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NO. 100662 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018 PRICE: GH¢2.00<br />
DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
•President Nana<br />
Akufo-Addo<br />
•Goats in the dining hall<br />
•From (L-R) Rachael Ofosua Asare and Faiza<br />
Seidu representatives of Klo-Agogo SHS<br />
visit us: @dailyheritagegh dailyheritage facebook.com/dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
GA-027-0054
02<br />
CONTENT<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018<br />
DAILY QUOTE<br />
In my experience, there is only<br />
one motivation, and that is<br />
desire. No reasons or principle<br />
contain it or stand against it<br />
— Jane Smiley<br />
ANNIVERSARIES<br />
30 <strong>March</strong>, Good Friday<br />
02 April, Easter Monday<br />
Published by: EIB<br />
Network / Heritage<br />
Communications Ltd.<br />
Managing Editor:<br />
William Asiedu:<br />
0208156974<br />
Editor:<br />
Kofi Enchill:<br />
0265653335<br />
ISSN: 0855-52307<br />
VOL 7<br />
Location: Meridian<br />
House (Starr FM) Ring<br />
Road. Box AD 676,<br />
Adabraka, Accra,Ghana.<br />
Telephone: +233-0302-<br />
236051, 020-8156974<br />
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Adverts/Mktg:<br />
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Email:<br />
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www.dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
WORLD<br />
George Weah wants<br />
6,000 Nigerian<br />
teachers<br />
POLITICS<br />
Prez Akufo-Addo on<br />
issues important to<br />
Ghanaians<br />
BUSINESS<br />
PG.04<br />
Traders hail reduction<br />
in utility tariffs<br />
SPORTS<br />
PG.11<br />
Lady power lifter<br />
tops all<br />
PG.10<br />
PG.15<br />
Klo-Agogo SHS wins<br />
GH@61 Ind. Day quiz<br />
• Despite sharing dining hall with goats<br />
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH<br />
muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
THE KLO –<br />
AGOGO Senior<br />
High School<br />
(SHS) in the Yilo<br />
Krobo District<br />
of the Eastern<br />
Region has outclassed two<br />
other schools including West<br />
Africa Senior High School<br />
(SHS) to win the Ghana @61<br />
Independence Day ‘What Do<br />
You Know’ contest.<br />
The school, despite being<br />
frustrated with infrastructure<br />
challenges, defied all the odds<br />
including having to share dining<br />
hall with goats and other<br />
creatures to still show their<br />
prowess by competing with<br />
top class schools in the country.<br />
Represented by Faiza Seidu<br />
and Rachael Ofosua Asare,<br />
form three and two General<br />
Arts students respectively, the<br />
school obtained a score of 35<br />
against West Africa SHS and<br />
•From (L-R) Rachael Ofosua Asare and Faiza<br />
Seidu representatives of Klo-Agogo SHS<br />
Linkpe SHS, who placed second<br />
and third with a score of<br />
23 and 20 respectively.<br />
The Independence Day<br />
quiz competition moderated<br />
by Quiz Master Dan Afari<br />
Yeboah was on the theme,<br />
‘Putting Ghana Beyond Aid.’<br />
They were deservedly rewarded<br />
with a cash amount of<br />
GH¢ 1,000.00 and a certificate<br />
for the school.<br />
Mr John Mensah Dzokoto,<br />
the headmaster of<br />
the school in an<br />
interview with the<br />
DAILY HER-<br />
ITAGE expressed<br />
gratitude<br />
to the Almighty<br />
God, the students<br />
and the entire<br />
staff for their<br />
sterling performance.<br />
•Goats in the<br />
dining hall<br />
Students share Dining<br />
Hall with goats<br />
It would be recalled that on<br />
Monday, February 12, 2018,<br />
the DAILY HERITAGE<br />
carried a story with the caption<br />
‘NASTY: STUDENTS<br />
SHARE DINING HALL<br />
WITH GOATS AT KLO-<br />
AGOGO SHS’ which highlighted<br />
the challenges of the<br />
school including sharing the<br />
dining hall with animals.<br />
The<br />
headmaster<br />
of the<br />
school,<br />
Mr John<br />
Mensah<br />
Dzokoto<br />
described<br />
the plight<br />
of the<br />
school as<br />
“pathetic”<br />
which required<br />
urgent<br />
attention.
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018<br />
People rarely succeed unless they<br />
have fun in what they are doing.<br />
—Dale Carnegie<br />
Prez declares<br />
war against<br />
armed robbers<br />
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH<br />
muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
THE PRESIDENT,<br />
Nana Addo Dankwa<br />
Akufo-Addo, has described<br />
the recent<br />
spate of armed robberies<br />
in the country<br />
as unacceptable and declared that<br />
those "miscreants" would no longer<br />
have the space to terrorise citizens<br />
and generate a sense of insecurity<br />
in the country.<br />
According to him, he is under<br />
every obligation to maintain peace<br />
of the country and will not compromise<br />
it.<br />
The President’s assurance comes<br />
in the wake of what has been<br />
months of bloody armed robbery<br />
attacks which have claimed scores<br />
of human lives and loss of property.<br />
Addressing the 61st Independence<br />
Day celebration at the Black<br />
Star Square in Accra yesterday,<br />
President Akufo-Addo said<br />
“I will work to ensure that citizens<br />
are able to go about their daily<br />
duties in the confidence that they<br />
are safe. I want to make this clear:<br />
no miscreant will have the space to<br />
terrorise citizens and generate a<br />
sense of insecurity in our country,”<br />
he promised.<br />
“My dear fellow Ghanaians all<br />
these plans and big dreams I have<br />
outlined will come to not if we do<br />
not have peace in our country, the<br />
primary requirement for prosperity<br />
is peace. The first obligation of any<br />
government is to ensure the safety<br />
and security of the citizenry. As<br />
your President, this is an obligation<br />
I accept and I am determined to<br />
discharge faithfully,” he stated.<br />
RTI Bill<br />
According to him, he would<br />
give impetus to his fight against<br />
corruption by urging Parliament to<br />
pass the Right to Information Bill<br />
(RTI) before the House goes on recess.<br />
The RTI Bill has been gathering<br />
dust since 2013 when it first went<br />
to Parliament. The right to information<br />
is a fundamental human<br />
right guaranteed by the country’s<br />
1992 Constitution and recognised<br />
as a right under International Conventions<br />
on Human rights.<br />
The Bill will give substance to<br />
Article 21 (1) (f) of the Constitution<br />
which states that “All persons<br />
shall have the right to information<br />
subject to such qualifications and<br />
•President Nana Akufo-Addo<br />
laws as are necessary in a democratic<br />
society.<br />
“Fellow Ghanaians, corruption,<br />
or, more specifically, the stealing of<br />
public funds, continues to hold<br />
back the development of our nation.<br />
Corruption is not a partisan<br />
matter and we must all act to protect<br />
the public purse. With the office<br />
of the Special Prosecutor now<br />
in place we can expect more prosecutions<br />
for corruption in the coming<br />
months and public officials,<br />
present and past, should be on notice<br />
that they would be held accountable<br />
for their stewardship of<br />
our public finances,” he noted.<br />
Ghana Beyond Aid<br />
President Akufo-Addo also<br />
noted stated that the ‘Ghana Beyond<br />
Aid’ mantra is not just a slogan<br />
but meant to propel Ghana<br />
into the frame of mind that would<br />
quicken the pace of development.<br />
“My fellow Ghanaians, ours is a<br />
country that is well endowed with<br />
many natural resources such as<br />
gold, bauxite, diamonds, oil, timber,<br />
cocoa, water, fertile land etc. The<br />
truth, however, is that the state of<br />
our nation does not bear out that<br />
we have these natural endowments.<br />
Poverty continues to be our lot. We<br />
have huge infrastructural deficits.<br />
“Mismanagement, corruption<br />
and high fiscal deficits have become<br />
the hallmarks of our economy,<br />
which we finance through<br />
borrowing and foreign aid. It is<br />
time to pursue a path to prosperity<br />
and self-respect for our nation. A<br />
‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ is a prosperous<br />
and self-confident Ghana that<br />
is in charge of its economic destiny.<br />
It is not a pie in the sky notion,<br />
other countries; including some of<br />
our peers at independence have<br />
done exactly that. It is doable and<br />
we must believe that what others,<br />
with less resources, have done, we<br />
can do.<br />
“Ghana Beyond Aid is meant to<br />
be more than a slogan. It is meant<br />
to propel us into the frame of mind<br />
that would quicken our pace of development.<br />
It is meant to change<br />
our mindset from one of dependency<br />
to one of achieving our destiny.<br />
It is meant to put us in charge<br />
of our own affairs and make us<br />
truly independent.”<br />
President Buhari<br />
lauds Ghana<br />
The President of the Federal<br />
Republic of Nigeria, Mr Muhammadu<br />
Buhari, who was the quest<br />
of honour, commended President<br />
Akufo-Addo for the creation of<br />
the Special Prosecutor (SP) office<br />
to fight corruption in Ghana.<br />
According to him, the move<br />
demonstrates the President’s willingness<br />
and determination to<br />
weed out corruption from the<br />
public life of the country.<br />
“I congratulate both the government<br />
and Parliament for the<br />
quick passage of the SP Act and<br />
its signing into law,” he said.<br />
“Your Excellency, you can be<br />
assured that you have a good<br />
partner in me as I look forward to<br />
any form of collaboration between<br />
Nigeria and Ghana in tackling<br />
the menace of endemic<br />
corruption,” he said.
