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LOANS, LOANS, LOANS - COMMUNITIES SURROUNDING SUHUM, TESHIE/AGBLEZA, MADINA AND KARACHIE CRY FOR HELP AND ACCOUNTABILITY ?


Ghana signs $13 bln in Chinese loan deals: government



Ghana taps China loan for $2.85 billion road project





World Bank Approves Ghana Water Privatization Loan

In July, the World Bank approved a new $110 million structural adjustment loan for Ghana



Ghana-Foreign Assistance and Loans



Government secures $ 273 million loan to improve water supply




World Bank Approves Loan for Ghana
Wednesday, 08 September 2010 18:01






Ghana: What Has the U.S.$5.3 Billion Loan Done?





Loans & Credits




Ghana Contracts Awarded




Government secures $166m loan for road construction



World Bank Approves Ghana Water Privatization Loan. In July, the World Bank approved a new $110 million structural adjustment loan for Ghana



NDC Contracts $600m Loan From A Clay-Maker




Ghana-Foreign Assistance and Loans




Government secures $ 273 million loan to improve water supply





World Bank Approves Loan for Ghana Wednesday, 08 September 2010 18:01




Ghana: What Has the U.S.$5.3 Billion Loan Done?





Loans & Credits




Ghana Contracts Awarded




Ghana Government secures $166m loan for road construction
The Government has secured a $166 million loan facility from the African Development Bank to construct the Fufulso-Sawla road.
Part of the loan will also be used to develop infrastructure around the Mole National Park to boost tourism.
Signing on behalf of the government, Deputy Finance Minister, Seth Tekper said the facility will help the Mills administration achieve its developmental goals in the Northern region.
“The mobilization of concessionary resources such as yours will play a very vital role in accelerating the goals of government. We are also paying close attention to the micro economy which is also very important,” he said.
The Minister for Roads and Highways, Mr. Joe Gidisu, said his ministry will ensure smooth commencement of the project.



Ghana Signs New Loan Agreement With France




Korea to give Ghana $67m loan to expand electricity supply‎




Government secures loan to fund Science and Research related projects‎ Vice President John Dramani Mahama, has announced that government has secured a seventeen million dollar ($17 million) loan from the World Bank, a significant amount of which will go into funding of Science and Research related projects




Ghana Government, Chinese Delegation discuss terms for $9bn loan from China

Nigeria, Shell under fire after UN details oil devastation

Nigeria's government and oil giant Shell Friday came under heavy pressure following the release of a landmark UN report detailing oil pollution that may require the world's biggest ever clean-up.

The report set out scientific evidence for the first time of devastating pollution in Ogoniland, part of the country's main oil-producing Niger Delta region where Shell and the state petroleum company have operated.

"UNEP believes that oil contamination in Ogoniland has created an environmental crisis of unprecedented proportions," Joseph Alcamo, UN Environment Programme chief scientist, told journalists in London.

"The problem is quite clear and now the question is what's the way out."

Anglo-Dutch Shell was forced to pull out of Ogoniland amid unrest in 1993, though pipelines for its Nigerian joint venture, which includes the state oil company, and other facilities remain there.

The UNEP report, which details urgent health risks such as badly contaminated drinking water, led some to raise the possibility of lawsuits that could now be brought against Shell or others with scientific evidence to back them.

"This is a wonderful intervention on the part of the United Nations, and this has also in a way confirmed the cries of the Ogoni people over the years," said prominent Nigerian rights lawyer Femi Falana.

"There is now a scientific basis backed by the UN.... I think this now provides an opportunity for people to make legitimate demands."

Shell faced criticism from UNEP, which said "control and maintenance of oil field infrastructure in Ogoniland has been and remains inadequate: the Shell Petroleum Development Company's own procedures have not been applied, creating public health and safety issues."

UNEP also called for the oil industry and the Nigerian government to contribute $1 billion to a clean-up fund for the region, adding that restoration could take up to 30 years.

"The environmental restoration of Ogoniland could prove to be the world's most wide-ranging and long term oil clean-up exercise ever undertaken", it said.

Shell maintained its stance that most environmental damage has been caused by oil theft, sabotage and illegal refining.

