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Ghana’s sanitation minister resigned on Saturday over reports staff found and stole stashes of local and foreign money from her home, she said in a letter to the president in which she denied any wrongdoing. Cecilia Abena Dapaah made headlines on Friday after two former household staff appeared in court accused of stealing cash and […]
Announcement of the death of former President Rawlings pic.twitter.com/7ext0fp4sd
— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) November 12, 2020
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - If the United Nations was created from the ashes of World War II, what will be born from the novel coronavirus global crisis?
Analysis - Ghana's 7 December general election will be the country's eighth consecutive poll since returning to democracy nearly 30 years ago. Citizens will elect a president and 275 members of Parliament.
Ghana is close to announcing a roadmap toward easing of Covid-19 restrictions, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said on Sunday.
Akufo-Addo said consultations are ongoing with relevant stakeholders on the form and timing of easing the restrictions.
Ghana banned social gatherings on March 15, following the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country.
The president said the proposed easing of restrictions intends to restore \"social and economic lives.\"
\"I expect these consultations to conclude this week so that I can announce to Ghanaians a clear roadmap for easing the restrictions.
Ghana is West Africa’s most impacted nation behind Nigeria, at a point in May 2020, Ghana led the regional case load. June has started with progressive lifting of more virus restrictions.
President Akufo-Addo in his tenth address announced that whiles borders remained closed, some categories of academic institutions are allowed to resume, religious places can also reopen with strict conditions and the observance of health protocols.
Social gatherings -weddings, funerals etc. – are to be allowed under certain conditions – among others with maximum 100 participants. As the 2020 polls loom, even political activity is allowed to be undertaken.
This article will be focused on tracking case increases and major developments from the West African country. It will build on our April – May 2020 updates page.
July 20: 27,667 cases; high school exams kicks off
President Akufo-Addo on Sunday (July 19) tasked senior high school students across the country to take seriously all virus prevention measures as they kick start their final exams today.
Over 370,000 students will be taking this year’s West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations, WASSCE. The president reiterated the importance of forging ahead with the exams despite a global pandemic.
“Just as has been done over the course of the last four weeks, since their return to school, I continue to urge everyone associated with the conduct of this year’s WASSCE i.e. teaching and non-teaching staff, invigilators and students, to abide by the enhanced hygiene, mask wearing and social distancing protocols they have become accustomed to.
“They continue to remain our weapons in the fight to defeat COVID-19,” the president added. The exams is the final pre-tertiary step for students.
Nigeria, another country within the West Africa Examinations Council, WAEC, bloc; opted to cancel the exam with the federal government citing the fact that it was not safe to reopen schools at a time cases were rising.
Confirmed cases = 27,667
Active cases = 4,270
Recoveries = 23,249
Number of deaths = 148
Ghana Health Service stats valid as of July 19, 2020
July 19: 27,060 cases; death toll hits 145
488 new cases pushed Ghana’s COVID-19 count to 27,060; death toll now 145. Active cases are over 3,700 whiles recoveries have passed 23,000, the Ghana Health Service reported on Saturday.
Local media reports indicate that government is set to evacuate a number of citizens from London. Stranded footballers in Ethiopia who appealed for evacuation weeks back have finally arrived home.
Ghana’s land borders and airspace remains close to air traffic except for special cases. A number of African countries have began reopening their airspaces in past weeks.
President Akufo-Addo completed his self-isolation and tested negative for the virus. The elections body is going on with voter registration whiles senior high school final year students continue preparations for their West African Certificate Exams.
Confirmed cases = 27,060
Active cases = 3,871
[CAF] On behalf of the CAF Executive Committee and the African football family, CAF President Ahmad Ahmad has on Thursday (12 November 2020) sent a message of condolence to the president of the Republic of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to express his sadness and shock on the death of former President, His Excellency Jerry John Rawlings.
Votes are being counted in Ghana following the presidential and parliamentary elections on Monday.
Despite the election being largely calm, heavy security is surveilling the count in the capital Accra's Jamestown neighborhood, where Ghanaians are already celebrating the victory of their candidate.