Inside <strong>March</strong> 7, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 3/6/18 8:07 PM Page 3<br />
•Kim Jong-un was pictured welcoming delegates to a<br />
dinner on Monday<br />
Kim Jong-un to meet S Korea leader in landmark summit<br />
THE LEADERS of North and<br />
South Korea are due to meet at<br />
a summit next month, Seoul's<br />
envoy says.<br />
It will be the first such meeting<br />
for more than a decade and<br />
the first since Kim Jong-un took<br />
power in North Korea.<br />
The envoy also said Mr Kim<br />
suggested he would be willing to<br />
discuss getting rid of nuclear<br />
weapons, but only if his country's<br />
security could be guaranteed.<br />
In previous programmes to<br />
halt its nuclear ambitions, the<br />
North has failed to keep its<br />
promises.<br />
Mr Kim and South Korean<br />
President Moon Jae-in will meet<br />
on the heavily fortified border<br />
next month, at the truce village<br />
of Panmunjom. The two countries<br />
also agreed to open a hotline<br />
between the leaders.<br />
After returning from a rare<br />
trip to Pyongyang, South Korean<br />
officials said Mr Kim told<br />
them there would be no missile<br />
tests while diplomacy continued.<br />
Fast-closing window for<br />
diplomacy post-Olympics<br />
Have the Winter Olympics<br />
repaired North-South Korea relations?<br />
BBC<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
World news in 4 stories<br />
George Weah wants<br />
6,000 Nigerian teachers<br />
NIGERIA'S<br />
MEDIA are reporting<br />
on Liberian<br />
President<br />
George Weah's request<br />
for thousands<br />
of Nigerian teachers to plug<br />
the country's deficit.<br />
"We are seeking 6,000-plus teachers<br />
to make up for the shortage of<br />
good teachers in our educational<br />
system,” President Weah told reporters<br />
after his meeting with Nigeria's<br />
President Buhari yesterday in<br />
Abuja.<br />
Liberia's new president has put<br />
education at the top of his agenda,<br />
saying previously his government<br />
will pay all university exam fees for<br />
every student, though it is unclear<br />
how he will fund the plan after describing<br />
the government as “broke".<br />
President Weah also used the<br />
meeting to appeal for Nigeria's help<br />
to "jump-start" the Liberian economy,<br />
calling for increased private investment<br />
in construction, housing,<br />
agricultural and power sectors.<br />
Mr Weah also urged the Nigerian<br />
banks which "dominate" Liberia's<br />
banking not to reduce their support<br />
or close operations because he was<br />
"optimistic that trade and commerce<br />
will increase in the near future”.<br />
BBC<br />
•Liberian President George Weah<br />
•The vast majority of Rwandans are Christians but many also<br />
follow traditional practices<br />
Rwanda arrests<br />
prominent church<br />
leader<br />
POLICE IN Rwanda have<br />
arrested six church leaders<br />
including Bishop Innocent<br />
Rugagi, one of the famous<br />
pastors in the country, for<br />
plotting to defy a government<br />
order requiring<br />
churches to comply with<br />
building regulations and<br />
noise pollution.<br />
About 700 churches have<br />
been closed down for failing<br />
meet these requirements.<br />
Bishop Rugagi, who leads<br />
the “Abacunguwe church”<br />
(Redeemed Gospel Church),<br />
was allegedly heard criticising<br />
what he called an abrupt decision<br />
to stop the churches<br />
from operating.<br />
The arrest of these<br />
preachers comes after President<br />
Paul Kagame publicly<br />
criticised what he called a<br />
huge number of illegal<br />
churches in the country.<br />
Mr Kagame questioned<br />
whether these churches, in<br />
his words, bring any worthy<br />
benefit to the people.<br />
He also said that they<br />
cause security risks. BBC<br />
Oldest message in a bottle found on Western Australia beach<br />
A PERTH family has found the<br />
world's oldest known message in<br />
a bottle, almost 132 years after it<br />
was thrown into the sea, Australian<br />
experts say.<br />
Tonya Illman picked up the<br />
bottle while going for a walk<br />
around sand dunes on a remote<br />
beach in West Australia.<br />
Her husband Kym Illman told<br />
the BBC they found some paper<br />
in the bottle but had "no idea"<br />
what it was until they took it<br />
home and dried it in the oven.<br />
Experts have confirmed it is<br />
an authentic message from a German<br />
ship.<br />
The note in the bottle, which<br />
was dated 12 June 1886, was jettisoned<br />
from the German ship<br />
Paula, as part of an experiment<br />
into ocean and shipping routes by<br />
the German Naval Observatory.<br />
Previously, the Guinness world<br />
record for the oldest message in a<br />
bottle was 108 years, between it<br />
being sent and found.<br />
The Illman family were driving<br />
through a beach north of Wedge<br />
Island on 21 January when the car<br />
became bogged down in the sand,<br />
and Mrs Illman and her friend decided<br />
to go for a walk.<br />
"Tonya saw a whole lot of<br />
rubbish on the ground, and<br />
thought she'd help pick up some<br />
rubbish," Mr Illman told the<br />
BBC.<br />
She found and picked up the<br />
bottle, thinking it would be nice<br />
for her bookshelf, he added. BBC<br />
•Kym and Tonya Illman have loaned the find to the<br />
Western Australian Museum
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018<br />
Hit-and-run must stop<br />
NOBLE PRIZE winner and<br />
anti-apartheid icon, Nelson<br />
Rolihlahla Mandela once said<br />
“when a man is denied the right<br />
to live the life he believes in, he<br />
has no choice but to become an<br />
outlaw.”<br />
It is also said that no one is<br />
born a criminal, but it’s society<br />
that makes him so. Society indeed<br />
has significant roles to play<br />
in the shaping of norms and attitudes<br />
of its citizens.<br />
When for a long period of<br />
time individuals begin to lose<br />
faith in authorities, the cumulative<br />
effect is a society full of lawless<br />
and heartless people.<br />
In Ghana, stories are told of<br />
criminals who are left off the<br />
hook moments after they are arrested<br />
because the Police had<br />
been compromised. This has led<br />
to lack of trust in the Police,<br />
hence the taking of the law into<br />
people’s own hands.<br />
Many a time, when a driver<br />
knocks down someone, especially<br />
in populated areas, the<br />
driver is beaten to pulp or<br />
lynched. The assumption is that<br />
the driver is into money rituals<br />
and needs blood sacrifice, so<br />
must be paid back in his own<br />
coins.<br />
In society’s bid to mete out<br />
instance justice to such drivers,<br />
a canker of hit-and-run evolved<br />
where drivers knock down motorists<br />
and bolt.<br />
This evil trend has gotten out<br />
of hand. Even in situations<br />
where drivers could help people<br />
they knock down; they leave<br />
them to their fate. This, in our<br />
view, ought to stop.<br />
The DAILY HERITAGE<br />
is therefore appealing to drivers<br />
to stop this evil hit-and-run<br />
practice because it is gradually<br />
tearing society apart.<br />
We also appeal to those who<br />
take the law into their hands to<br />
stop the lynching of drivers.<br />
This way, lives could be saved<br />
when drivers mistakenly knock<br />
down motorists.<br />
ECG to name and<br />
shame power thieves<br />
BY KOJO ANSAH<br />
THE EASTERN<br />
Regional branch<br />
of the Electricity<br />
Company of<br />
Ghana (ECG) is<br />
to use a ‘name<br />
and shame’ strategy in tandem<br />
with prosecution of culprits<br />
to deal with growing<br />
illegal connection in the region.<br />
The region, through the efforts<br />
of the Revenue Protection<br />
Unit (RPU), retrieved<br />
GH¢ 87,893.00 from detected<br />
illegal connections such as<br />
meter tempering ,unauthorised<br />
service connections<br />
,damaged meter ,bypass ,and<br />
self-reconnection in the system<br />
in 2017.<br />
The Eastern Regional<br />
•Michael Baah, Eastern Regional Manager, ECG<br />
Manager, Ing. Michael Baah<br />
said this during an interaction<br />
with the media on operations<br />
of the company in the region.<br />
"The illegal connection incidents<br />
in the Eastern Region<br />
increased over the past two<br />
years due to increase in electricity<br />
tariff. Since the time<br />
the tariff was increased, people<br />
started to at least carry<br />
out illegal connections and<br />
these affected us," the regional<br />
manager stated.<br />
He added that "we have instituted<br />
measures dubbed<br />
‘name and shame’ of culprits<br />
of illegal connection activities.<br />
The company will not<br />
hesitate to broadcast and publish<br />
the names and pictures of<br />
culprits of illegal connection<br />
activities in the media. Furthermore,<br />
perpetrators of illegal<br />
connection activities<br />
would be brought before a<br />
competent court of jurisdiction<br />
to be prosecuted."<br />
He also mentioned cable<br />
theft, non-payment of bills<br />
and bush fires as some of the<br />
challenges militating against<br />
the operations of ECG in the<br />
region.<br />
Despite these challenges,<br />
the company connected<br />
27,737 customers across the<br />
region in 2017 through government's<br />
Self Help Electrification<br />
Project and ECG's<br />
Rural Electrification Project.<br />
Three Customer Service<br />
Centers worth GH¢<br />
1,747,455.24 have also been<br />
constructed to serve customers<br />
around Anyinam,<br />
Kukurantumi and Abetifi as<br />
part of decentralisation of its<br />
services.
Inside <strong>March</strong> 7, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 3/6/18 8:07 PM Page 5<br />
06<br />
View DAILY<br />
HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
Prez Akufo-Addo on issues<br />
important to Ghanaians<br />
I<br />
T IS sixty-one years today<br />
(yesterday) since our nation<br />
Ghana won her independence,<br />
and it is fitting that we<br />
should gather to celebrate<br />
the anniversary of this special<br />
day.<br />
I extend, on behalf of all<br />
Ghanaians, a warm welcome to<br />
our guest of honour, that sterling<br />
champion of the battle against one<br />
of Africa’s most pernicious diseases,<br />
corruption in public life,<br />
Muhammadu Buhari, President of<br />
the great Federal Republic of<br />
Nigeria, and his delegation. We are<br />
delighted that he has accepted our<br />
invitation to share this special day<br />
with us. Nigeria oman panyin,<br />
Muhammadu Buhari, ye ma woni<br />
woahokafuor akwaaba surunko.<br />
Sandazua, Muhammadu Buhari,<br />
shuuga bankasa Nigeria, da mutaaninka.<br />
Last year, at the 60th independence<br />
anniversary, I announced that, on my<br />
way here, I had cut the sod for the<br />
construction of a National Cathedral,<br />
which would serve as an inter-denominational<br />
place of worship for important<br />
national occasions. This year, I am<br />
happy to announce, that, on my way<br />
here, I have unveiled the beautiful design<br />
of the cathedral that has been<br />
done by the world-acclaimed Ghanaian<br />
architect, David Adjaye. God will see<br />
the project through for us.<br />
Grave responsibility<br />
At its birth, great things were expected<br />
of this nation of ours, and<br />
even greater things were expected of<br />
those who would have the honour to<br />
be called Ghanaians. This is the country,<br />
after all, that blazed the trail for independence<br />
on the African continent,<br />
and, with it, came a grave responsibility<br />
to be forever used as a measure of<br />
how the continent was doing.<br />
In many ways, we rose to the occasion.<br />
The many and varied peoples<br />
that came together, through happenstance<br />
or deliberate actions, to form<br />
the modern state of Ghana, have<br />
crafted a common identity.<br />
We might be Dagartis, Sissalas,<br />
Dagombas, Mamprusis, Gonjas,<br />
Konkombas, Frafras, Grusis, Kusasis,<br />
Gas, Krobos, Ewes, Fantes, Denkyiras,<br />
Gomoas, Guans, Nzemas, Ahantas, Sefwis,<br />
Akyems, Akwamus, Akuapems,<br />
Kwahus, Brongs or Ashantis; we might<br />
sometimes even lapse into ancient rivalry<br />
modes; but, as Ghanaians, we are<br />
comfortable in our skin.<br />
This sense of identity shows in our<br />
clothes, in our foods, in our music and<br />
in our politics. Sixty one years after<br />
this nation pledged itself to the total<br />
liberation of the continent, in the immemorial<br />
words of our first leader,<br />
Kwame Nkrumah, on that unforgettable<br />
night of 5th <strong>March</strong>, 1957, at the<br />
Old Polo Grounds, a few hundred<br />
yards from here, that “our independence<br />
is meaningless unless it is linked<br />
up with the total liberation of Africa”,<br />
we have remained faithful to our pan-<br />
African vocation.<br />
We know that our struggle for economic<br />
growth and independence cannot<br />
be for our nation alone, but for the<br />
entire African continent. A few weeks<br />
ago, in the hallowed halls of the<br />
United States Congress, as their President<br />
came to deliver the State of the<br />
Union Address, a group of congressmen<br />
and women wanted to make a<br />
statement of support for African nations.<br />
They draped kente strips over<br />
their clothing, and that said it all.<br />
Ghana’s kente<br />
Ghana’s kente has come to identify<br />
the African continent and its peoples.<br />
