Prelude The theme chosen for today’s conference, Purging the Nation of Corruption, is not an uncommon one. It is timelessly topical within both the local and global context, and would attract anxious ears insofar as front pages of the media keep screaming with headlines from day to day about corruption. But it is also one on which there is so much wasted energy, setting off well intended discussions which are often unproductive. One meeting, seminar or the other, often end with ambitious action plans that are of little utilitarian value. In several cases, the communiqué released after the seminar is often a one size fit all formula that could easily have been downloaded from the internet ten years ago. And it all seems as if the more seminars that are held on corruption, the more shocking are revelations on front pages the next day. With such a tragic history of dialogue on corruption, one can only wish good luck to organizers of one-day conferences such as this one. But ...

Two young ladies arrived at church wearing clothes that were quite revealing their body parts. Here is what the pastor told them: He took a good look at them and made them sit. Then he said something that, they might never forget in their life. He looked at them straight in the eyes and said, "ladies, everything that God made valuable in this world is well covered and hardly to see, find or get. 1. Where do you find diamonds? Deep down in the ground, covered and protected. 2. Where do you find pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a beautiful shell. 3. Where do you find gold? Way down in the mine, covered over with layers of rock and to get them, you have to work hard & dig deep down to get them. He looked at them with serious eyes and said, "Your body is sacred & unique" , You are far more precious than gold, diamonds and pearls, and you should be covered too." So he added that, if you keep your treasured miner...

Students of Kumbungu Senior High School (SHS) Monday morning staged a demonstration against the school’s headmaster Francis Tia Dokurugu accusing him of failing to supervise teachers resulting in students’ poor performance. Joy News’ Northern regional correspondent, Martina Bugri reports that first and second-year students of the school started the protest in the Monday morning at about 8am. The students say teachers often turn up late for work, routinely missing their first lessons and leaving before the last lessons in order to catch the afternoon bus to Tamale where many of them reside. Tamale is 22kilimeters from the school and is a one hour journey by motorbike. According to the students, for the past two years, students of the school who sat the West Africa Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) performed poorly. The school was ranked 483 out of over 700 schools who participated in the 2013 SHS league table of academic performance. Only 19...

Legacy Girls College, a privately owned all-girls boarding school has been opened in Akuse,  a town in the Lower Manya Krobo district of the Eastern Region. Speaking at the grand opening of the senior high school, Co-Founder of the institution, Ellen Hagan, admonished young girls to excel in the world of work, know their self-worth, discover their purpose and be more solution-oriented in making the world a better place. The inaugural ceremony, according to school, was to introduce Legacy Girls College to guests and Ghana as a whole and to acquaint them with the ideals on which the school was founded. In a keynote address, CEO of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Mawuena Trebarh, noted that every girl who attends Legacy Girls College is destined to be successful and leave a worthy legacy because of the foundation on which the school was established. The principal of the school, Maranatha Kove, revealed that Legacy Girls College has a mission to “nurture the immense potent...

INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE LAW OF THE SEA TRIBUNAL INTERNATIONAL DU DROIT DE LA MER Press Release DISPUTE CONCERNING DELIMITATION OF THE MARITIME BOUNDARY BETWEEN GHANA AND CÔTE D'IVOIRE IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN (GHANA/CÔTE D'IVOIRE) SPECIAL CHAMBER PRESCRIBES PROVISIONAL MEASURES The Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea formed to deal with the dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean today delivered its Order on a Request for provisional measures filed by Côte d’Ivoire. Judge Boualem Bouguetaia, President of the Special Chamber, read the Order at a public sitting of the Chamber. The dispute was submitted, by way of special agreement concluded between the two States concerned on 3 December 2014, to a special chamber formed in application of article 15, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the Tribunal. The case was entered as No. 23 in the List of cases ...

Folks, what a day! The ITLOS ruling has provided everyone with an interest in public affairs much to chew on, stuff to debate, and a lot to scratch their head over. I simply could not stay away from the subject, try as I did. There has been much confusion over what the provisional measures prescribed by the ITLOS in connection with the ongoing maritime dispute between Ghana and Ivory Coast really mean. What, with international newswires publishing and backtracking almost on an hourly basis, and all sort of spinning and debate swirling on social media. So I decided to review the case dossier of the matter currently before the special chamber of the Tribunal. I have read the submissions of the Ghanaian and Ivorian advocates, and their key witnesses, including the testimony of Tullow's COO, McDade. The following are some important points that should settle several issues that were in contention earlier in the day. 1. Contrary to the assertion of some that this was a run of the...

