The Tamale Teaching Hospital has received equipment to cater for pregnant women and patients needing dialysis, curtailing the need to travel up to 501kilometers or 7 hours by road for the closest source of treatment. Patients in Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions have had to travel to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) to get MRI and CT scans or a dialysis treatment for those who suffer kidney failure. Outgoing Health Minister Dr. Kwaku Agyemang Mensah commissioned these facilities at the Tamale Teaching Hospital. The impact of these equipment is enormous for the region in the SADA enclave. Last year, eight expectant mothers died because they did not have access to an MRI machine and CT scan. Now the Tamale Teaching Hospital will have to find how to run the equipment affordably yet profitably. According to Chief Executive of the Tamale Teaching Hospital Prosper Akamnong, dialysis treatment costs between $150 to $200 at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospita...

The suspected Sakawa boys, also referred to as Shattas in the Tamale metropolis, were arrested during joint police and military swoops at the Moshi Zongo and other areas in the metropolis on Saturday night. Even though a police source that confirmed the arrest to the Daily Graphic in Tamale failed to give details on the operations, it is believed to be part of efforts by the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to clamp down on the rise of cyber fraud activities among the youth in Tamale. The source said some of the boys who managed to escape arrest have fled the city but indicated that the security agencies would not relent in their efforts to weed out miscreants in the metropolis. Clamp down At a public function last week, the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, gave a hint (Click this link to view the minister) that the Regional Security Council was going to clamp down on the operations of the ‘Sakawa Boys.’ The swoop is, therefore, believed to be part o...

The 2015 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) begins today across the country. In all, 268,771 candidates from 868 public and private Senior High Schools (SHS), will participate in the examination at 866 centres. The figure represents an increase of 20,603 candidates over the 2014 figure of 242,162 candidates. Speaking to the media last Friday during a tour of some examination centres in Accra, the Minister of Education, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, congratulated the candidates for successfully going through their respective programmes and wished them success in the examinations. She said it was time for the candidates to bring to bear the knowledge and skills they have acquired through the period of their study, and justify the investments made in them by the government, their parents and teachers. Prof. Opoku-Agyemang implored the candidates to observe examination rules and regulations, and understand questions before answering them. She reminded ...

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Tolon, Seidu Abubakari, has decried the high rate of girls’ school dropout in the country. Although interventions such as the school feeding programme and the capitation grant have helped increase enrolment, the DCE expressed his alarm at the dropout rate of girls in the country’s schools. The DCE decried this situation at the distribution of school uniforms, sanitary pads, sandals and writing materials among other things to girls in the District. Mr Abubakari said the disturbing trend compelled Government to introduce the Girls Participatory Approach to Student Success (GIRLS PASS) to increase girls’ enrolment in the country. The policy which provides these girls with books, uniforms and sanitary pads, he explained, is not just to retain the girls in school but also to encourage them to study hard and obtain good results. Mr Abubakari implored the girls to study hard to justify the resources being pumped into their education...

One can only market shit, if only one can package it very well. Pius, one of the most incisive Public commentators of our times, really knows how to package and market insult across board. He is an equal opportunity “insulter”. Being an eminent connoisseur of words, this broda of mine, could dress you in borrowed robes, with venerable embroidery of words that seduces the undiscerning nostrils of the un-initiated, into seeing you in great odor, even when, like the unspeakable tyrant, proverbially one walks around aping the pomp of a non-existent office. He knows that neutrality has forever been the refuge of scoundrels. He did not want to directly accuse me of being a scoundrel. So, he went into the packaging business. In the African cultural tradition, where respect for elders is a cultural good of eternal legitimacy, a child can only get away with calling his father a beast, if he can creatively package that insult, and clothe it in the garbs of valor. To successfully ca...

A woman according to Sheikh was in a trotro travelling with her baby. Sitting beside her was a well-dressed Kumbungu man, laboring under the sweaty weight of his suit and tie, on a very humid afternoon, in a Tamale trotro packed to the brim; with the itinerant herbalists peddling their spiritual wares. The hapless woman could not get her baby to feed on anything she had to offer. Instead of the woman, minding her child, she would tease the kid, “you better eat this WASAWASA (black jalof) or I will give to broda, ooo!, referring to the unbeknownst to her, hunger-terrorized neighbor laboring under a sweaty suit. All entreaties to the kid fell on deaf ears, no matter the tasty temptation thrown at him.”Wagashi” came and went the same way. Even 'bofuroti' made an appearance. But the kid resisted every temptation thrown at him. It may have been that someone was binding and casting the devil of temptation from the kid. Broda sat quietly nearby and did not interfere in the...