The kente best spells out the fact that<br />
we are a dynamic people, unafraid to<br />
put our best foot forward, and unafraid<br />
constantly to adapt our cultures<br />
and traditions. We wear it with pride<br />
and in style.<br />
That quintessential Ghanaian patriot,<br />
scholar and cultural icon,<br />
Ephraim Amu, would certainly be<br />
looking on now with admiration and<br />
satisfaction.At least, as far as clothing<br />
is concerned, we seem to have accepted<br />
his admonitions to be self-reliant,<br />
and to take pride in what was<br />
ours, rather than copy others. During<br />
his time, Owura Amu fought a lonely<br />
battle but, today, it seems strange to us<br />
that anyone ever suggested that you<br />
had to be dressed in European-style<br />
clothes to be accepted as a scholar or<br />
even to show up in church.<br />
Apart from the physical, outward<br />
things that identify us, there are the<br />
more subtle,but important things that<br />
define us as Ghanaians. Everybody’s<br />
list will doubtless be different. Let me<br />
cite a few of my favourite ones: we are<br />
a hospitable people, we make strangers<br />
and visitors feel at home, it is part of<br />
our DNA.<br />
We Ghanaians look out for each<br />
other even in modern, chaotic urban<br />
settings, and even when we find ourselves<br />
outside our country. We still regard<br />
the upbringing and training of<br />
children as a group responsibility for<br />
the public good, and the most sophisticated<br />
amongst us is not embarrassed<br />
to show respect to the elderly.<br />
We might have become famous or<br />
infamous for being great travellers,<br />
who can be found in all parts of the<br />
globe, but I can safely say that, deep<br />
inside us, we love our country. We love<br />
Ghana. We take seriously the words of<br />
our national motto, and have a passionate<br />
love for freedom and justice.<br />
• Continue on page 11
Inside <strong>March</strong> 7, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 3/6/18 8:07 PM Page 6<br />
Prevention of tooth decay<br />
See your dentist<br />
Don’t be a stranger at the dental office if you<br />
want to avoid cavities. Getting routine cleanings<br />
at least once every six months can help prevent<br />
decay early on, before it progresses to become<br />
cavities, and if needed, your dentist can apply<br />
fluoride to any trouble spots to prevent tooth<br />
decay and cavities.<br />
Brush with fluoride<br />
Select toothpaste with fluoride as an ingredient<br />
as this is known to protect teeth from tooth<br />
decay and cavities. If you are concerned about<br />
the enamel of your teeth, brush more than the<br />
recommended twice daily and start brushing<br />
after every meal to remove sugar and starches<br />
that turn into corrosive acid and add an extra<br />
layer of protection from tooth decay and cavities<br />
Ṙinse with fluoride<br />
You can also find rinses such as Listerine<br />
total care anti cavity mouthwash and Listerine<br />
smart rinse anti cavity mouthwash that contain<br />
tooth-protecting fluoride to keep your teeth<br />
strong and fight off cavities.<br />
Limit snacking<br />
Try to snack only a limited number of times<br />
a day, and when you do, aim to include foods<br />
that fortify and are good for the teeth. Whenever<br />
you eat food or drink liquid other than<br />
water, this allows bacteria to create acid that<br />
wears away tooth enamel.<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018<br />
&Env.<br />
Vodafone pays bills for 300 women<br />
BY PHILIP ANTOH<br />
philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
ON THE anniversary<br />
of Ghana’s 61st Interdependence<br />
Day<br />
celebrations, Vodafone<br />
Ghana through<br />
its initiative dubbed<br />
‘Homeoming’ has granted freedom to<br />
hundreds of financially-challenged<br />
women who have delivered but could<br />
not pay for their expenses in various<br />
hospitals across the country.<br />
The initiative is the company’s Cooperate<br />
Social Responsibility (CSR) in ensuring<br />
that the women join the rest of<br />
Ghanaians to mark the 61st independence<br />
anniversary at home.<br />
In all, over 300 patients across the<br />
country were giving the freedom to go<br />
home after Vodafone through its CSR<br />
paid all their hospital bills.<br />
Speaking to the media at Korle-Bu<br />
last Monday <strong>March</strong> 5, 2018, in Accra,<br />
the Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone<br />
Ghana, Ms Yolanda Cuba said the<br />
company through its CSR initiative embarked<br />
on such gesture to ensure that<br />
the women cerebrate independence with<br />
•Ms Yolanda Cuba playing<br />
with the twins at the Korle-Bu<br />
Maternity Ward<br />
their love ones.<br />
Ms Cuba said the ‘Homecoming’ initiative<br />
have help release over thousands<br />
of patients across the country who were<br />
financial constraints in paying out their<br />
hospital bills across the country in some<br />
time past.<br />
“For us making sure that each and<br />
everyone cerebrate Independence Day<br />
was our ultimate goal because there is<br />
no true independence unless one cerebrate<br />
it with their love ones.<br />
“Right now we are at the Korle-Bu<br />
maternity ward helping taking kids that<br />
are born a few months ago and their<br />
mothers’ home and for us today, this is<br />
the moment when we say you can go<br />
home and be welcome by their parents.<br />
We are actually taking out about 50 patients<br />
from Korle-Bu and other 250<br />
across various hospitals nationwide,” Ms<br />
Cuba stated.<br />
She added that there are no criteria<br />
for selection of patients adding that<br />
“what we do is, when we go to the hospitals<br />
we talk to management about the<br />
areas they want us to help and then we<br />
offer our support.”<br />
Zoomlion, AMA and Sanitation Ministry clean Accra<br />
Unity FM holds health<br />
walk in Kwahu<br />
HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT DESK<br />
UNITY FM, a private<br />
radio station at Kwahu Atibie<br />
in the Eastern Region,<br />
has held its maiden health<br />
walk to celebrate its one<br />
year anniversary.<br />
Attended by hundreds<br />
of teeming listeners of the<br />
station including health<br />
professionals and police<br />
officers in the locality, the<br />
participants took advantage<br />
of the mountainous<br />
area to do other exercises.<br />
Addressing the participants<br />
of the walk, the<br />
Chief Executive Officer of<br />
Unity FM, Mallam Mohammed,<br />
urged all to prioritise<br />
exercise.<br />
He noted that many<br />
people have, in recent<br />
times, been losing their<br />
lives at a very young age or<br />
are suffering from sicknesses<br />
which are preventable<br />
through exercise.<br />
He said though heavy<br />
schedule of work is preventing<br />
many people from<br />
exercising regularly, it is<br />
important that they find<br />
time to always exercise.<br />
The Chief Executive<br />
Officer urged all to make<br />
exercise their daily habit,<br />
as well as adopt good eating<br />
habit.<br />
“The food we eat plays<br />
important role in our daily<br />
lives and it is imperative<br />
for us to eat nutritious<br />
foods and avoid eating<br />
late. Fruits should also be<br />
added to our food menu,”<br />
he advised.<br />
He said, Unity FM<br />
would continue to introduce<br />
health programmes<br />
that would educate its<br />
teeming listeners on<br />
healthy living.<br />
•AMA and Zoomlion clean gutters<br />
IN A bid to achieve the government’s<br />
clean Accra project, Zoomlion over the<br />
weekend partnered city authorities,<br />
Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA)<br />
and the Ministry of Sanitation And<br />
Water Resources to embark on a cleanup<br />
exercise within the city.<br />
About 800 workers of Zoomlion<br />
took their cleaning equipment to areas<br />
such as Obetsebi Lamptey Circle, parts<br />
of the Accra-Tema Motorway, Nima<br />
and Asylum Down to dredge choked<br />
drains, cut down overgrown weeds and<br />
sweep the streets.<br />
Speaking to journalists during the exercise,<br />
the Mayor of Accra, Mr Mohammed<br />
Adjei Sowah, hinted that his<br />
outfit would this time round enforce<br />
sanitation bye-laws with no human face<br />
or favouritism.<br />
“We will deal with anyone who just<br />
litters anywhere anyhow”, he said.<br />
He noted that a lot of these sanitation<br />
challenges are created by human behaviours<br />
hence the firm decision of the<br />
AMA to go after sanitation offenders.<br />
Sanitation Minister, Kofi Adda —<br />
who was with an entourage of government<br />
officials called for an attitudinal<br />
change to sanitation. He urged the public<br />
to stop putting up illegal structures<br />
that worsen the sanitation situation in<br />
Accra.<br />
“Those who<br />
are in the wrong<br />
places – who are<br />
there illegally –<br />
should move out<br />
of those places…<br />
you members of<br />
the press should<br />
do your part in<br />
supporting us.<br />
You have to<br />
come here periodically<br />
to and see what is going on.<br />
“If you catch anybody to littering or<br />
defecating or urinating openly you have<br />
to bring that person to book. Take a picture<br />
of them and put in the print media<br />
or on TV…then we know who it is”<br />
Kofi Adda told the press during the<br />
tour.<br />
Kofi Adda said Nana Akufo-Addo’s<br />
promise to make the capital city the<br />
cleanest in Africa is on course, saying a<br />
plan has already been mapped out for<br />
implementation.<br />
On his part, Chief Executive Officer<br />
of Zoomlion, Dr Siaw Agyepong, said<br />
the most efficient scheme to deal with<br />
the cancer of filth and to overcome the<br />
chaos that it comes with is to ensure that<br />
every house gets a dustbin.<br />
He believes that the treatment of<br />
waste has a pattern which should not be<br />
broken adding that once waste is generated,<br />
it must be contained in a liter bins<br />
awaiting transportation to the disposal<br />
or treatment site. Zoomlion has pledged<br />
to support the filth fight with a nationwide<br />
distribution of about two million<br />
dustbins.<br />
•Mallam Mohammed, Chief Executive Officer of Unity FM
spread_<strong>March</strong> 7 2018.qxp_SHOWBIZ TEMP 3/6/18 8:08 PM Page 1<br />
News<br />
DAILY HERITAGE, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
You don’t know security<br />
related power play better<br />
than me<br />
– Rawlings to critics<br />
BY JONATHAN ADJEI<br />
FORMER PRESIDENT Jerry John<br />
Rawlings has slammed critics who<br />
sought to downplay his views on the<br />
spate of armed robbery incident in the<br />
country.<br />
The ex-military leader in a tweet<br />
fumed:” None of them are in a<br />
position to recognise security related<br />
power play better than me.”<br />
In the wake of the increased<br />
robbery and violent crime, former<br />
President Rawlings said he hoped the<br />
heightened insecurity was not<br />
politically motivated.<br />
“Let us hope the recent robbery<br />
and killings are downright plain<br />
robbery and not a politically motivated<br />
action from within or without,<br />
calculated to undermine those in<br />
charge of the security machinery in<br />
order to pave the way for certain<br />
parochial ambitions,” the former<br />
President stated.<br />
But, his concerns over the recent<br />
spate of armed robbery in the country<br />
angered a section of the main<br />
opposition National Democratic<br />
Congress (NDC) members.<br />
The founder of the NDC has been<br />
taking the flak for the comment he<br />
made from members of his party.<br />
Commenting on the reaction in<br />
relation to his robbery statement, Mr<br />
Rawlings said: “Loud and timid minds<br />
incapable of recognising the most<br />
obvious desecration of Ghana’s pride,<br />
cannot and should not expect to be<br />
able to know or see what I see-much<br />
more to downplay it.”<br />
Meanwhile, President Nana Akufo-<br />
Addo has directed the Finance<br />
Minister to release funds for the<br />
purchase of the state-of-the-art<br />
equipment for the country’s security<br />
agencies, especially the Police Service.<br />
Additionally, he asked that the joint<br />
Police/Military patrol be intensified to<br />
cover every part of the country. The<br />
directives were issued following a<br />
meeting between the President and the<br />
nation’s security chiefs to deliberate on<br />
the recent upsurge in robbery activities<br />
in some parts of the country.<br />
Retire right<br />
BY ALBERT AMEKUDZI<br />
CHIEF EXECUTIVE<br />
Officer of NBC<br />
Ghana Trust, Mr<br />
William Asiedu<br />
Yeboah, has urged<br />
workers, especially<br />
those in the informal sector to retire<br />
right by investing in pension schemes<br />
to enable them enjoy their retirement<br />
life.<br />
Speaking on a wide array of issues<br />
about pensions and retirement, Mr<br />
Yeboah said “our traditional norms<br />
such as funerals, engagements, and<br />
outdooring, among others increase the<br />
retirement resources needed by each<br />
of us, hence the need to invest now<br />
for a better future.”<br />
Mr Yeboah added that there is the<br />
need to save for retirement, “because<br />
every working individual will retire<br />
one day, this should not come as a<br />
surprise. It is important for workers to<br />
plan their retirement well and enjoy<br />