The Ghana Eduction Service (GES) has directed authorities at the St John’s Grammar Senior High School in Accra to prepare three of its students to write the Christian Religious Studies paper in the upcoming November/December edition of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). According to the GES, the school should prepare the students for the examination at its own cost. The three students — Harriet Boakye, Betty Boakye and Abigail Rockson — were last Monday prevented from writing the paper in the ongoing WASSCE because they had kept bushy hair, contrary to the school’s rules and regulations. The acting Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Jacob Kor, who gave the directive during a visit to the school yesterday, described the timing of the disciplinary action as inappropriate. Exercise caution He said inasmuch as the students had flouted some of the school’s rules and regulations, it was only proper f...

Over 80 Senior High Schools in the three northern regions have postponed their reopening dates following the failure of Government to release feeding grants. Heads of some of the schools say they have no option than to let the students stay at home. The students who were expected to report in school on April, 21 – which is tomorrow, have been asked to stay at home because school authorities cannot afford to feed them. Some of the teachers who spoke to Joy News said they have been asked to remain at home until they hear news on the radio that the grants have been released. They said they are worried about the contact hours which are going to be lost due to the time students are going to be at home, adding that it might affect them. The Conference of Heads of Assisted Senior High Schools has been meeting over the issue. Northern Regional Director of Ghana Education Service (GES) Alhaji Mohammed Harun says the decision to postpone reopening of the school is in the interest of t...

No amount of sweet words can quench The fury and rage that has consumed your souls No peace talks and promise savoured in myrrh Can restore your emotions gone astray For deep down within, in the place where beings are formed The stiletto of hatred has struck an ill-starred chord And an obscene eulogy of deaths is heralded on your streets Cold blood, cold face, cold hearts! But wait…! The cries of your warm hearts are tenable But your ways are near irreparable Like it rained fishes in Thailand, you wished same for Durban You are hungry, naked and homeless In the country of your birth, in the land you fought to keep I hear your wailings thundered the earth with tremor Your unspoken gait shakes the human in me I feel your pain because I was there I took the bullet for that freedom The same freedom you trample on your streets Remember the struggles that freed your limbs The clamour that rented your soul And the love that restored your pride From your kindreds, ne...

Northern Regional Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Chief Sofo Azorka has warned chiefs, Imams and Mallams in the Northern Region to stop meddling in partisan issues, especially the recent political gaffe by the Member of Parliament for Nantong, Murtala Mohammed. The Nantong NDC MP over the weekend accused an unnamed colleague Member of Parliament in the area of greasing the palms of chiefs and opinion leaders in the Northern Region with “filthy, ill-gotten money.” Murtala Mohammed was also incensed over what he described as attempts by the MP to unseat him and dared him (MP) to do his worse. Following his public accusation, many people including Chiefs, Mallams and Opinion Leaders in the Northern Region urged President John Dramani Mahama to sack the Nantong MP, who also happens to be the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, though he has rendered an apology. Reacting to the Chief's demands, Sofo Azorka fumed on Oman Fm’s "National Agenda...

About 9 journalists in the Northern Region have been involved in an accident at Bole. The journalists were on a tour of some galamsey mining communities in the Bole district with the Minister of Science, Environment and Technology, Mahama Ayariga who was on a two-day working visit to the Northern Region. The accident happened on Tuesday April 14, 2014 not far from the Cocoa Research Institute in Bole but all of them escaped death. The victims included Abdul Majeed Yakubu of the Ghanaian Times, Albert Futukpor of the Ghana News Agency, Abdul Karim Naatogmah of Citi Fm, Mohammed Ibrahim of Tamale based Zaa Radio and Alima Bawa of Bishara Fm in Tamale. The Ford vehicle with registration number NR 695-12 veered off the road and crushed under a bridge. The Times Reporter, Abdul Majeed Yakubu got a fracture on the left arm whilst Albert Futukpor of GNA had a cut on the right side of his forehead. They have been admitted at the Bole District Hospital whilst the rest were treated and dis...

The camp of beleaguered Nantong Member of Parliament, Hon. Murtala Mohammed doubts the authenticity of a supposed petition forwarded to President John Dramani Mahama on the Deputy Trade Minister's recent vituperative outburst on radio. In a Ghana News Agency story headlined,  Mahama must appoint matured and civil northerners into gov't  the said publication created the impression that Chiefs, Imams and other opinion leaders in the three northern regions of Ghana unanimously condemned allegations of corruption leveled some of against them by Murtala Mohammed. The publication further indicated that the aforementioned bodies also petitioned President Mahama to consider competence, experience and high-mindedness in the appointment of representatives of the Northern Regions to serve in government. These submissions according to the GNA report were contained in a press statement signed by Alhaji Hamid Alhassan for Chiefs, Islamic Clerics, and Opinion leaders of the Northern Re...