There are 12 candidates in the running but it is expected to be a two-horse race between incumbent president Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and his longtime rival and former president John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress party (NDC).
\"We are supporting the New Patriotic Party, which is the NPP. Probably we’ve won already, so we have nothing much to say. Total knock out,\" said NPP supporter Awo 'Rasta.
But NDC supporter Yunis Day said \"These people are NPP’s people. They are the disturbance. We are the NDC.\"
\"They haven’t finished counting the ballot papers, but they are already making noise. Empty barrels make the most noise.\"
Ghana has ensured peaceful transfers of power on seven occasions its step towards multiparty democracy in 1992.
The two main parties have always accepted electoral outcomes and pursued any issues through the courts.
A few polling stations opened late and isolated cases of ballot tampering were reported by the electoral commission but there were no major incidents across the country's 38,000 polling stations.
Early election results are expected later on Tuesday.
April 21: President Bio enters in quarantine
\tSierra Leone president Julius Maada Bio is to undergo 14-day self-isolation after one of his bodyguards tested positive for COVID-19, reports from the West African country indicated as of Monday evening.
March 31: Sierra Leone confirms index case
\tSierra Leone president Julius Maada Bio has confirmed that the country has its first case of COVID-19, multiple media outlets in the West African country have confirmed.
March 27: Sierra Leone closes borders for 30 days
\tVirus-free Sierra Leone on Friday announced closure of its borders for a 30-day period barely days after President Julius Maada Bio announced a state of public health emergency.
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March 24: President Maada Bio declares 12-month state of Public Health emergency
\tDespite being among 11 African countries that have not recorded any cases of the coronavirus, Sierra Leone president Julius Maada Bio has imposed a twelve-month state of public health emergency effective today March 24.
Sierra Leone records COVID-19 scuffles over quarantine at airport
\tThe Freetown International Airport, Sierra Leone’s main entry point via air witnessed a coronavirus related scuffle after passengers aboard a Kenya Airways flight refused necessary health protocols.
Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has been selected by former Ghana president John Mahama as his running mate for this year’s presidential election.
Representing the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), she becomes the first woman on a major Ghanaian party’s presidential ticket.
The 69-year_old Opoku-Agyemang, is a former education minister and university professor. She was also the first female vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Coast in 2008.
The former president called her “God-fearing, a distinguished scholar, a conscientious public servant and a role model”.
The Dec. 7 poll will pit Mahama, who governed from 2012 to early 2017, against his successor, President Nana Akufo-Addo, who defeated him in the late 2016 election.
The presidency has changed hands repeatedly between the ruling New Patriotic Party, NPP and ex-president Mahama’s NDC since 1992 in a series of peaceful elections that have cemented Ghana’s reputation as one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.
[Ghana Presidency] The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, left Ghana on Monday, 15th February 2021, to attend the 7th Session of the Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State of G5 Sahel, in his capacity as Chairperson of the Authority of ECOWAS.
[This Day] Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has called for a proper explanation of its clear-cut roles in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
The COVID-19 National Trust Fund established by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to raise funds for the poor and needy in the country received support from four institutions in Accra yesterday.
Sucryza Limited, distributors of rice and sugar, donated an amount of GH₵100,000 to the Board of Trustees of the Fund, chaired by former Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Akuffo, at the Jubilee House.
Mfantsipim Old Boys Association, led by its President (Ebusuapanyie) Captain Paul Forjoe, donated an amount of GH₵200,000.
Apinko 1 Engineering and the Ghana Civil Service donated GH₵1,200 and GH₵52,000 to the fund respectively.
Justice Akuffo thanked the institutions for the generous donations and pledged that the fund would be used for its intended purposes to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on the poor and vulnerable.
Police in the Ghanaian capital Accra used water cannon to disperse opposition supporters contesting the results of presidential elections.
The two leading candidates in Ghana's presidential election said on Tuesday they are confident of victory based on their own tallies, as the schedule for the announcement of official results was delayed.
