Ashanti Today

Calm has been restored to Akwatialine near Kumasi after hours of disturbances yesterday, March 27, allegedly occasion by the destruction of a local mosque which has been built on a privately acquired land.  Information gathered by Ashanti Today indicates that destruction of the mosque was on the orders of a court of appeal following a ruling in favor of the landlord.  Incense by the destruction, some irate youth of Akwatialine resulted in mounting road blocks among other act of disturbance in the community.  However, the swift response by the police by the Manhyia division averted any nasty development in the community.  The divisional commander, ACP Kwaku Boah asked the aggrieved youth to seek regress in Court instead of the use of force and other violence means.

A Kumasi circuit court has granted all the forty suspects alleged to have been involved in the Ahwiaa recent clashes 10 thousand Ghana cedi bail each with two sureties.  They are to report to the Mamponteng police every day. Already at their first appearance in court, ten of the suspects were granted ten thousand bail each with securities.  They are to make their third appearance on 18 th April, 2018.  They pleaded not guilty to the case .they were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit crime with weapons and rioting with offensive weapons.  The court was presided over by Mr. Ekow Mensah. In an interview, the lead Defense Counsel, Solomon Oppong Twumasi, expressed satisfaction with decision of the court.  He however not happy about the decision that the students among them who are also to report to the police station since it would negatively affect their academic work.

 A fitting shop near the Ashanti regional offices of Food and Agriculture at Asokwa was this morning gutted by fire leading to destruction of property worth several thousands of Ghana Cedis. Eighteen vehicles have been burnt beyond repairs with about nine others partially damaged by the fire.  Also destroyed are a generating set, newly procured vehicle spare parts meant for the repair of vehicles that had been brought there for maintenance and a tools room which doubles as the Mechanic Apprentices changing room.  An intervention by the Ghana National Fire Service from Kyirapatre and KMA helped to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby mechanic shops and also saving other vehicles within the affected shop from the destruction.  A Night Watchman at the affected mechanics shop, Godwin Bayeti, told Ashanti Today that the fire started at about 12.30 this morning and is believed to have begun from the tools shop.  He said his attention was drawn to the fire by a friend w

  The Mabang Megakarya Cocoa Research Institute in the Ashanti region is on track to achieving its target of producing a new cocoa variety that could withstand the megakarya organism that could cause a total destruction of cocoa yield of a farm within a spate of time.  That new variety should as well be high yielding with other new desirable qualities that could help to substantially improve Ghana’s production.  The Director of the Institute, Enoch Nsiah, made this known at Mabang in the Ahafo Ano North district of Ashanti when Brong Ahafo and Ashanti region members of the Ghana Agriculture and Rural Development Journalists Association, GARDJA, visited the Centre to learn the progress of research works into cocoa.  The field trip is a sequel to a two-day training programme for GARDJA members on cocoa sustainability.  Mr. Nsiah, who is a Plant Breeder, noted that the 25-year megakarya research which is being carried out in four phases, is being supported by both local

 The next batch of students admitted by the Teacher Training Colleges will be pursuing direct four-year Bachelor of Education while Diploma of Education graduates would have an opportunity for one year top-up.  This and other new policies are being introduced by the Ministry of Education to engender quality education in the country.  The Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who announced this in Kumasi, noted that henceforth, a greater premium will be placed on pre-school education by which Early Childhood Teachers will be prioritized to build a sound educational foundation for the children.  He was addressing Head Teachers from selected second cycle schools considered as low performing schools from the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions.  The Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service organized the forum to bring to the attention of the participants a report of a three-year analysis of the performance of each of the

The Minister for Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has described as unacceptable and a blot on Ghana an allegation of sex abuse of some girl students of the Ejisuman Senior High School in Ashanti allegedly by some male teachers of the same institution.  According to him, even though the Ministry and the Ghana Education Service are treating the matter as an allegation, the fact that some of the supposed victim students who are identifiable have openly come out to narrate their ordeals should give stakeholders the cause to be agitated about the issue.  Addressing a forum on education in Kumasi, Dr. Opoku Prempeh warned that boarding houses cannot be managed as brothels and that any school head or regional director of education who fails to instill sanity and discipline should be held liable for any such offences.  He described the incident as a breach of the parent-children relationship that should exist between students and teachers in schools, should it be established

