SARPONG'S BLOG

A total of 106 foreigners from Guinea, Mali, Niger and Ivory Coast have been arrested by the Northern Regional Police Command at Tinga in the Bole District for illegally prospecting for gold. They would be put before court on Monday on charges of prospecting for gold contrary to section 103 of the PNDC law 1986 of the Minerals Mining Act. The suspects who included: 99 Guineans, four Malians one person from Niger, one Ivorian and one Ghanaian were arrested on Saturday at about 0500 hours while prospecting for mineral. Briefing the media in Tamale on Sunday, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ebenezer Tetteh, Regional Public Relations Officer said the police and the Ghana Immigration Service received intelligence information that the suspects were engaged in the illegal mining popularly referred to as ‘galamsey’. He said the security agencies met the suspects at the site with 66 gold detecting equipment and when interrogated, they admitted the offence and alleged that ...

President John Dramani Mahama has assured Ghanaians that new doors of opportunities will be opened in the country in 2014. He mentioned economic growth and job creation for the youth as some of the chances that the nation would witness next year. President Mahama gave the assurance at the national thanksgiving service of Aglow International-Ghana at the Independence Square in Accra last Saturday. The service was to thank God for guiding the nation through another year. Women from the 10 regions attended the intercessory prayers. Prayers, praise songs and dancing by women from all walks of life characterised the service. The congregation said prayers for continued peace and development in Ghana and for God's guidance for the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature. Challenging year The President said Ghana faced some challenges this year, including the eight-month election petition, electricity crisis, labour unrest and market fire...

Government’s decision to ban export of scrap has begun biting, as dealers at Dagomba Line in Kumasi lay off dozens of workers. Scrap dealers at the hub which inhabits about 10,000 merchants say business has been poor since the ban came into effect. Joy News’ Joseph Opoku Gakpo who visited the area reports most of the artisans there have migrated from the northern part of the country to the area in Kumasi to engage in scrap dealing, hence the name, Dagomba Line. They work and live there. Parliament in March this year passed the Scrap Metal Bill to make the export of scrap illegal. Government says the move is to ensure scrap materials are available for the local steel industry. But the scrap dealers are complaining they are not getting market for their goods locally. A shop owner, Abdallah Alhassan said at the beginning of the year, he had more than 50 employees. Now, only 35 are left; a combination of layoffs as a result of hard market times, and his inability to pay th...

By the end of the year, movie lovers in the western part of Accra would not have to travel all the way to the Accra Mall to watch good quality films in a conducive atmosphere. This is because Silverbird Cinema is due to open a branch at Functions Ghana, Weja, Accra just in time for the Yuletide. According to Mr. Albert Adomako-M­ensah, Director of Special Projects and Operations at Global Media Alliance, parent company of Silverbird Ghana, the new theatre will bring world-class movie experience to movie enthusiasts around Weija, Dansoman, Lapaz and its environs. The new Silverbird cinema has three cinema halls with a seating capacity of 460 people. Each hall is furnished with the latest technology, digital projectors, and sound output. “The expansion of our cinemas to Weija is to bring world-class cinematic experiences with special projections to the doorstep of our customers and patrons. “We have also installed the 9D games arcade which we introduced in October t...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Government of Japan signed on Monday, 16 December, a bilateral Exchange of Notes for a loan of 9.48 billion Japanese yen (about US$ 100 million). This is the fourth loan to the Bank under the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance (EPSA) for Africa Initiative, which supports entrepreneurship, job creation and economic growth in Africa. The Exchange of Notes was signed by Dr. Donald Kaberuka, AfDB President, and . Juichi Takahara, Ambassador of Japan to Tunisia. Immediately following the signature of the Exchange of Notes, the relevant Loan Agreement between the AfDB and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was signed by Mr. Charles Boamah, AfDB Vice President for Finance, and Mr. Atsushi Asano, Chief Representative, JICA Tunis Office. During the signing ceremony the AfDB President said: “This Fourth Private Sector Assistance Loan is the first under the Second Phase of EPSA, is not only in line with Japan’s commitmen...

    Samsung Ghana has announced that they will launch the Galaxy Tab 3 Kids, a tablet designed specifically for children this Christmas. The launch will be held at Santa’s Magical Grotto at the Accra Mall on Saturday, December 21 st , 2013.     The event which is set to fascinate dozens of children will mark another milestone for the Smartphone giants. The outdoor of the Kids Tablet is meant to redefine technology for both children and their parents.       The event will also seek to give parents and their kids the opportunity to have hands-on session with the new kids’ tablet. There will also be an opportunity for the parents who want to acquire the new Galaxy Tab 3 Kids for their children to do so.         The device comes with educational tools and safety features. Pre-loaded with six top ranked and globally acknowledged kid’s apps and a new Kid’s Store. The tablet has over 600 activities to cater...

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong     The Convention People’s Party (CPP) Presidential candidate for 2012 Presidential Election, Dr. Abu Sakara has add his voice to those calling for National Debate on genetically modified (GM) crops,   in order to help address some of the challenges associated with the crops, if   there is any.     According to Dr. Sakara, national debate will clearly give an informed decision about GM crops, as far as anti GM and those for are concern.     Dr. Sakara said in an interview after a day lecture on GM crops held in Accra last week. The lecture was organized by Open Forum on Agriculture Biotechnology in Africa (OFAB) and Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).     ‘I think clearly this is a topic which has now come to the public domain, because it has been in the news for sometimes,’ he added.     Dr. Sakara stated that his comment on GM crops will be ...

    GCB Bank Limited, one of the state own banks in the country has been rated negative by Moody’s Investors Service as the bank’s deposit ratings have been lowered to negative from stable.     Moody’s action takes into consideration of GCB’s B1 local-currency long-term deposit ratings and B2 foreign-currency deposit ratings.     Moody’s rating on GCB was as the change in the outlook on Ghana’s B1 government bond ratings to negative on December 5, 2013. This was contained in a statement released by the investors on December 10, 2013.     According to Moody’s the action “reflect the risk of further weakening in the government’s capacity to support the bank in case of need; and GCB’s high exposure to government securities, which links the bank’s standalone creditworthiness to that of the sovereign.”     It, however, indicated that it is likely to downgrade GCB’s deposit ratings if the Ghana’s soverei...