their old age and minimise the burden<br />
on their children and other family<br />
members.<br />
“Retirement is something we all<br />
need to consider and start planning as<br />
soon as we start our working life. The<br />
little we invest today towards our<br />
retirement can change our lifestyle,<br />
therefore, everyone must take pension<br />
seriously,” he pointed out.<br />
The NBC CEO further urged<br />
industry players to venture into the<br />
informal sector, educate fellow<br />
citizens on pension benefits, the<br />
various products or services and<br />
enroll them for a secured future.<br />
The informal sector workers<br />
constitute about 80% of the working<br />
population and pension administrators<br />
have not been able to enroll most of<br />
them onto any retirement package.<br />
This, according to Mr Yeboah,<br />
provides an opportunity for the<br />
private sector pension administrators.<br />
Touching on the operations of<br />
pension administrators, Mr Yeboah<br />
stated that NBC Ghana Trust has the<br />
most robust operating system in the<br />
industry.<br />
He explained that “we have<br />
invested so much into building a very<br />
robust system that can be used to<br />
manage huge data in the country.<br />
With the growing number of clients,<br />
it is important we invest in building<br />
this kind of system so we can serve<br />
our customers better.”<br />
Mr Yeboah added that all pension<br />
administrators have similar products<br />
and services; however, “what<br />
distinguishes us from the rest is our<br />
operating system and the technical<br />
support we receive from our<br />
partners.”<br />
Ghanaians are unpatriotic – Jantuah<br />
• CEO urges workers<br />
• William Asiedu Yeboah, Chief Executive<br />
Officer of NBC Ghana Trust<br />
According to him, the company<br />
will keep investing in its systems with<br />
trending technology to ensure that<br />
clients are satisfied.<br />
NBC Ghana Trust Limited is part<br />
of the NBC Group, a leading force in<br />
the African Employee Benefits and<br />
Retirement Industry.<br />
About NBC<br />
NBC Holdings Limited has its<br />
origins from the mid-80’s when it<br />
championed the establishment of<br />
defined contribution schemes in<br />
South Africa, a trend that accelerated<br />
during the late 80’s and early 90’s as<br />
trade unions gained more influence<br />
and companies took advantage of the<br />
commercial certainty offered by<br />
defined contribution funds in the<br />
context of legislative changes<br />
regulating inter alia financial reporting<br />
of Defined Benefit pension fund<br />
liabilities.<br />
NBC Ghana was incorporated in<br />
November 2009 as a joint venture<br />
between South African investors and a<br />
local Ghanaian investor, MAY<br />
International Holdings Limited. The<br />
company’s primary goal is to<br />
participate in Ghana’s Employee<br />
Benefits Market by providing<br />
administration and consulting services,<br />
building and strengthening capacity<br />
and skills to provide solutions to our<br />
client’s needs.<br />
Cut excessive<br />
presidential<br />
powers – Haruna<br />
BY MOHAMMED AWAL<br />
THE MINORITY Leader, Mr<br />
Haruna Iddrisu is calling for an<br />
amendment to the 1992<br />
Constitution to whittle down<br />
the powers vested in the<br />
president.<br />
Speaking at a ceremony to<br />
celebrate 25 years of<br />
uninterrupted Parliamentary<br />
Democracy under the Fourth<br />
Republic, Mr Iddrisu said: “Mr<br />
President [Nana Akufo-Addo],<br />
this is not directed at you but<br />
to all other presidents under<br />
our Republican constitution.<br />
“I think and I feel that the<br />
powers vested on the President<br />
of the Republic are just too<br />
excessive and therefore we will<br />
look to water down not just the<br />
powers of Nana Addo Dankwa<br />
Akufo-Addo but all other<br />
presidents of our Republic.”<br />
On the ceremony, he said a<br />
“stronger parliament reflects an<br />
accountable and transparent<br />
government; a stronger<br />
parliament remains the<br />
custodian of the liberties of<br />
the people at all time.”<br />
In a subtle jab at the<br />
Speaker of Parliament Prof.<br />
Mike Oquaye, following the<br />
Minority’s incessant accusations<br />
of his style, Mr Iddrisu said,<br />
“It is important that I say that<br />
Parliament remains the<br />
medieval speech domination<br />
and we must be allowed to<br />
ventilate and secure full<br />
discussion and ventilation on<br />
all matters at all time. That is<br />
how we can enrich our<br />
democratic process.”<br />
Vowing that the Minority<br />
would at all times hold the<br />
executive arm of government<br />
accountable, he bemoaned how<br />
oversight responsibility since<br />
1993 remained largely the<br />
function of the political<br />
oppositions and the political<br />
Minority.<br />
“I think and I feel<br />
that the powers<br />
vested on the<br />
President of the<br />
Republic are just too<br />
excessive and<br />
therefore we will look<br />
to water down not<br />
just the powers of<br />
Nana Addo Dankwa<br />
Akufo-Addo but all<br />
other Presidents of<br />
our Republic.”<br />
• Former President Jerry John Rawlings<br />
BY ALBERT AMEKUDZI<br />
A MEMBER of the Public<br />
Interest and Accountability<br />
Committee, Mr Kwame Jantuah has<br />
called on Ghanaians to be more<br />
patriotic and think Ghana first as the<br />
country marks 61 years of<br />
Independence.<br />
According to him, leaders over<br />
the years have failed to ensure that<br />
Ghana progresses beyond aid and the<br />
dependence on foreign help.<br />
“Ghanaians are not patriotic<br />
enough to put Ghana first,” Mr<br />
Jantuah told Kafui Dey host of<br />
GhToday on GHONE TV Tuesday.<br />
He added that the West African<br />
Nation, which gained Independence<br />
few months before Malaysia, has<br />
failed to take advantage of the many<br />
natural resources at its disposal and<br />
are nowhere near achieving economic<br />
• Kwame Jantuah, member, Public Interest and<br />
Accountability Committee<br />
independence.<br />
Mr Jantuah urged President Nana<br />
Akufo-Addo and his government to<br />
put Ghana first and put in place<br />
measures and a development agenda<br />
that will ensure that the ‘Ghana<br />
Beyond Aid’ mantra becomes a<br />
reality and not mere talk.<br />
Ghana marked 61 years yesterday<br />
after gaining independence on <strong>March</strong><br />
6, 1957.<br />
Independence Day parades were<br />
held across the country with students<br />
and security personnel displaying<br />
their marching skills while saluting<br />
the national flag.<br />
In the capital Accra, where<br />
President Akufo-Addo received the<br />
national salute at the Black Star<br />
Square, the Ghana Armed forces, the<br />
Police and other security agencies put<br />
on display, the nation’s arsenal and<br />
state of preparedness for external<br />
and international aggression.<br />
Nigeria’s President Mahamudu<br />
Buhari gave the key note address at<br />
the event which was attended by<br />
many diplomats.<br />
In the capital Accra,<br />
where President Akufo-<br />
Addo received the<br />
national salute at the<br />
Black Star Square, the<br />
Ghana Armed forces, the<br />
Police and other security<br />
agencies put on display,<br />
the nation’s arsenal and<br />
state of preparedness<br />
for external and<br />
international aggression.<br />
• Haruna Iddrisu (L), Minority Leader and<br />
President Nana Akufo-Addo
Inside <strong>March</strong> 7, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 3/6/18 8:07 PM Page 7<br />
6TH<br />
MARCH<br />
2018<br />
MONDAY<br />
CURRENCY PARIS CODE BUYING SELLING<br />
US Dollar USDGHS 4.3600 4.5100<br />
RATES Pound Sterling GBPGHS<br />
6.1200<br />
6.3100<br />
Euro<br />
GBPGHS<br />
5.4000<br />
5.5600<br />
10<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
Traders hail reduction in utility tariffs<br />
BY ROSEMOND BOATENG ADDAI<br />
rosemond.adjetey@yahoo.com<br />
Businesses, especially<br />
seamstresses and<br />
hairdressers have<br />
lauded the Public<br />
Utility Regulatory<br />
Commission for reducing<br />
utility tariffs by 30% which<br />
was announced on Monday.<br />
According to them, the reduction<br />
is not only a relief to them<br />
but will also boost their businesses<br />
and bring growth to the industry.<br />
A member of the Hairdressers<br />
Association, Madam Akosua Adjei<br />
told the DAILY HERITAGE<br />
that the association has welcomed<br />
the news and hopes to enjoy the<br />
changes effective <strong>March</strong> 15, 2018.<br />
She explained that electricity<br />
charges were really a headache to<br />
them because they spent all their<br />
profits on electricity bills.<br />
“When we heard the news we<br />
could not believe it because we<br />
thought it was one of the scams in<br />
the country until we heard the<br />
news from both radio and television.<br />
We hope the Commission<br />
will keep their promises to us,”<br />
she explained.<br />
Mr Emmanuel Nana Opoku<br />
Acheampong, Regional General<br />
Secretary of the Ghana Union<br />
Traders Association told the<br />
DAILY HERITAGE that the<br />
reduction will take a lot of burden<br />
away from it traders.<br />
“If God willing the Commission<br />
is able let living conditions in<br />
country become flexible then it is<br />
very good because it is something<br />
we all applaud doing,” he stated.<br />
A letter signed by Mrs Mami<br />
Dufie Ofori, Executive Director<br />
of PURC, explained that the<br />
Commission received tariff proposals<br />
from utility service<br />
providers in the electricity and<br />
water sectors namely, Ghana Grid<br />
Company Limited, Electricity<br />
Company of Ghana, Northern<br />
Electricity Distribution Company,<br />
Enclave Power Company Limited<br />
and the Ghana Water Company<br />
Limited.<br />
According the statement, in<br />
line with Section 17(2) of PURC<br />
Act 1997, (Act 538) the Commission<br />
investigated the cost of production<br />
of all sources of supply<br />
of electricity to the distribution<br />
utilities.<br />
"As prescribed by law, the<br />
Commission's decision -making<br />
process includes but not limited to<br />
detailed technical analysis of tariff<br />
proposals and extensive stakeholder<br />
consultation, which were<br />
held to solicit views and inputs for<br />
the determination of the approved<br />
tariffs," it stated.<br />
•Boakye Agyarko, Minister of Energy<br />
Kufuor appeals to govt to partner private sector for dev.<br />
FORMER PRESIDENT John<br />
Agyekum Kufuor is urging the<br />
government to partner the private<br />
sector in a manner that is mutually<br />
beneficial to unlock the wealth of<br />
the country for sustainable development.<br />
According to him, this is the<br />
only way Ghana could delink itself<br />
as a highly import-dependent<br />
country.<br />
In his view, reducing high-interest<br />
rates and other economic<br />
indices that make it hard for private<br />
business to thrive in the<br />
country will whittle down the lofty<br />
unemployment rate in the country.<br />
This he also said will encourage<br />
emerging and established entrepreneurs<br />
to operate without hindrances<br />
and inject more money<br />
into the economy by growing<br />
more businesses that will create<br />
employment opportunities for<br />
others.<br />
Former President Kufuor was<br />
•Former President John Agyekum Kufuor<br />
speaking in Accra at the launch of<br />
2017 edition of the "Lifetime in a<br />
Portrait Awards” by Change Initiators<br />
Foundation.<br />
"Raw material export without<br />
diversification and value addition<br />
will not do Ghana any good. If we<br />
create the enabling environment<br />
for the public and Private sector<br />
to add value to our raw materials,<br />
the country will make money and<br />
more jobs will be created," said<br />
former President Kufuor.<br />
The Former President believes<br />
that the more the private sector is<br />
empowered to do business, the<br />
more revenue the country will<br />
generate to undertake its projects<br />
without overly relying on foreign<br />
aids.<br />
He also lauded the "Ghana beyond<br />
aid" agenda being pursued<br />
by President Nana Akuffo-Addo.<br />
The Change Initiators Foundation<br />
is a not-for-profit organization<br />
established in 2001 with the<br />
objective of empowering, creating<br />
opportunities for business startups<br />
as well as honouring distinguished<br />
entrepreneurs whose<br />
activities have made Ghana an enviable<br />
business destination.<br />
The honorees of the 2017 edition<br />
of the 'Lifetime in a Portrait<br />
Awards include the Chief Executive<br />
officers of the McDan Group<br />
of Companies, Golden Group of<br />
Companies, Linda Dor Group of<br />
Companies, Golden Beam International<br />
School among others.<br />
Each of the awardees received<br />
a magazine that chronicles their<br />
journey to becoming extraordinary<br />
entrepreneurs. This, according to<br />
the organisers, is to inspire emerging<br />
entrepreneurs in the pursuit of<br />
their dreams.<br />
The Lifetime in a Portrait<br />
Awards is organised every year by<br />
the Change Initiators Foundation<br />
and it honours businesses in manufacturing,<br />
pharmaceuticals, real<br />
estate, waste management, freight<br />
forwarding, building and construction,<br />
innovation and creativity<br />
among others.
