murder of the Abuakwa North MP Joseph Boakye Danquah has been arrested, StarrFMonline.com can confirm.
He was arrested today, sources within the security agencies have revealed.
The operation to arrest him was led by the Greater Accra regional Police Commander DCOP George Akuffo Dampare.
Danquah was stabbed to death at his East Legon residence during the wee hours of Tuesday. The police said they suspected foul play and launched forensic investigations into the case.
Reports say the unknown assailants may have used a ladder to enter the MP’s room via his window to execute their plan.
JB Danquah served as a Deputy Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs under the erstwhile Kufuor administration . He was the Abuakwa North MP from 2000 until 2008, when he lost the seat.
He however returned to win the seat in 2012. He left behind a wife and two children. Joseph Boakye Danquah, a chartered Accountant by profession, is the grandson of late J.B Danquah, a Ghanaian statesman, pan-Africanist, scholar and historian, who played a significant role in pre- and post-colonial Ghana.
The Electoral Commission of Ghana has provided a provisional certificate to Hassan Ayariga to operate his newly formed political party – the All People’s Congress (APC).
Ayariga defected from the People’s National Convention (PNC) when he lost in his bid to lead the party in the 2016 elections.
The provisional certificate was issued to Ayariga by a Deputy Commissioner of the EC, Rebecca Kabukie Adjalo. APC would be issued with a final certificate after thirty days.
Speaking to the media after receiving his certificate, Ayariga called on Ghanaians who are fed up with the current leadership to join his party.
“It is not that Ghana has failed because some bad people are leading us. Ghana has failed because the good ones are quiet and that is why we are suffering. And this time around, we are telling the good ones, wherever you are, come on board.
“If you are tired of voting, come on board…let’s make sure everybody gets a platform and the opportunity to serve mother Ghana,” he said.
Ayariga added “when people begin to believe that there is no more hope, they are losing confidence in the system, then we need a change. And this is what we need in this country.”
Reports have it that Ayariga, who lost the PNC bid to Dr Edward Mahama, already has over 150 offices across Ghana.
Breaking away
A Gynaecologist-cum-politician, Dr Mahama beat Ayariga to become the PNC presidential candidate.
Mahama, who led the party in the 1996 elections through to the 2008 polls before being succeeded by Hassan Ayariga in the 2012 elections, polled 492 votes as against Ayariga’s 426 votes.
The defeat did not go down well with Ayariga who then broke ranks with the Nkrumahist grouping.
The Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), an international child centered NGO in collaboration with its local partner Tuma Kavi Development Associationhas donated drugs to the Upper East Regional Health Directorate.
Receiving the donation from the NGO, the Upper East Regional Health Director Dr. Kofi Issah delightfully told a1radioonline.com that the donation by the CCFC is in the right direction. According to him, medicines are an essential part of health care, especially medicine which is administered to be able to prevent people from falling victims to very dangerous conditions.
The donation comprised of 2million tablets of Vitamin A, 1 million tablets of multi Vitamins, and Five hundred thousand packs of Deworming tablets and will be targeted at serving children less than 5 years and pregnant women.
He believes the medicine will go a long way to improve the health status of Children, Pregnant women and women who have given birth in their various Districts. He added that the medicine will be able to prevent conditions which are associated with vitamins deficiency in children and in pregnant women and nursing mothers.
Programs Manager for CCFC Evans Sinkari said they have over the last 3 years extended their development assistance to the upper east region by making donations of drugs annually to the regional health directorate for onward distribution to the various districts in the region.
By Ngamegbulam Chidozie Ngamegbulam | A1RADIOONLINE.COM | GHANA
Health Insurance Service Providers Association of Ghana (HISPAG) in the Upper East Region have resolved to revert to cash and carry system of health care delivery by Monday 15th February, 2016 if the National Health Insurance Authority does not come clear on when monies owed them would be paid.
Hospitals and other health facilities across the country say they are struggling to provide basic care for patients due to unpaid claims by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) with some facilities not receiving claims for over eight months.
The Authority owes about 400 members of the Health Insurance Service Providers Association (HISPAG) more than 36 million cedis in unpaid claims.
The Upper East regional chapter of HISPAG says it has served notice to the Authority to with immediate effect agree on a roadmap that would entail a timeline within which part of the unpaid claims would be paid.
The regional president of HISPAG in the upper east region Dr. Francis Asaana in an interview on Day Break Upper East Thursday said some facilities in the region are owed huge claims and the situation has made it extremely difficult for them to continue providing health services on the wings of the National Health Insurance.
According to him, the Association met and decided on taking an action which would be preceded by a notice to the authority. He disclosed that a letter has been presented to the NHIA at all levels to bring to its attention the decision to revert to cash and carry if no positive responds is received by Monday February 15.
“Most facilities in the upper east region have been paid claims for the month of April and May but there are many others who have not been paid. Whatever it is, most of us have not been paid for over 8 months and this delay is too much. In fact, almost all the private health facilities have collapsed and what we are doing now is no more health delivery,” he lamented.
Dr. Asaana added that the facilities only provide consultancy services and no longer provide laboratory services and drugs because pharmaceutical company’s no more supply drugs as a result of accumulated debts.