The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed Muniru, says his life is under threat following text messages he has received from some internet fraudsters, popularly known as "Sakawa" boys in the Tamale metro­polis. This follows a DIRECTIVE   he issued to the security agencies to arrest and prosecute such fraudsters in the metropolis, and other parts of the region. He mentioned some of the death-threatening messages as "Hello, Mr. Minister, you better stop the threats on us or we teach you a bitter lesson," "Nothing can stop us from our businesses, not even you the minister" and "We don't fear any­body, not even the security". Alhaji Muniru was speaking at a sod-cutting ceremony for work to begin on the construction of a multi-purpose bus terminal at Datoyili, a suburb of Tamale yesterday. He said the several SMS text messages warned him to stay away from them, else he would have himself to blame. The Minister, however, war...

Some youth in the Northern Region, noted for engaging in cyber fraud known in Ghana as "sakawa", have allegedly bribed a prominent chief of the area to rename his town with a foreign name. “They are proposing two names for the area, Galaxy City or La Palmas,” Northern Regional Minister Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna has said. Even though the Minister would not name the chief involved, he said the chief initially rejected the suggestions and drove the "sakawa" boys out of his palace. However, the determined boys, who said the name of the town “was not palatable”, decided to work through the chief’s advisors (elders). Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna said the boys bribed the elders with ₵1,000.  They in turn led the boys to the chief, whom they offered a ₵4,000 bounty. Apparently having the backing of the traditional leaders, these boys went to town misbehaving, splashing monies on the streets and daring anyone to come after them. Meanwhile...

A heavy police and military contingent has been deployed to Kunbungu and Mashegu, both in the Northern Region, following clashes in the two towns Sunday evening. The clashes between the towns left three people severely injured reports Joy News Correspondent, Martina Bugiri. Security chiefs say they deployed the joint police and military contingent to keep the peace in area and preempt reprisal attacks. The recent dispute erupted over a parcel of land located between the Sanerigu and Kunbungu Districts, sources say. Clashes sparked when the Kunbungu residents attempted to re-demarcate the boundaries on the disputed land, a move that did not appeal to Mashegu inhabitants. One of three injured persons has his stomach cut open. District Chief of Executive of Sanerigu, Alhassan Mohammed, told Joy News chiefs in the two towns have been engaged in discussions on how to prevent an escalation of the conflict. "We are appealing to the people to reason with us for us to be able to res...

The poor quality and quantity of food served at the Gbewa College of Education in Pusiga in the Upper East Region has triggered a students’ boycott. On Monday, the over 800 students were demanding an increase in the quantity and quality of food from the management of their school. The students temporarily suspended their action after the intervention of the District Chief Executive of Pusiga. The DCE for Pusiga, Alhassan Abugbila told Citi News that the students had implored management of the school to increase the quantity and quality of their food. “There was misunderstanding between students and management over the food that was served. According to the students when they got to the dining hall, the number of students exceeded the quantity of food that was served. So they made an appeal to management to increase the quantity,” he said. He stated that the students had rescinded their decision to boycott meals served by the school adding that “the campus is very calm and they have...

Health officials in Botswana have been put on high alert over the potential spread of Dead Goat syndrome after a known sufferer from Ghana arrived in the southern African country on Monday. The head of the country’s Disease Control Unit identified the Ghanaian as John, a self-diagnosed sufferer of Dead Goat syndrome who arrived in Botswana on a taxpayer-funded globetrotting adventure. The disease control expert pointed out that John’s short stay in Botswana could pose a potential health treat to the country’s leaders. “There is a real risk that our leaders may be infected through contact with this gentleman from Ghana.” The Dead Goat syndrome, according to experts, “commonly affects a head that wears the crown” and spreads through interactions with unwholesome agents. Dead Goat syndrome, also known as ‘Yentie Obiaa’ in Ghana, is characterised by a high level of apathy which causes sufferers to disregard the plight of the common man...

Five students sustained injuries after clashes between Koforidua Senior High Technical School (SECTECH) and Koforidua Technical Institute (KOTECH). The 29th Annual Koforidua Zonal Athletics Competition ended in clashes between Koforidua Senior High Technical School (SECTECH) and Koforidua Technical Institute (KOTECH) with more than five students sustaining injuries. The incident happened when students of SECTECH, who were handed the trophy for being the best male performing school started jubilating around the stadium. This infuriated KOTECH students, who started throwing stones at them. An intervention by the teachers of both schools and three police personnel on duty could not calm the situation, leading to the injury of some students. The incident spread to the main Koforidua –Mamfi highway, putting motorist at risk. who had to park to protect their vehicles from the flying stones. Some students, who were terrified by the situation had to seek shelter in some kiosks along ...