Inside <strong>March</strong> 7, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 3/6/18 8:07 PM Page 8<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018 11<br />
Politics<br />
Without freedom of thought, there can be no such<br />
thing as wisdom - and no such thing as public liberty<br />
without freedom of speech. Benjamin Franklin<br />
Prez Akufo-Addo on issues important to Ghanaians<br />
• Continue from page 6<br />
Honoured personalities<br />
Fellow Ghanaians, there is a long list<br />
of honoured personalities that have<br />
played remarkable roles in getting<br />
Ghana to where she is today. Many of<br />
them have been publicly acknowledged,<br />
and justifiably honoured in various<br />
ways. The role of the Big Six – Joseph<br />
Boakye Danquah, Emmanuel Obetsebi<br />
Lamptey, Edward Akufo-Addo,<br />
William Ofori-Atta, Ebenezer Ako<br />
Adjei, and Kwame Nkrumah, our first<br />
President who led us to independence –<br />
in the struggle for and attainment of independence<br />
will never be forgotten.<br />
There are others such as George “Paa”<br />
Grant, Komla Agbeli Gbedema and<br />
Kojo Botsio, whose efforts deserve to<br />
be acknowledged, and we should continue<br />
to give honour where it is due.<br />
But I must also pay homage to the<br />
many Ghanaians, who simply continue<br />
to do their jobs and execute their tasks<br />
competently, without any fuss. They<br />
donot ask to be recognised or recompensed<br />
in any way.<br />
For, as the Prime Minister of the<br />
erstwhile Progress Party Government<br />
of the 2nd Republic, Kofi Abrefa Busia,<br />
put it, and I quote: "It is by the devoted<br />
day-to-day service of many ordinary<br />
and unnoticed citizens that a nation<br />
achieves greatness." I pay homage to<br />
the many millions who routinely do<br />
what is right, what is virtuous in their<br />
daily activities to elevate the common<br />
good, and do not come to the attention<br />
of a President.<br />
On a day such as this, when we celebrate<br />
the official start of our nationhood,<br />
we should also pay homage to<br />
those who have led the fight for individual<br />
freedoms. The fight that has made it<br />
possible for the present generation to<br />
believe that multi-party constitutional<br />
form of government is part of our<br />
makeup. The fight that led to the changing<br />
of the words of our National Anthem,in<br />
1967,to include the sacred<br />
injunction to “help us to resist oppressors’<br />
rule”.I pay homage to all those<br />
who have led the fight to resist oppressors’<br />
rule every time attempts have been<br />
made to take our freedoms from us. I<br />
salute also those who insisted that the<br />
concepts of probity and accountability<br />
should be part of the governing principles<br />
of the Constitution of the 4th Republic,<br />
whose Silver Jubilee we<br />
celebrated on 7th January by an interfaith<br />
service of thanksgiving to<br />
Almighty God, for having ushered us<br />
into the longest, uninterrupted period<br />
of stable, constitutional governance in<br />
our history.<br />
Our history<br />
Fellow Ghanaians, it is important<br />
that we never forget our history, and we<br />
try not to distort the truth about our<br />
past; the ugly and beautiful parts, they<br />
all deserve to be faithfully recorded and<br />
told. As our elders say, if you do not<br />
know where you are coming from, you<br />
are not likely to get to where you want<br />
to be. Our brothers and sisters in Nigeria<br />
probably capture it best: “to forget is<br />
the same as to throw away.”<br />
We should make an honest assessment<br />
of ourselves, and the situation of<br />
our country and our continent. This<br />
puts a lot of responsibility on those<br />
who tell our daily stories. In these days<br />
of social media, the task is on all of us,<br />
and not only on the journalists and writers.<br />
A deliberate falsehood, posted on a<br />
social media platform, poses a great<br />
danger to all of us, and undermines the<br />
credibility of the Ghana story.<br />
On a day such as today, our<br />
thoughts invariably stray to the past,<br />
but, as the 2nd President of the 4th Republic,<br />
His Excellency John Agyekum<br />
Kufuor, once put it, and I quote:“we do<br />
not intend to live on past memories, nor<br />
the Ghana story to be only what can be<br />
seen on old newsreel tapes, nor our<br />
sporting glories to be recounted only<br />
through the exploits of past heroes”.<br />
To paraphrase Ephraim Amu, in that<br />
great, patriotic song, yen ara yen<br />
asaaseni, it is now our turn to build<br />
upon those past glories– aduru me ne<br />
wonso so, seyebeye bi atoa so. The litmus<br />
test is simple: every day must bring<br />
some improvement in our lives, today<br />
must be an improvement on yesterday,<br />
and our tomorrow must certainly be<br />
better than our yesterday.<br />
Our independence<br />
Fellow Ghanaians, on this our sixtyfirst<br />
anniversary of our independence, it<br />
is important to remind ourselves that,<br />
around the time of our independence,<br />
we had peers such as Malaysia, South<br />
Korea and Singapore. Our per capita incomes<br />
were very similar at around four<br />
hundred and fifty United States dollars<br />
($450) in 1960, and our economies were<br />
dependent on the production of primary<br />
commodities. Today, these countries,<br />
once our peers, have significantly<br />
transformed themselves into industrialised<br />
economies. Income per head in<br />
Singapore is now at fifty one thousand,<br />
four hundred and thirty one United<br />
States dollars ($51,431), South Korea at<br />
twenty nine thousand, one hundred and<br />
fifteen United States dollars ($29,115),<br />
and Malaysia at nine thousand, six hundred<br />
and twenty three United States<br />
dollars ($9,623) compared to Ghana’s at<br />
one thousand, one hundred and fifty<br />
two United States dollars ($1,512). We<br />
are still dependent on the export of primary<br />
commodities, as was the case at<br />
the time of Gordon Guggisberg. We<br />
must admit, sadly, that, in the area of<br />
economic development, we have underachieved,<br />
relative to our peers at independence.<br />
Even though underachievement may<br />
have been a major part of our history<br />
thus far, it should no longer be part of<br />
our destiny. The only nation we are destined<br />
to become is the one we choose,<br />
and decide to be. We do not have to accept<br />
someone’s definition of Africa or<br />
Ghana. We must define and craft our<br />
own destiny. As the American politician,<br />
William Jennings Bryan, once put it, and<br />
I quote: “Destiny is not a matter of<br />
choice. It is not a thing to be waited for,<br />
it is a thing to be achieved.”<br />
But achieving our destiny requires a<br />
deliberate, qualitative change in all aspects<br />
of our lives; especially, in the<br />
structure of our economy, the nature of<br />
our infrastructure, the education of our<br />
young people and acquisition of skills,<br />
and,above all, in our attitudes and holding<br />
firm to the values that define us.<br />
The change in our fortunes will only<br />
happen when our economy improves.<br />
Since I became President, I have been<br />
advocating for a Ghana, indeed, an<br />
Africa, Beyond Aid,and I am keen to<br />
have the support of all of us in this enterprise.<br />
Economic transformation<br />
Nobody needs to spell it out to us<br />
that the economic transformation we<br />
desire will not come through aid. We<br />
have been on that trajectory for most of<br />
the past sixtyone years, and it has not<br />
happened. We are told there is “aid fatigue”.<br />
The taxpayers of the aid-givers<br />
have a right to decide how their tax<br />
money is spent. The truth is that, even<br />
if there were no aid fatigue, and with<br />
the best will in the world and the most<br />
charitable governments in place in the<br />
so-called donor countries, there will<br />
never be enough aid to develop Ghana<br />
to the level we want. Aid was never<br />
meant to be what would bring us to the<br />
status of a developed nation.<br />
I do not, by advocating a status Beyond<br />
Aid, want to inflict poverty on us,<br />
or thumb our noses against those who<br />
have helped us and continue to do so.<br />
There is nothing to be gained in celebrating<br />
an ideological victory in poverty.<br />
There is no pride or dignity in poverty;<br />
there is no dignity in having hungry<br />
children, or mothers dying needlessly in<br />
childbirth, and there is no dignity in<br />
drinking dirty water. We need no lessons<br />
in that.<br />
My fellow Ghanaians, ours is a<br />
country that is well endowed with many<br />
natural resources such as gold, bauxite,<br />
iron ore, diamonds, oil, natural gas, timber,<br />
cocoa, water, fertile land etc. The<br />
truth, however, is that the state of our<br />
nation does not bear out that we have<br />
these natural endowments. Poverty continues<br />
to be our lot.<br />
Mismanagement,corruption and high<br />
fiscal deficits have become the hallmarks<br />
of our economy, which we finance<br />
through borrowing and foreign<br />
aid.<br />
It is time to pursue a path to prosperity<br />
and self-respect for our nation. A<br />
Ghana Beyond Aid is a prosperous and<br />
self-confident Ghana that is in charge<br />
of her economic destiny; a transformed<br />
Ghana that is prosperous enough to be<br />
beyond needing aid, and that engages<br />
competitively with the rest of the world<br />
through trade and investment. It is possible.<br />
It is not a pie in the sky notion, because<br />
other countries, including some of<br />
our peers at independence, have done<br />
exactly that. It is doable, and we must<br />
believe that, what others, with less resources,<br />
have done, we can do.<br />
•President Nana Akufo-Addo inspecting the parade<br />
However, we are not going to<br />
achieve the transformation in our economy,<br />
which is necessary for a Ghana<br />
Beyond Aid, by just talking about it. We<br />
have to DO something about it!<br />
As a start, we have to do things differently<br />
to realize this goal of a Ghana<br />
Beyond Aid.<br />
Business as usual will not do it. It<br />
cannot happen by waving a magic wand.<br />
And it cannot be achieved overnight.<br />
Indeed, the most rapid cases of economic<br />
and social transformation in history,<br />
those in South East Asia, generally<br />
spanned a period of about 30 years;<br />
about a generation. We cannot wait that<br />
long; we have wasted enough time already.<br />
It is time to get on with it, and<br />
the time is now.<br />
You have heard me say on a number<br />
of occasions, I am a man in a hurry,<br />
butI am also a realistic man.<br />
To get to a Ghana Beyond Aid, we<br />
will have to harness effectively our own<br />
resources, and deploy them creatively<br />
and efficiently for rapid economic and<br />
social transformation. As I said in the<br />
Independence Day address last year,<br />
this will require “hard work, enterprise,<br />
creativity, and a consistent fight against<br />
corruption in public life”. It will also require<br />
that we break from a mentality of<br />
dependency and adopt a confident cando<br />
spirit, fuelled by love for our dear<br />
country, Ghana. We cannot subordinate<br />
the common good to build a prosperous<br />
nation to the selfish interest of a<br />
few.<br />
Moving Ghana Beyond Aid<br />
Moving Ghana Beyond Aid means<br />
ensuring that future generations of<br />
Ghanaians have a healthy environment<br />
to inherit. We must, thus, be determined<br />
to protect our environment and water<br />
bodies by joining hands in the fight<br />
against illegal mining, also known as<br />
galamsey, in order to bring an end to<br />
the devastation of some of our landscape,<br />
and the pollution of our water<br />
bodies, occasioned by the activities of<br />
illegal miners. We have to win that fight<br />
to keep our environment clean, and<br />
protect our heritage for our descendants.<br />
Fellow Ghanaians, we have started<br />
on the right path towards a prosperous<br />
future with the concrete steps we are<br />
taking to restore macro-economic stability<br />
and economic growth. After a year<br />
of disciplined and innovative economic<br />
management, the results have been remarkable.<br />
Our economy has grown<br />
from 3.6% in 2016, the lowest in 22<br />
years, to 7.9% in 2017, and is this year<br />
expected to grow at 8.3%, which would<br />
• Continue on page 12
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12<br />
DAILY<br />
Politics<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018<br />
Prez Akufo-Addo on issues important to Ghanaians<br />
• Continued from page 11<br />
make it the fastest growing economy in<br />
the world. Inflation has gone down from<br />
15.6% at the end of 2016 to 10.3%, as<br />
of January this year. Ghanaian industry<br />
has witnessed a spectacular revival from<br />
a growth rate of negative 0.5% in 2016<br />
to 17.7% in 2017. Interest rates are on<br />
the decline, the cedi is stabilising, and<br />
the fiscal deficit has gone down from<br />
9.3% in 2016 to 5.6% of GDP in 2017,<br />