The Minister for Inner Cities and Zongo Development, Boniface Abu-Bakr Saddique has assured that calm has been restored to Ahwiaa and its surrounding areas in the Kwabre East district of Ashanti where a recent violent clash between some irate youth groups claimed one life.  Mr. Saddique gave the assurance in a press briefing in Kumasi after meeting youth groups, some traditional and religious leaders at Ahwiaa, Ntonso and Aboaso to fashion out ways to neutralize the seeming tension there and maintain peace for development.  Already, basic schools at Ahiwaa which closed in the heat of the conflict have re-opened with residents also going about lawful routine activities.  The Minister was satisfied that there is still security presence in the town to maintain the peace.  Mr. Saddique described the cause of the latest deadly clash at Ahwiaa as petty and that the issue should not be linked to ethnic, religious or political feud.  He therefore entreated the media to be

The Ministry of Inner Cities and Zongo Development is to partner Clean Team Ghana, a Ghanaian organization to provide household toilet facilities to densely populated areas across Ghana.  The sector minister, Boniface Abu-Bakr Saddique made this known in Kumasi during a working visit learn at first hand, the impact made by the organization so far at Ashanti New Town, Aboabo, Asokore Mampong, Tafo and Ayigya in an d around Kumasi.  Mr. Boniface Saddique described the project was timely saying that it has the potential to address open defecation and its attendant health crisis.  He emphasized that the ministry is ready to pilot the initiative and replicate it in other unserved areas based on the success rate.  The Chief Executive of Clean Team Ghana, Peter Townsley explained that the nature of the container-based mobile toilet does not pose any threat to personal hygiene and environmental safety saying that it is operated and maintained in accordance with sanitation re

The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, KMA, has been caught up in a serious pollution of the environment including the Oda River that serves as the reliable source of water for inhabitants of Atonsu-Oti and many other communities downstream.  But the  Director of the Waste Management Department of the KMA, Prosper Kotoka s ays slugging of the feacal matter into the River is a necessary evil as the Assembly  repairs the liquid waste Cell at the Landfill Site. The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly,  KMA, owns and manages the Landfill Site at Atonsu Oti for proper disposal of both  solid and liquid waste from Kumasi and the adjoining districts.  The Cell that caters  for proper disposal and management of effluence developed problems about years  go with a leakage.  The Assembly secured funding to repair it and also to construct  another Stabilization pond with other ancillary facilities to cater for the huge human  excreta dislodged at the site on daily basis for

About 72 farmers at Sefwi Wiawso in the Western region have appealed to government for payment of their compensation by private company leading the establishment of a cocoa processing company in the Municipality for taking away their parcels of farmlands for the establishment of a factory under the One District-One Factory programme.  According to the farmers, they are now going through economic difficulties after they were restrained from further work on the farms last October to allow for the construction of the Factory.  Speaking to Ashanti Today, a Spokesperson for the concerned farmers, Nana Adu, said the farmers have lost a total of 50 hectares of their farmlands to the company for the project.  They were into cocoa and crop farming which served as their main sources of livelihood for many years.  Nana Adu said the farmers agreed to give up their farms for the planned cocoa processing factory because they were assured that it would generate jobs for especially

Government of Ghana, with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, is to conduct a national agriculture census to update the country’s data on agric.  The Ashanti Regional Director of Agric, Reverend John Manu, made this known to Ashanti Today. He noted that that the upcoming Census will be the first in 40 years since the last national data collection exercise was undertaken.  Towards this end, a nine-day trainer of trainees workshop is being organized by the Ministry of Food and Agric for Enumerators for a successful census.  The national programme, Reverend Manu noted, will last for three months beginning from April and that the emphasis will be on people engaged in agricultural production.  The outcome, he noted, will help to update existing national data on agriculture to help in proper planning in the sector.  He appealed for the cooperation of all Ghanaians to make the exercise successful.