By FRANCIS KOKUTSE Associated Press ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Ghana's late president Jerry John Rawlings was buried at the country's military cemetery in the capital after four days of commemorations to mark the death of the former leader who was loathed by some and loved by many in the West African nation. Rawlings transformed from a military head of state who staged two coups to a democratically elected president who served for 19 years and is credited with laying the foundation for peaceful elections and transfers of power in Ghana. At the age of 73, Rawlings died on Nov. 12, […]
The post Ghana buries former president Jerry Rawlings with honors appeared first on Black News Channel.
[Ghana Presidency] The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has reiterated Government's commitment to assisting Ghanaian enterprises to take advantage of the coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Demonstrations around the world in response to the police killing of George Floyd have sparked calls for change and the West African nation of Ghana has been no exception.
At a memorial and wreath laying ceremony in Accra, Ghana’s capital city last month dedicated to Floyd, tourism minister Barbara Oteng-Gyasi reportedly encouraged Black Americans and others throughout the diaspora to visit or even repatriate to the home continent of their ancestors.
In 2019, Ghana’s tourism ministry completed a two-year campaign to encourage tourism by African Americans in what it billed as its “Year of Return.”
Even before the wreath ceremony, Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo blasted police violence against Blacks, saying in a statement: “We stand with our kith and kin in America in these difficult and trying times, and we hope that the unfortunate, tragic death of George Floyd will inspire a lasting change in how America confronts head on the problems of hate and racism.”
In November, Addo hosted a ceremony in which about 100 African Americans and Black West Indians who had been living in Ghana became citizens of the country: A law passed by Ghanian parliament in 2001, called Right of Abode, allowed anyone of African ancestry living in the diaspora to repatriate and stay indefinitely, according to its Ministry of the Interior.
July 10: Places of worship to reopen
President Julius Maada Bio on Thursday announced the lifting of a raft of virus restrictions as the country reopens to face the post – lockdown era.
Three main areas are affected by the latest announcement which the president posted on social media platform, Twitter. Reopening of places of worship, curfew hours and reopening of the main airport.
1. All mosques, churches, and other places of worship shall be open for congregation and worship – Monday, 13th of July 2020,
2. On the same day curfew hours will be eased to 11 pm to 5 am.
3. Lungi International Airport will be re-opened on Wednesday, 22nd Jul 2020.
Confirmed cases = 1,598
Active cases = 412
Recoveries = 1,123
Number of deaths = 63
John Hopkins Uni stats valid as of July 9, 2020
Effective Monday, 13th of July 2020, all mosques, churches, and other places of worship shall be open for congregation and worship. Starting Monday, 13th of July, curfew will be eased to 11PM to 5AM. Lungi International Airport will be re-opened on Wednesday, 22nd Jul 2020.— President Julius Maada Bio (@PresidentBio) July 9, 2020
June 23: Lockdown restrictions eased
President Julius Maada Bio on Tuesday announced a raft of measures aimed at further relaxing coronavirus restrictions across the West African nation. The key takeaway being the adjusting of a curfew duration and the lifting of inter-district travel.
“Effective immediately, the curfew is adjusted to the period 11pm to 6am. I announce a lifting of the ban on Inter-District travel starting on Wednesday, 24th June 2020.
“Once all measures are in place, commercial flights will resume in the very short run,” the president said in a Twitter post.
#SierraLeone’s president PresidentBio has eased some of the #Covid19 restrictions. The ban on inter-district movement is lifted from tomorrow. The 9pm – 6am curfew now starts 11pm. But churches & mosques remain closed. He admitted they could’ve better responded to the pandemic— Umaru Fofana (@UmaruFofana) June 23, 2020
On the country’s fight against COVID-19, the president said: “...we have had high recovery and discharge rates, lower infection rates, and proportionally lower death rates three months on. This is because we have got a lot of things right over those three months.”
The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary School, in consultation with stakeholders, has developed comprehensive health and safety guidelines for teachers, pupils, and communities for the purpose of providing safe environment for students who are taking public examinations, the president added.
Confirmed cases = 1,340
Active cases = 497
Recoveries = 788
Number of deaths = 55
John Hopkins Uni stats valid as of June 22, 2020
June 1: Compulsory wearing of face masks kicks off
The wearing of face masks in public has been made compulsory in Sierra Leone effective today (June 1). The move is part of COVID-19 containment measures ordered by government.