with a projection of 4.5% for 2018. Fiscal<br />
discipline has been restored, and fiscal<br />
consolidation has taken hold. For the<br />
first time since 2006, government has<br />
been able to meet its fiscal deficit target.<br />
We will continue to manage the economy<br />
in a disciplined and sound framework<br />
so that we maintain fiscal and debt<br />
sustainability. This, in the long run, is<br />
fundamental to moving Beyond Aid.<br />
An improving, disciplined macroeconomy<br />
is essential for expanding the<br />
economy, and, thereby, creating jobs.<br />
This year, we will see vigorous job creation<br />
in the public sector, beginning with<br />
the recruitment of one hundred thousand<br />
(100,000) young men and women<br />
in the Nation Builders Corp. But, what I<br />
am seeking, above all, is the rapid<br />
growth of private sector jobs, both in<br />
industry and agriculture, i.e. in the programme<br />
for Planting for Food and Jobs,<br />
which should generate a lot of rural sector<br />
jobs. Moving Beyond Aid demands<br />
that effective measures are taken to address<br />
widespread unemployment, especially<br />
amongst our youth. We are on the<br />
right path to do so.<br />
Corruption<br />
Fellow Ghanaians, corruption, or<br />
more specifically, the stealing of public<br />
funds,continues to hold back the development<br />
of our nation. A recent audit<br />
by the Auditor General into the liabilities<br />
of the Ministries, Departments and<br />
Agencies led to the disallowance of<br />
some GH¢5.4 billion of claims. These<br />
are fictitious claims that would otherwise<br />
have had to be paid, but for the eagle<br />
eye of the Auditor General. Can you<br />
imagine what we can do with GH¢5.4<br />
billion? It can certainly finance the<br />
FreeSHS for five years.<br />
Corruption is not a partisan matter,<br />
and we must all act to protect the public<br />
purse. In the words of the 1st President<br />
of the 4th Republic, His Excellency<br />
Jerry John Rawlings, and I quote: “Combating<br />
corruption is not beyond us.<br />
Imagine the effect on our nation and our<br />
future if, for just a few months, all decent<br />
Ghanaians would put aside their<br />
own convenience, apathy and faintheartedness,<br />
and challenge every corruption,<br />
no matter how petty, which comes<br />
their way.” With the office of the Special<br />
Prosecutor now in place, we can expect<br />
more prosecutions for corruption in the<br />
coming months, and public officials,<br />
present and past, should be on notice<br />
that they would be held accountable for<br />
their stewardship of our public finances.<br />
Government has also made, in 2017,<br />
significant savings of some GH¢800<br />
million in government procurement,as<br />
we depart from sole sourcing as the primary<br />
method of public procurement.<br />
That departure will strengthen our public<br />
finances, and make it possible for us<br />
•President Nana Akufo-Addo exchanging pleasantries with former president Jerry John Rawlings<br />
to finance our development ourselves.<br />
The Right to<br />
Information Bill<br />
There is, however, one piece of the<br />
anti-corruption framework that is yet to<br />
be put in place: The Right to Information<br />
Bill. It would increase transparency,<br />
and add another critical weapon to the<br />
armoury in the fight against corruption.<br />
After many years of hesitation, we intend<br />
to bring a Bill again to Parliament,<br />
and work to get it passed into law before<br />
the end of this Meeting of Parliament.<br />
The protection of the public purse is<br />
a social common good, and it depends<br />
on all of us. It is in all our interest that<br />
corruption does not thrive, and we police<br />
each other’s behaviour. Going BeyondAid<br />
means Ghanaians should not<br />
serve as fronts for foreign companies to<br />
defraud our country. It will mean we all<br />
pay our taxes, as provided by law, and it<br />
will mean we all help to take care of<br />
government property, as though it were<br />
our own.<br />
Fellow Ghanaians, getting our country<br />
to a situation Beyond Aid means we<br />
add value to our exports, and stop the<br />
export of materials such as cocoa, gold,<br />
bauxite, manganese and oil in their raw<br />
state. Our cocoa farmers, for example,<br />
get less than 10% of the value of a bar<br />
of chocolate, and yet cocoa is the main<br />
ingredient. On the world market, bauxite<br />
inits raw form is worth about $42 per<br />
metric tonne. Processing it just one stage<br />
further into alumina oxide will fetch<br />
twice that amount. Refining the alumina<br />
oxide into alumina will increase the value<br />
by seven times, and smeltered aluminum<br />
fetches one hundred fold what it gets in<br />
the raw state. Aluminium, we are told, is<br />
the metal of the future.<br />
It is for this reason that Ghana has,<br />
since independence, sought to establish<br />
an integrated bauxite and aluminium industry.<br />
Thus far, this has remained a<br />
fond hope. But we are determined to<br />
make it happen within the next three<br />
years. Work on the law establishing an<br />
Integrated Bauxite and Aluminium Development<br />
Authority is far advanced,<br />
and will be submitted to Parliament very<br />
shortly. Government also hopes to reach<br />
an agreement soon with potential partners<br />
to establish an alumina refinery, and<br />
expand the VALCO smelter. A successful<br />
execution of this project will be key<br />
in moving Ghana Beyond Aid, as will be<br />
the successful exploitation of our iron<br />
ore and manganese deposits to build a<br />
steel industry for our country and the region.<br />
We are all aware of the vast sums of<br />
illicit financial flows from our continent<br />
that attend the exploitation of our natural<br />
resources, especially of our mineral<br />
wealth. We can no longer continue to<br />
blame others for that. We have to take<br />
our destiny into our own hands, and design<br />
and carry out the appropriate policies<br />
and measures that will ensure that<br />
we get our fair and proper share of the<br />
value of that wealth. Government will<br />
be rolling out such policies as an integral<br />
part of our determination to move<br />
Ghana Beyond Aid.<br />
Infrastructure<br />
Fellow Ghanaians, we have huge infrastructure<br />
needs in the areas of roads,<br />
bridges, water, electricity, housing, hospitals,<br />
schools, etc. The problem has always<br />
been where to find the money.<br />
However, where there is a will, there is a<br />
way. My government is going to implement<br />
an alternative financing model to<br />
leverage our bauxite reserves, in particular,<br />
to finance a major infrastructure<br />
programme across Ghana.This will<br />
probably be the largest infrastructure<br />
programme in Ghana’s history, without<br />
any addition to Ghana’s debt stock. It<br />
will involve the barter or exchange of refined<br />
bauxite for infrastructure. We expect<br />
to conclude this agreement and<br />
start its implementation this year. This<br />
will represent a paradigm shift in the financing<br />
of our development priorities,<br />
and make it possible for Ghana to move<br />
Beyond Aid.<br />
Digital world<br />
Ladies and gentlemen, we now live in<br />
a digital world, and to be competitive,<br />
we have to be a part of and take advantage<br />
of digitization. Since assuming office<br />
last year, we have undertaken<br />
deliberate policy reforms to digitize<br />
Ghana to formalize our economy, and<br />
leapfrog in some key areas. The national<br />
identification and address system, the<br />
drivers licence and vehicle registration,<br />
the paperless operation at the ports,<br />
inter-operability of payment system in<br />
the financial sector, are all geared towards<br />
modernizing our economy, and<br />
we should begin to feel the difference<br />
when all these measures become operational<br />
this year. I am looking forward,<br />
particularly, to the digitization of the<br />
land registration process to help the<br />
mortgage market, and release hundreds<br />
of billions of cedis to finance our development.<br />
Digitization would also allow the delivery<br />
of education and health services<br />
to remote areas, reduce corruption, expand<br />
the tax base, expand e-commerce,<br />
make credit more available as uncertainty<br />
is reduced for financial institutions,<br />
and increase domestic resource<br />
mobilization.<br />
Technology gap<br />
Fellow Ghanaians, at its core, the<br />
poverty gap is a technology gap. The<br />
mastery of technology is what, at the<br />
end of the day, separates developed<br />
from developing countries, or rich from<br />
poor countries. This is a gap we have to<br />
bridge. We are laying a strong foundation<br />
for an educated and skilled workforce<br />
of the future through the Free<br />
Senior High School (SHS) programme,<br />
which this academic year enabled 90,000<br />
additional young Ghanaians to enroll in<br />
SHS. These are our future scientists, engineers,<br />
modern farmers, innovators, entrepreneurs,<br />
and transformation agents!<br />
In the years ahead, the principal<br />
thrust of national development policy<br />
must be to ensure that science, technology<br />
and innovation drive all sectors of<br />
the economy. We are going to commit<br />
resources to basic and applied science<br />
and engineering, that should result in the<br />
development of the capacity to manufacture<br />
machinery, equipment and component<br />
parts for industry,<br />
agriculture,especially machinery for<br />
planting, harvesting and processing of<br />
produce.<br />
Fellow Ghanaians, as a government<br />
committed to the growth of the private<br />
sector, we believe that the private sector<br />
should be the critical partner in moving<br />
Ghana Beyond Aid. In truth, part of our<br />
problem has been that government tries<br />
to do too much, tries to take on far too<br />
much beyond its capacity. There are<br />
many projects in roads, railways, water<br />
transport, agriculture, etc. which, if<br />
properly structured, will attract private<br />
sector financing. Key to attracting private<br />
sector investment is a conducive,<br />
business friendly and peaceful environment.<br />
Plans and big dreams<br />
My dear fellow Ghanaians, all these<br />
plans and big dreams I have outlined will<br />
come to naught, if we do not have peace<br />
in our country. The primary requirement<br />
for prosperity is peace. The first obligation<br />
on any government is to ensure the<br />
safety and security of the citizenry.<br />
As your president, this is an obligation<br />
I accept, and I am determined to<br />
discharge faithfully. The recent spate of<br />
armed robberies is totally unacceptable.<br />
I will work to ensure that citizens are<br />
able to go about their daily duties in the<br />
confidence that they are safe. No miscreant<br />
will have the space to terrorize<br />
citizens, and generate a sense of insecurity<br />
in our country. The police have the<br />
primary responsibility of maintaining<br />
peace and keeping law and order in our<br />
society, and, in exceptional cases, with<br />
the backing of the armed forces. The<br />
government is doing, and will do whatever<br />
it takes to enable the police discharge<br />
their duties effectively. We are<br />
providing the means for them to modernize<br />
their equipment, and learn modern<br />
methods of policing, and their<br />
numbers will be rapidly increased to<br />
match our growing population, and the<br />
sophistication and audacity of the criminals.<br />
We should not forget that the police<br />
need the help and support of the community<br />
to be able to do their work. We<br />
dare not lose our reputation as a haven<br />
of peace and security. I urge you all to<br />
join in making sure there is no hiding<br />
place in our midst for those who would<br />
disturb our peace. For my part, I will do<br />
whatever is necessary, within the confines<br />
of the Constitution and the laws of<br />
the land, to ensure the peace of our<br />
country. Let us, on this joyous occasion,<br />
salute the leadership and the gallant men<br />
and women of our security forces, who,<br />
in the various Operations,Calm Life,<br />
Cow Leg, and Vanguard, are putting<br />
their lives on the line to protect our environment,<br />
and guarantee our safety and<br />
security. They are patriots, indeed.<br />
Fellow Ghanaians,Ghana Beyond<br />
Aid is meant to be more than a slogan.It<br />
is meant to propel us into the frame of<br />
mind that would quicken our pace of<br />
development. It is meant to change our<br />
mindset from one of dependency, to<br />
one of achieving our destiny. It is meant<br />
to put us in charge of our own affairs,<br />
and make us truly independent.<br />
Aboveall, Ghana Beyond Aid will give us<br />
the respect and dignity we deserve.<br />
Let us believe in ourselves.<br />
Let us believe in Ghana and in<br />
Africa.<br />
God bless us all, God bless Mother<br />
Africa, and God bless our homeland<br />
Ghana, and make her great and<br />
strong.<br />
Thank you for your attention.