“You owe a company over eighty thousand cedis and so you can’t go back to them for drugs. So what we have decided to do is to provide consultancy services and then prescribe the drugs for the patient to go and buy,” he disclosed.
Upper East Regional Minister designate, Albert Abongo believes building dams and creating other water bodies will help solve the perennial problem of farms worth millions of cedis been destroyed as a result of the spillage of the Bagre Dam.
The Regional Minister noted that over the years, the water spilled from the dam goes waste although it could be used for fruitful ventures such as irrigation during the dry season.
He mentioned that the water could be put in good use if more water bodies are built in order to divert the water been spilled and also build irrigational projects which will be used by the farmers during the dry season.
“I have been thinking about creating more water bodies. The dams flood and the water washes down the stream. It is possible to create diversions and construct dams at the site to create small irrigations so that farmers can use it during the dry season.”
Hon. Albert Abongo promised to alleviate poverty by improving agriculture and education in the region.
According to the Minister designate, the region is embedded in high rate of poverty mostly because the mainstay of the region, agriculture, depends solely on an unpredictable rainfall patterns that dictates the pace of agriculture in the region.
He indicated that tackling this age old problem of poverty will only be possible by assisting farmers in the region rather than them solely depending on the rains before planting their crops.
“We have a very short rainy season so one will have to look at how we will enhance farming to improve upon the living conditions of the people. So, one will see to things that will help improve the living conditions of the farmers.”
On education, the Minister designate noted that poverty has over the years encouraged rural-urban migration among the youth who are of school-going age who move to Southern Ghana to perform some menial jobs and do not return to the region afterwards.
He mentioned that he intends to collaborate with District Assemblies to strengthen government initiatives such as the school feeding program, school uniform programs in order to keep the youth in school adding that other innovative ideas will be introduced.
“We need to keep the children in school. Basic things like the free uniforms program and school feeding program need to be strengthened to ensure we keep our children in school because the exodus to urban centres has been a major problem for the leadership of the Region.”
Humul Khulsum Tahiru, C.E.O of F.C TANGA in Bolgatanga, is very hopeful that her boys will make the U-17 Team inclusion mark.
Four boys from F.C TANGA were among six boys invited from the Upper East region to join 34 other players also invited across the country to the Ghanaman Soccer Center of Excellence to justify their inclusion into the National U-17 team.
Sulemana Musah is still with the F.C TANGA Junior Team, while Benjamin Aloma, Abdul-Razak Yussif and Abdul-Rawuf Abubakar just got promoted to the senior team purely on performance and Management’s decision to increase their confidence level through the Division One league.
The three, Benjamin Aloma, Abdul-Razak Yussif and Abdul-Rawuf Abubakar since joining the senior team this season, have played some friendly matches and the indication is that, supporters and spectators in general will like to see more of them in the coming days.
Miss Tahiru believes that, if her boys, despite all the difficulties associated with their training on sub-standard field, were able to impress the National Team Scouts, then, they can go far given the opportunity to train and play on a better field.
“The boys have killed themselves to become good players. Our playing and training facilities here in Upper East are not the best for the development of Players. Coaches go extra miles and players kill themselves to undergo the development….if a player living and playing football here is able to make it to the 40 invited, you need to respect that player and wish him well.”
The list of players selected out of the 40 invited U-17 players is expected to be released by the close of Tuesday 9th February 2016.
The news about the invitation of the boys and even the invitation of Francis Abula Agombire to the National U-20 camp has ignited the spirit again and more players are taking their training serious. The Bolgatanga Sports Stadium has in recent time been business with young players working hard to improve their strength and skills.
Francis Abula Agombire receiving awards from Mr. Rockson Coffie
After an unsuccessful attempt to make history with the National U17 Team, F.C TANGA’s dependable Midfielder, Abula Francis Agombire has been given an opportunity to make it into the National U-20 Team.
Francis Agombire is among some 30 players invited to the Black Satellites Camp and will be expected to report to the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence for the final selection.
The youngster has been playing regularly for F.C TANGA and been very effective in handling the Club’s Midfield, ever since he joined the Club’s Senior Team. Abula as popularly called, was part of the Team that qualified F.C TANGA to the Division One League last year and will be a player to watch in Zone One when the Division One league starts.
Chief Executive Officer of F.C TANGA, Humul Khulsum Tahiru in an interview said Francis Agombire deserves the invitation considering his current form.
“Am aware Francis has been praying for this opportunity and he has been training and preparing himself to grab it. Thank God the time has come and the ball is now in his court…..he is a good player, strong and fast and if he decides to go all out at Prampram, I will not be surprised if he makes the final list.”
According to the F.C TANGA C.E.O, this year has started well for her Club and she looks forward to better days and results when the Division One league starts.
“Apart from Azeko Mandela who got elevated to a Premier Club status, four of our young players were also invited to justify their inclusion in the National U-17 team. Abdul-Rawuf Abubakar, Abdul-Razak Yussif, Benjamin Aloma and Sulemana Musah were among six players invited from the Upper East. Now Francis Agombire has also been invited to justify his inclusion to the National U-20 Team…. It gives us a good feeling and also gives hope to the many young players who have been made to believe that they can never be called to a National Team, once they live and play in the Upper East region.”