On the case load front, as of close of day May 31, the total confirme
A series of military coups followed, and on June 4, 1979, Flight Lt. Jerry Rawlings overthrew Lt. Gen. Frederick Akuffos military rule. Rawlings permitted the election of a civilian president to go ahead as scheduled the following month, and Hilla Limann, candidate of the Peoples National Party, took office. Rawlingss three-month rule was one of Ghanas bloodiest periods, with executions of numerous government officials and business leaders. Two years later Rawlings staged another coup, charging the civilian government with corruption. As chairman of the Provisional National Defense Council, Rawlings scrapped the constitution, instituted an austerity program, and reduced budget deficits over the next decade. He then returned the country to civilian rule and won the presidency in multiparty elections in 1992 and again in 1996. Since then, Ghana has been widely viewed as one of Africas most stable democracies. In Jan. 2001, John Agyekum Kufuor was elected president. In 2002, he set up a National Reconciliation Commission to review human rights abuses during the countrys military rule. He was reelected in Dec. 2004.
In presidential elections in December 2008, Nana Akufo-Addo, of the governing New Patriotic Party, won just over 49% of the vote, and John Atta Mills, of the main opposition party, National Democratic Congress, took almost 48%. In the runoff election, necessary because neither candidate received 50% of the vote, Atta Mills eked out victory, with 50.23%. It was the closest election in Ghanas history.
President Atta died in July 2012. His four years in office were marked by stability and an increase in oil production. Vice President John Dramani Mahama was sworn in shortly after Attas death. Mahama won the presidential election held in December, taking 50.7% of the vote. He prevailed over Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party.
See also Encyclopedia: Ghana .
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes: Ghana
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana will have a second four-year term after the country's electoral commissioner declared on Wednesday that the 76-year-old had won the December 7 presidential polls. The president beat the challenge from 11 other presidential candidates among whom included John Dramani Mahama, the man Akufo-Addo succeeded in 2017. Mahama, 62,...
The post Ghana's President Akufo-Addo reelected to a second term appeared first on Face2Face Africa.
Analysis - Veteran politician Nana Akufo-Addo has won a second term as Ghana's president. He still has old campaign promises to fulfill plus a post-coronavirus economy to reboot.
[Ghanaian Times] Minority parties contesting this year's election have indicated their readiness to end the 28-year-old duopoly of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) in governance.
Five people have been killed in election-linked violence in Ghana, police said on Wednesday in what it described as separate incidents that occurred since the morning of Monday's presidential and parliamentary vote.
The Ghanaian Police Service said it recorded over 60 incidents. \"Twenty-one of the incidents are true cases of electoral violence, six of which involve gunshots resulting in the death of five,\" it said.
President Nana Akufo-Addo ran for re-election against main rival, former President John Mahama, and 10 other candidates.
On Tuesday, opposition leader John Mahama warned President Nana Akufo-Addo against any attempt to steal this week's election, as both sides claimed they were winning ahead of official results of the vote.
The elections have largely been deemed free and fair by observers but t he strong statement by John Mahama raised the temperature after Monday's presidential and parliamentary polls in a country known for stability in a troubled region.
\"Some of what is happening is unacceptable and Nana Akudo-Addo continues to show credentials that are very undemocratic,\" Mahama told a hastily convened press conference in the capital Accra Tuesday evening.
\"You cannot use the military to try and overturn some of the results in constituencies that we have won. We will resist any attempts to subvert the sovereign will of the Ghanaian people,\" the 62-year-old former president said.
Information minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah told a press conference -- convened just minutes after Mahama spoke -- that allegations of intimation by soldiers were false.
The electoral commission has yet to announce the final official results but the race was expected to be close between Mahama and Akufo-Addo, 76, of the centre-right New Patriotic Party (NPP), with recent polls putting the incumbent narrowly ahead.
The presidency released an unofficial tally on Tuesday claiming that results from 91 percent of polling stations showed the president with 52.25 percent of votes and Mahama with 46.44 percent.
Mahama, the leader of the centre-left National Democratic Congress (NDC), meanwhile claimed that his party had won a majority -- 140 -- of the 275 seats in parliament.