13<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018<br />
BY ABIGAIL ASARE<br />
Epixode drops triple<br />
dose Album ‘3nity’<br />
BY CEDRIC K. AFEWU<br />
VERSATILE<br />
GHANAIAN<br />
artiste, Epixode<br />
unveiled his second<br />
studio album<br />
‘3nity’ on Sunday,<br />
<strong>March</strong> 4, 2018, at Badu<br />
Lounge in Accra during a listening<br />
session.<br />
The album, which has three<br />
different genres of music;<br />
dancehall, reggae and<br />
afrobeats, has 21 songs.<br />
The album also featured<br />
top artistes such as Stonebwoy,<br />
Kurl Songx, Mix Master Garzy,<br />
Medikal, Kwame from Ghana;<br />
Yung L. from Nigeria, Mel B<br />
and Ammara Brown of Zimbabwe,<br />
Tneena from Cameroun<br />
and Junior X from<br />
Jamaica.<br />
According to Epixode, the<br />
Reggae side of the album is<br />
called the Father, Dancehall<br />
part as the Son and the<br />
Afrobeats side as being the<br />
Holy Spirit. He showed gratitude<br />
to ‘DatbeatGod’ from<br />
Ghana for producing most of<br />
the songs on the album.<br />
Speaking to the DAILY<br />
HERITAGE, he said “the<br />
‘3nity’ album is expected to hit<br />
the online music stores in the<br />
last week of <strong>March</strong> 2018. The<br />
specific date for the release<br />
would be communicated to the<br />
general public soon.<br />
The multi-talented musician<br />
added that he will be on the<br />
street with his crew to sell his<br />
music for his amazing and<br />
royal fans and also put the<br />
tracks on all online music<br />
shops.<br />
The unveiling saw the likes<br />
of colleague musicians such as<br />
Akwaboah, Deon Boakye,<br />
Frank Guy and a couple others<br />
in attendance to support the<br />
event.<br />
Episode ended the event by<br />
presenting artistes and media<br />
personnel who came to support<br />
him with his ‘3nity’<br />
album.<br />
I was laughed at - Kwesi Arthur<br />
BY ERICA ARTHUR<br />
GHANAIAN FAST rising rapper<br />
Kwesi Arthur says he was heavily<br />
laughed at during his childhood<br />
due to his ‘bow leg’( rickets).<br />
According to him, he was<br />
mocked at by friends in school for<br />
having Rickets which is a disease of<br />
children caused by vitamin D deficiency,<br />
characterised by imperfect<br />
calcification, softening, and distortion<br />
of the bones typically resulting<br />
in bow legs.<br />
Speaking on ‘Live From The<br />
Capital‘ on LIVE 91.9 FM, the<br />
Tema artiste revealed to the host<br />
Vanessa Gyan that though he was<br />
heavily humiliated by friends the<br />
experience immuned him from<br />
teases and heavy comments from<br />
fans on social media.<br />
The ‘Grind Day’ artiste and<br />
song writer said “I still remember<br />
the faces that laughed at me when<br />
I was young but anyway it has<br />
taught me to have a tougher skin<br />
•Epixode, versatile<br />
Ghanaian artiste<br />
and immuned me from comments<br />
on social media.”<br />
The ‘Best New Artiste of the<br />
Year’ nominee, Kwesi Arthur is inspired<br />
by American rapper, Darke<br />
due to how his lyrics speak about<br />
the regular activities everyone engages<br />
in.<br />
‘Live From The Capital’ is<br />
hosted by Vanessa Gyan, with support<br />
from DJ Mingle. It airs on<br />
Your Music PlayStation, LIVE<br />
91.9 FM every Friday between<br />
6p.m. and 8p.m.<br />
Late Ebony Reigns<br />
lands deal with GTP<br />
LATE GHANAIAN<br />
artiste, Ebony<br />
Reigns has<br />
landed a deal<br />
with Ghana<br />
Textile<br />
Printing<br />
Company<br />
Limited<br />
(GTP).<br />
The Textile<br />
Company<br />
has<br />
clinched a<br />
major deal<br />
with Ebony<br />
Reigns’ team.<br />
They will produce<br />
a line of<br />
clothing inspired by the<br />
singer which will be used for<br />
her funeral on <strong>March</strong> 24, 2018<br />
and can be worn at other<br />
events.<br />
The cloths would include<br />
brands such as ‘Maame Hwe’,<br />
Sponsor and Aseda. ‘Maame<br />
•Ebony Reigns<br />
Hwe’ is a funeral cloth<br />
which would be<br />
used for the<br />
singer’s funeral<br />
by music<br />
lovers,<br />
friends and<br />
family.<br />
Also the<br />
Aseda<br />
would be<br />
worn for<br />
the thanksgiving<br />
service.<br />
However,<br />
the intent of<br />
the new designs,<br />
according to the<br />
textile company, is to<br />
create a new brand inspired by<br />
the artist.<br />
GTP has unveiled the two<br />
brands (Maame Hwe and<br />
Aseda). The other designs are<br />
set to be launched later this<br />
year.<br />
Stonebwoy Ft. Asamoah<br />
Gyan on his ‘Dirty Enemies’<br />
• Kwesi Arthur<br />
BY ERICA ARTHUR<br />
LIVINGSTONE ETSE Satekla, popularly<br />
known in showbiz as Stonebwoy,<br />
a Ghanaian afropop, dancehall<br />
and reggae artiste has featured Black<br />
Stars captain, Asamoah Gyan on his<br />
new track dubbed ‘Dirty Enemies’<br />
The song, which was produced by<br />
MOG Beatz, finds the lyrics attacking<br />
people who don’t like the singers and<br />
plan their downfall. ‘Dirty Enemies,<br />
was released on Stonebwoy’s birthday<br />
on <strong>March</strong> 5.<br />
The new track is available on all<br />
online music shops.
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018<br />
2018 Vodafone Ghana Music<br />
Awards: Full list of nominees<br />
CHARTERHOUSE<br />
GHANA, organisers<br />
of the annual<br />
Vodafone Ghana<br />
Music Awards<br />
(VGMAs), has released<br />
the list of nominees for this<br />
year’s edition.<br />
After four years of being blacklisted<br />
by the board for denigrating<br />
the scheme, Shatta Wale is back into<br />
the fray of the VGMAs and will<br />
face competition from Ebony,<br />
Sarkodie, Joe Mettle and label mate<br />
Stonebwoy for the topmost award.<br />
The Ghana Music Awards is an<br />
award scheme designed to recognise<br />
and celebrate the hard work and<br />
dedication of various stakeholders<br />
and players in the entertainment industry.<br />
Below is the full list of nominees<br />
Highlife Song Of the Year<br />
Dream - Kumi Guitar<br />
Bronya - Wutah<br />
Odo - Kidi<br />
Angela - Kuami Eugene<br />
Over - R2bees<br />
Hustle - Ebony<br />
Gospel Song of the Year<br />
Boot 4 Boot- Joyce Blessing<br />
Obi Nyanime - Patience<br />
Nyarko<br />
Efatawo - Nacee<br />
Adom - Gifty Osei<br />
Jehovah - Ceccy Twum<br />
Hiplife Song of the Year<br />
Total Cheat - Fancy Gadam ft<br />
Sarkodie<br />
Boys Boys - Nacee F. Guru<br />
Obi Agyi obi girl - Captain<br />
Planet ft Kofi Kinataa<br />
Ayoo - Shatta Walle<br />
One Corner—Patapaa<br />
Hip Pop Song of the Year<br />
State Of The Art - Teephlow<br />
Light It Up - Sarkodie<br />
Grind Day Remix - Kwesi<br />
Arthur<br />
Pen and Paper - Kojo-cue &<br />
Shaker<br />
Dear God—B4Bonah<br />
Reggae/Dancehall Song of<br />
the Year<br />
Until The Dawn - Efya<br />
My Own - Samini<br />
My Name - Stonebwoy<br />
Maya Burn Dem - Article<br />
Wan<br />
Rewind - Mzvee<br />
Dem Confuse -<br />
Shatta Wale<br />
Afro Pop Song of the Year<br />
Makoma - Adina<br />
Oh Yeah - King Promise<br />
Say You Love Me - Kidi<br />
Sing My Name - Mzvee<br />
Jennifer Lomotey - Kurl Songz<br />
Sponsor - Ebony<br />
My Baby - Magnom<br />
Come From Afar - Stonebwoy<br />
Gospel Artiste of the Year<br />
Joyce Blessing<br />
Patience Nyarko<br />
Joe Mettle<br />
Celestine Donkor<br />
Nacee<br />
Gifty Osei<br />
Highlife Artiste of the Year<br />
Wutah<br />
Kidi<br />
Kuami Eugene<br />
Becca<br />
Reggae Dancehall Artiste of<br />
the Year<br />
Shatta Wale<br />
Ebony<br />
Stonebwoy<br />
Mzvee<br />
•Kuami Eugene<br />
Songwriter of<br />
the Year<br />
Kumi Guitar -<br />
Dream<br />
Joe Mettle -<br />
Bo Noo Ni<br />
Bullet - Maame Hw3<br />
Willis Beatz - Last Show<br />
Samini - My Own<br />
Stonebwoy - My Name<br />
Best Music Video of the Year<br />
Dream - Abass<br />
Selfish - Vertex<br />
My Girl -Nicol Sey<br />
Wedding Car - Bra Shizzle<br />
Obi Agyi Obi Girl -Gyo-<br />
Phamous Filmz<br />
Pen & Paper -E Kumodzi<br />
Record of the Year<br />
Dream - Kumi Guitar<br />
My Own - Samini<br />
Glory - Sarkodie<br />
State Of The Art-Teephlow<br />
Hiplife/hiphop Artiste of the<br />
Year<br />
Ponobiom<br />
R2bees<br />
Captain Planet<br />
Kwesi Arthur<br />
Sarkodie<br />
VVIP<br />
Best Male Vocal Performance<br />
Joe Mettle-Bo No Nii<br />
King Promise-Selfish<br />
Kidi- Odo<br />
Kuami Eugene-Angela<br />
Mugeez-Over<br />
Samini- My Own<br />
•Shatta Wale<br />
Best Female Vocal<br />
Performance<br />
Adina-Makoma<br />
Nana Yaa-Don’t Leave Me<br />
Alone<br />
Efya- Love<br />
Mzvee-Bright Lights<br />
Becca-Summuy3<br />
Best Group of the Year<br />
VVIP<br />
R2bees<br />
Wutah<br />
Best Rapper of the Year<br />
Eno Barony - Fear No Man<br />
Teflon - Phlowducation<br />
Sarkodie - Light It Up<br />
Shaker - Pen and Paper<br />
Ko-jo Cue - Pen and Paper<br />
Strongman - Transformer<br />
Best collaboration of the Year<br />
Bo Noo Ni— Joe Mettle Ft<br />
Luigi Maclean<br />
Sing My<br />
Name<br />
•Mz Vee<br />
Remix— Mzvee Ft Patoranking<br />
Jennifer Lomotey— Kurl Songs<br />
ft Sarkodie<br />
Pain Killer— Sarkodie ft Runtown<br />
Taking Over— Shatta Wale Ft<br />
S.M Militant<br />
Obi Agye Obi Girl— Captain<br />
Planet ft Kofi Kinata<br />
Na Wash— Becca ft Patoranking<br />
African Artiste of the Year<br />
Davido<br />
Wizkid<br />
Too Fan<br />
Cassper Nyovest<br />
Nasty C<br />
Tiwa Savage<br />
Olamide<br />
Best New Artiste of the Year<br />
King Promise<br />
Kurl Songz<br />
Kidi<br />
Kuami Eugege<br />
Magnom<br />
Kwesi Arthur<br />
B4Bonah<br />
UNSUNG Artiste of the Year<br />
Kelvyn Boy<br />
Dope Nation<br />
Dhat Gyal<br />
OBK<br />
Real MC<br />
Christian<br />
Album of the Year<br />
Epistles of Mama - Stonebwoy<br />
Highest - Sarkodie<br />
Daavi - Mzvee<br />
Bonyfied - Ebony<br />
Song of the Year<br />
Joe Mettle - Bo No Nii<br />
Shatta Wale - Ayoo<br />
King Promise - Oh yeah<br />
Sarkodie ft Runtown -<br />
Painkiller<br />
Patapaa - One Corner<br />
Ebony - Sponsor<br />
Kuami Eugene - Angela<br />
Kidi - Odo<br />
Shatta Wale ft The Militants -<br />
Taking Over<br />