Three more residents of Ahwiaa in the Kwabre East district of Ashanti have been attacked and severely injured by assailants yet to be identified and arrested.  According to the Kwabre East District Chief Executive, Nana Osei Bonsu, the attack happened last night on the blindside of security personnel detailed to the town to restore peace and security during the rains. The injured, he noted that have been sent to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi for emergency medical care.  Speaking to Ashanti Today, Nana Osei Bonsu said the assailants allegedly stormed the houses in which the victims live and visited cutlass wounds on them after which they bolted. The DCE asked basic schools in the town to remain at home, at least for today, Tuesday March 20 , while efforts are made to restore peace and security in the town.  Nana Osei Bonsu refuted claims that the latest violence is a sequel to last month’s incident saying that that issue was comprehensively managed to a

The Minister of Railways Development, Joe Ghartey says the country’s railway development is one of the top priorities of the Government.  He said plans are far advanced to short list companies who have expressed interest to revamp the sector and that by July this year, contracts will be awarded in this respect.  Mr. Ghartey made this known to journalists in Kumasi during a working tour some of selected railway stations in the metropolis to ascertain what needs to be done to ensure the smooth take off of the railways redevelopment project.  He visited the Adum and Aboabo Railways stations to see at first hand the current situation there. Mr. Ghartey said one of the drawbacks to railways development in the country has been human encroachment on areas earmarked as on railway lands.  He said it is against this backdrop that, the Ministry of Railways Development will be establishing an independent committee to investigate all sale and transfer of railways lands.  Mr. G

Government is putting plans in place to convert all waste at landfill sites into energy plants to generate electricity.   In future, all engineered landfill sites will be converted into material recovery facilities for all waste to be sorted out properly and put to good use.  These and many more plans for waste management were revealed by the Minister for Water Resources and Sanitation, Kofi Adda, when he visited the landfill site of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly in the Ashanti region.  The visit was to enable him be abreast of the challenges facing the management of waste in the Metropolis and plans being put in place to treat liquid waste.   Mr. Adda was conducted around the landfill site by the Chief Executive of KMA, Osei Assibey Antwi and Director of the Waste Management of the Assembly, Prosper Kotoka.  The Minister touched on the need for waste managers to prepare weighing bill to ensure that waste brought to the site is quantified and the commensurate compensation

Two farmers in the Ashanti region have been able to produce 700 metric tons of certified Seed Maize out of the projected one thousand metric tons of the crop in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions during the first year of implementation of the government’s agricultural flagship initiative, Planting for Food and Jobs.  The two are the PEE Farms and Bruckner Farms, both in the Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipality. Already, the Grains Development Board has approved of the quality of the Seed Maize produced by the two farmers as been good enough to supply participating farmers in this year’s phase of the programme.  This came to light when journalists visited the two farms to learn at first hand, the production situation ahead of the next cropping season.  The Ashanti region had a target of more than 20 thousand participating farmers in the first year of the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative which regional launch took place at Ejura a year ago.  In the first phase of the pr

Businesses operating in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions are calling for effective decentralization of some administrative functions of Ministries, Departments and Agencies to the regions to enhance the cost of doing business. According to these businesses, the practice where their officials have to travel to the national capital, Accra, to transact almost every aspect of operation starting from registration to renewal of permit is not only risky, but also negatively affecting the cost of doing business in the country.  These sentiments were expressed in Kumasi during a Forum of Chief Executive Officers of Free Zone enterprises in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo region.  The forum, which was at the instance of the Ghana Free Zones Authority, is part of the Authority’s initiatives to engage with business enterprises operating within the Free Zones policy.  The forum provided a platform for some essential state agencies such as the Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana Standa