\"We thank the Ghanaian people for the confidence they've expressed in us. It's clear, the Ghanaian people want change in this country,\" Mahama said.
The government strongly rejected the opposition's claim that it had won a parliamentary majority, saying the announcement \"could endanger the peace of this country.\"
Oppong Nkrumah said \"this dog whistle to supporters by the candidate to jubilate, to get out on the streets\" was \"categorically irresponsible and it flies in the face of good conduct.\"
- 'Isolated challenges' -
The electoral commission has urged the public to wait, saying it was \"working round the clock to ensure that the collated results are accurate and a true refection of the will of the people\".
\"The commission will release all the certified results as soon as they are received,\" it said in a statement on Tuesday aftern
Abuja – The Ghanaian president has apologised to Nigeria over the demolition of its embassy building in Accra, the Nigerian presidency said.
\"President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana Tuesday spoke with President Muhammadu Buhari, expressing his sincere apology for demolition of a building on the premises of Nigerian High Commission in Accra, Ghana,\" the presidency said in a statement late on Tuesday.
Akufo-Addo has also ordered investigation into the incident, it said, adding that some suspects had been arrested and would be charged.
Armed men reportedly entered the Nigerian High Commission compound in Accra on Friday to supervise bulldozers to demolish a building under construction.
Nigeria's Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama on Monday summoned Ghana's top envoy, Iva Denoo, in Abuja to demand an explanation of the incident.
Confirmed cases = 18,630
\t
\t\tActive cases = 4,467
\t\tRecoveries = 14,046
\t\tNumber of deaths = 117
Ghana Health Service stats valid as of July 1, 2020
June 25: 15,473 cases; mask arrests, apex court ruling
\tCase load as of today hit a total of 15,473 cases with 11,431 recoveries and 950 deaths, according to stats released Friday evening by the Ghana Health Service.
Confirmed cases = 15,473
\t\tActive cases = 3,947
\t\tRecoveries = 11,431
\t\tNumber of deaths = 95
John Hopkins Uni stats valid as of June 12, 2020
June 22: 14,154 cases; how recoveries jumped
\tGhana recorded a boom in recoveries over the weekend as over 6,000 patients were added to the tally which now stands at 10,473 according to authorities.
Confirmed cases = 14,154
\t\tActive cases = 3,596
\t\tRecoveries = 10,473
\t\tNumber of deaths = 85
John Hopkins Uni stats valid as of June 21, 2020
June 15: 13,203 cases; law enacted to penalize mask flouters
\tCase load hit a total of 13,203 cases with 4,548 recoveries and 70 deaths, according to stats released Friday evening by the Ghana Health Service.
Total confirmed cases = 12,193
Total recoveries = 4,326
Total deaths = 58
Active cases = 7,809
\tFigures valid as of close of day June 16, 2020
June 15: 11,964 cases; schools reopen, masks obligatory etc.
Confirmed cases = 11,964
\t\tNumber of deaths = 54
\t\tRecoveries = 4,258
\t\tActive cases = 7,652
\tJohn Hopkins Uni stats valid as of June 14, 2020
June 13: 11,118 cases, NDC advocates mass testing
\tGhana’s case load as of this morning stood at 11,118 cases with the disclosure of 262 new cases.
John Mahama, the loser of the December 7 vote has accused the ruling party and president Akufo-Addo of engaging in fraud to retain power
President Nana Akufo-Addo said the country’s health minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu is in a stable condition after contracting the new coronavirus.
“Let us wish our hardworking minister for health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, a speedy recovery from the virus, which he contracted in the line of duty,” Akufo-Addo said in an broadcast, giving an update on the pandemic situation in Ghana.
Let us wish our hardworking minister for health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, a speedy recovery from the virus.
Ghana has recorded 11,964 positive coronavirus cases, one of the highest in the region, but has also carried out one of the highest number of tests in the continent at 254,331 and has one of lowest number of deaths from the virus.
With 54 deaths reported thus far in Ghana, the ratio of deaths to positive cases stands at 0.4%, compared to the global average of 5.5%, and the African average of 2.6%, Akufo-Addo said.