Fancy Gandam ft Sarkodie -<br />
Total Cheat<br />
Magnom - My Baby<br />
Captain Planet ft Kofi Kinaata<br />
- Obi Agi Obi Girl<br />
Wutah - Bronya<br />
Artiste of the Year<br />
Joe Mettle<br />
Ebony<br />
Shatta Wale<br />
Sarkodie<br />
Stonebwoy
DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
Sports<br />
DAILY HERITAGE<br />
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018<br />
GAHA to hold<br />
gala competition<br />
BY ANNETTE S. YEBOAH<br />
Lady power<br />
lifter tops all<br />
•Ruth Kessiwaa was<br />
the toast of many fans<br />
THE GREATER Accra Handball Association<br />
(GAHA) will on Wednesday,<br />
<strong>March</strong> 14, 2018 organise a gala handball<br />
to usher in the 2018 Accra Handball<br />
League.<br />
Speaking to the Public Relations Officer<br />
of GAHA, Mr Nicholas Akusah<br />
told the DAILY HERITAGE in Accra<br />
that the venue for the gala has not yet<br />
been decided and would communicate<br />
to the various clubs in due course.<br />
According to Mr Akusah, the 2018<br />
league season would commence on<br />
Wednesday, <strong>March</strong> 21, 2018 at all the<br />
approved match venues.<br />
He said a total of 13 teams would<br />
participate in the gala.<br />
Mr Akusah said the teams for the<br />
gala are Police, Prisons, Renijoe, Airforce,<br />
LEKMA and Navy among other<br />
clubs. The 2017 league was won by Police<br />
team in both men and women categories.<br />
The Greater Accra Handball Association<br />
in February officially released the<br />
calendar for 2018 league fixtures which<br />
is a knockout phase and the champions<br />
of champions.<br />
BY ANNETTE S.<br />
YEBOAH<br />
FEMALE<br />
POWER lifter,<br />
Ruth Jessie was<br />
the toast of<br />
fans as she<br />
lighted their<br />
evening with a sparkling<br />
performance in the 160kg<br />
female power lifting community<br />
auditions on Saturday<br />
at Down Town City<br />
Restaurant, Atadeka, a<br />
suburb of Ashaiman in<br />
Accra.<br />
Ruth, being guarded<br />
by her coach, beat<br />
two other female<br />
contenders who were<br />
no match for her at<br />
all at the first edition<br />
of World Amature<br />
Bodybuilding Association<br />
Ghana chapter<br />
community audition.<br />
Judging from her<br />
performance, Ruth<br />
has made it to the<br />
next round of the<br />
audition to be held<br />
on Saturday, <strong>March</strong><br />
17, 2018 in Tema.<br />
She told the<br />
DAILY HER-<br />
ITAGE in an interview<br />
that though<br />
she is doing the<br />
sport for fun she is<br />
much happy that<br />
she emerged winner<br />
•A male power lifter<br />
•The three ladies that<br />
competed in the power<br />
lifter competition<br />
•Show of power<br />
of the night.<br />
According to her, she<br />
is doing that to keep herself<br />
fit and also to stay in<br />
good shape and has no<br />
plans of competing for<br />
Ghana on the international<br />
level.<br />
“My coach motivates<br />
me a lot and that is where<br />
I take my inspiration<br />
from. I will go to Tema<br />
on Saturday, <strong>March</strong> 17,<br />
2018, and win,” she said.<br />
The event saw hundreds<br />
of people gathered<br />
to witness a diverse range<br />
of thrilling and fascinating<br />
contests between<br />
prospective talents.<br />
Eleven athletes qualified<br />
for the next round of the<br />
selection process which is<br />
the district and regional<br />
championships.<br />
Mr Victor Baiden,<br />
who is the president of<br />
the association, was very<br />
delighted about the success<br />
of the tournament<br />
which saw huge numbers<br />
of athletes turning out.<br />
“A massive crowd<br />
turned up for the event<br />
and that everything went<br />
really well. The athletes<br />
were fantastic in their respective<br />
endeavours on<br />
stage. Even though they<br />
were all novices they all<br />
demonstrated remarkable<br />
potential,” he said.<br />
It would take God's<br />
intervention for<br />
the league to start<br />
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR of<br />
Great Olympics Saint Osei has cast<br />
doubt over the commencement of the<br />
2017/18 Ghana Premier League, claiming<br />
that only God's intevention could<br />
make it happen.<br />
The 2017/18 Ghana Premier League<br />
which was due to start last weekend<br />
was postponed after Great Olympics<br />
served the Ghana Football Association<br />
with a second court injunction in a<br />
protest against Bechem United for<br />
fielding an unqualified player against<br />
them last term.<br />
The GFA and Great Olympics were<br />
locked up in a crucial meeting at the<br />
former's secretariat last Friday in a bid<br />
to find an amicable solution to the<br />
issue that had halted the start of this<br />
season's Ghana league.<br />
However, the meeting did not yield<br />
any desired result after Great Olympics<br />
proposed an 18-team league, which the<br />
Ghana FA vehemently dismissed.<br />
During an interview with Happy<br />
FM, the club's scribe said he did not<br />
believe the league will start anytime<br />
soon unless God intervenes.<br />
"It would take the intervention of<br />
God for the league to start," Osei declared<br />
on Happy FM.<br />
"It stated categorically that the case<br />
be resolved before the league starts. We<br />
are surprised we were taken out and<br />
date fixed for the commencement of<br />
the league." Ghana soccernet
Sports<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
07/03/2018<br />
WEDNESDAY. DAILY HERITAGE<br />
Email: info@dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
Facebook: facebook.com/dailyheritagegh<br />
Twitter:#heritage_daily<br />
Bakayoko<br />
The fleet-footed 25-year-old<br />
‘Sanchez<br />
is affecting<br />
Pogba at<br />
Man Utd’<br />
MANCHESTER<br />
UNITED new<br />
boy Alexis<br />
Sanchez is<br />
affecting Paul<br />
Pogba’s<br />
performances.<br />
According to former player<br />
turned pundit Danny<br />
Higginbotham who says the<br />
Chilean is getting in his teammate’s<br />
way.<br />
Pogba and Sanchez have both<br />
struggled in recent weeks and<br />
faced criticism for a series of<br />
underwhelming displays.<br />
The high-profile duo both<br />
looked ineffective last night as<br />
United defeated Crystal Palace 3-<br />
2 at Selhurst Park.<br />
Sanchez would often drop<br />
deep to collect the ball during the<br />
clash in south London and<br />
Higginbotham reckons he<br />
prevented Pogba from expressing<br />
himself.<br />
“What I would say is, if<br />
you’ve got Pogba playing on the<br />
left side of the three, the amount<br />
Salah donates nearly £500,000<br />
to an Egyptian hospital<br />
ENGLISH-SPEAKING Egyptian<br />
news website King Fut are reporting<br />
that Salah has donated the money to<br />
help children suffering with bone<br />
marrow cancer at the hospital.<br />
forward is stealing hearts off the<br />
pitch with some commendable<br />
humanitarian work. On Saturday, it<br />
was revealed that he partially paid for<br />
an Egyptian child's bone marrow<br />
transplant surgery.<br />
Earlier this year, Salah sent a new<br />
Liverpool shirt to fan Mohamed<br />
• Sanchez (L)<br />
and Pogba<br />
Abdel-Karim after a photo of a torn<br />
jumper with ‘SALAH 10’ handwritten<br />
on the back went viral. He also<br />
donated €30,000 to the Association<br />
of Veteran Egyptian Players to help<br />
120 families who were struggling<br />
financially.<br />
On the pitch, the Egypt<br />
international has scored 24 goals in<br />
28 appearances for Liverpool this<br />
season and is among the favourites<br />
for this season's PFA Player of the<br />
Year prize. Fourfourtwo<br />
of times yesterday Sanchez was<br />
looking to drop into that position<br />
- that’s where Pogba wants to get<br />
into,” he told talkSPORT.<br />
“So at times they were<br />
looking to get into each other’s<br />
way.<br />
“I think the problem for<br />
Pogba yesterday was because<br />
Crystal Palace did something<br />
they’ve done all season; defence<br />
is not Crystal Palace’s biggest<br />
problem - it has been scoring<br />
goals.<br />
“What they do every time the<br />
opposition get the ball is send<br />
them inside into bodies.<br />
“They did it really well in the<br />
first half against Manchester<br />
United and Pogba was getting<br />
frustrated.<br />
“The top players, when they<br />
get frustrated, want more of the<br />
ball, so their way of getting more<br />
of the ball is coming closer to<br />
the ball.<br />
Dailystar<br />
• Mohammed<br />
Salah<br />
• Paulo<br />
Dybala<br />
Dybala accepts<br />
£120,000<br />
-a-week contract<br />
PAULO DYBALA has<br />
reportedly agreed to sign a<br />
new five-year contract at<br />
Juventus.<br />
Dybala, who hit his 15th<br />
Serie A goal this season in<br />
Saturday's 1-0 win at Lazio,<br />
had been the subject of<br />
interest from Manchester<br />
United, Real Madrid and<br />
Barcelona.<br />
But the 24-year-old will<br />
commit his future to Juve by<br />
penning a £120,000-a-week<br />
deal which does not include a<br />
buy-out clause, according to<br />
The Sun.<br />
Dybala is in his third<br />
season as a Juve player,<br />
having joined from Palermo<br />
in 2015.<br />
He has scored 45 goals in<br />
his first 86 Serie A<br />
appearances for the Turin<br />
outfit.<br />
Dybala trained with his<br />
Juve team-mates in Vinovo on<br />
Tuesday before they flew to<br />
London for the second leg of<br />
their Champions League last-<br />
16 tie with Tottenham.<br />
He missed the first leg<br />
with a hamstring injury but<br />
has played in three matches<br />
since.<br />
Juventus go into<br />
Wednesday's game at<br />
Wembley as<br />
underdogs<br />
to progress<br />
to the<br />
quarter-finals,<br />
having been held<br />
to a 2-2 first-leg<br />
draw in Dybala's absence.<br />
Spurs boss Mauricio<br />
Pochettino has all but two of<br />
his first-team players to<br />
choose from, with the injured<br />
Toby Alderweireld and the<br />
suspended Serge Aurier the<br />
only absentees for the hosts.<br />
Dailymail