The Chiefs, Imams and other opinion leaders in the three northern regions of Ghana have unanimously condemned allegations of corruption they say were levelled against them by Nanton MP, Murtala Ibrahim. They have also petitioned President Mahama to consider competence, experience and high-mindedness in the appointment of representatives of the Northern Regions to serve in government. These submissions were contained in a press statement signed by Alhaji Hamid Alhassan for Chiefs, Islamic Clerics, and Opinion leaders of the Northern Regions, which they said was in reaction to ‘the ill-mannered allegations made by the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, also an MP for Nanton, Murtala Mohammed to the effect that Northern Chiefs are corruptible and are hypocrites.’ The statement said a consultative meeting of the traditional councils of all communities of the Northern regions including chiefs, Islamic clerics, opinion leaders and the larger population was held in the wake ...

Deputy Minister of Trade, Murtala Mohammed, has rendered an unqualified apology to the president and Ghanaians in general for his recent  RADIO  outbursts. Incensed by what he says are attempts by some MPs to unseat him, and daring them to do their worse, Murtala alleged that his detractors have gone to the extreme of bribing chiefs and opinion leaders in the Northern Region with "filthy, ill-gotten money". Though he would not mention names when he spoke to Diamond FM, Murtala also threatened to expose an MP who is conniving with a woman to take nude pictures of a cabinet minister. “It is pathetic, absolutely pathetic: it's unethical, it's so funny, it's so stupid, it's so silly, it's nasty, it's un-Islamic for people in the same party to be sitting down and their intention is about how they can get someone out of Parliament”, the Deputy Minister said. His comments attracted an avalanche of public criticisms which caused the Chief of Staff to s...

Deputy Minister of Trade, Murtala Mohammed has in his recent rage over attempts by an unnamed Member of Parliament (MP) to sabotage him, alleged that the said MP hired a lady to take nude pictures of a Cabinet Minister. He claims the MP bought a tablet phone for the lady with the hope of using such information to sabotage the Cabinet Minister. The Nantong Member of Parliament had in an earlier interview he granted to Tamale based Diamond FM accused an MP of using unfair means to unseat him. Though Murtala failed to mention the name of the MP, he said he has in his possession three recorded tapes of a meeting between the said Northern Region MP and some of the NDC Nantong constituency executives. On his Facebook page, Murtala Mohammed questioned why the MP would want to sabotage the cabinet minister. “I ask those sycophantic elements to ask the said MP whether it is ethical to buy a tablet and a mobile phone for a lady friend of a colleague cabinet Minister to get nude picture...

National Democratic Congress legislator, Murtala Mohammed Ibrahim says one of his colleague MPs from the region is plotting to unseat him in 2016. The Nantong legislator who withheld the name of his colleague so-called saboteur exploded on Tamale based Diamond Fm in an exclusive interview. "Someone said: I just don't want him to succeed in life." "Are you God, who the f**k are you," the angry Nantong legislator fumed. The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry threatened to name and shame the said northern MP anytime soon. He claimed to have in his possession three recorded tapes of a meeting between the said northern MP and some of the NDC Nantong constituency executives. "I have audios, I swear to God; I am a Muslim, a practicing Muslim and I will not swear if I don't have it." He sent an early warning to his saboteurs to stop their machinations to make him one term MP for the Nantong constituency. "I spend a lot in my constituen...

Some children of the late overlord of Dagbon, Ya-Naa Yakubu Andani II say government has delayed in seeking justice for the murder of their father. The late Ya-Naa was killed 13 years ago in a chieftaincy dispute. Earlier today, his children presented a petition to the Northern Regional Minister Alhaji Mohammed Limuna after a protest march through the streets of Tamale. Northern Regional correspondent Hashmin Mohammed reports that the children marched through the streets of Tamale and finally converged at the Northern Regional Coordinating council to present their petition. One of the Late Ya Naa’s sons explained that the petition is to remind the Government “Justice delayed is justice deferred”. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the delay in bringing the perpetrators to book and likened the situation to a bucket that is placed beneath an open tap. Eventually, he said, the bucket will overflow. The children, indicated that they were unhappy with "the prolonged...