The managing director for its Nigerian joint venture, Mutiu Sunmonu, says in a Shell video posted on YouTube that until illegal activity is brought under control, "there is little that can be done to bring an end to the problem of spills."

A UNEP spokesman told journalists Friday that the agency could not support Shell's assertion.

"UNEP would challenge that," said Nick Nuttall. "We don't have the data to say where the oil came from in any kind of comprehensive way, either historically or currently.

"... The fact is that the assertion of SPDC yesterday that it's largely or mainly from illegal activities, well, we can't support that statement."

SPDC is Shell's Nigerian joint venture, the Shell Petroleum Development Company.

The study of the effects of pollution in Ogoniland follows a two-year assessment by UNEP in the region of mainly farmers and fishermen.

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, which has long pushed for action in the region, said it was not nearly enough.

It said in a statement that "what is needed and the Ogoni expectation is the cleanup of our devastated environment and not a mere study to tell us what we know."

The group also called for Shell's licence in Nigeria to be revoked.

Ogoniland was the native region of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the renowned environmental activist who was executed by a Nigerian military government in 1995 after what was widely considered a show trial, drawing global condemnation.

His activism and execution drew the world's attention to Ogoniland.

His son, Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr, now works as an adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, the first head of state from the Niger Delta.

He called the report a "vindication" and expressed confidence the government would take action.

"I think he is looking down on the whole thing and smiling widely to himself," Saro-Wiwa Jr told AFP, speaking of his father.

Spokesmen: Islamist militia leaving Somali capital

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Islamist fighters withdrew overnight from almost all their bases in the famine-struck Somali capital, the most significant gain for the embattled U.N.-backed government in four years. Commanders toured newly abandoned positions Saturday, including a former sports stadium where the militia's tire marks were fresh in the grass.

The militants have denied many aid agencies access to their territory and their presence in the capital has complicated famine relief efforts. The government said humanitarian agencies now were welcome to come and distribute aid, but many still insist on serving only precooked rations at guarded kitchens.

"It is of major significance, but the war is not over yet," said Somali Defense Minister Hussein Arab Esse as he stood amid the rubble and graffitied walls of the stadium.

Tanks belonging to the African Union peacekeeping force surrounded the former militia base as gunfire crackled outside. Government soldiers draped in bandoliers of bullets lounged on smashed concrete pillars, staring as Somali and AU officials embraced.

Somalia has been a failed state for more than 20 years. Its lawless wastes are a haven for pirates and international terrorists and the conflict has caused two major famines. Hundreds of thousands starved to deaths in 1992 and the current emergency is believed to have cost tens of thousands of lives already. It is set to worsen, partly because the Islamists, who call themselves al-Shabab, have banned many aid workers.

Al-Shabab controlled around a third of the capital until Saturday morning. They carried out public amputations and executions, and forcibly recruited children as fighters. They still hold most of southern Somalia, where tens of thousands are estimated to have starved. Desperate families are streaming into the capital from the country and setting up shelters made from twigs and tattered plastic bags.

Sodio Omar Hassan, who was seeking treatment for her child's malaria at a free hospital set up by AU peacekeepers, said people were incensed because al-Shabab had refused to allow aid agencies to distribute food.

"People are angry now they are dying," she said, as other patients nodded around her. "They (al-Shabab) don't bring us anything."

A year ago, even mentioning the word al-Shabab in the heavily guarded hospital — one of the most secure places in Somalia — would make patients fall silent or hide their faces. But in recent interviews with The Associated Press, men and women fleeing the famine gathered around to denounce the militia, which they said had tried to prevent families from seeking help, and stopped and sometimes killed the male family members.

"They tried to stop us so we came the back way around," said Mumino Bury Adan, waving her hands to demonstrate how she weaved through the streets with her three children into government-held territory. "They don't want to give us food and people do not agree. They just want us to stay there and die."

More than 12 million people in the Horn of Africa are in need of immediate food aid, including nearly half the Somali population. The U.N. says 640,000 children are acutely malnourished in Somalia, where the U.N. has declared five famine zones, including the camps for displaced people in Mogadishu.

There have been two deadly shoot-outs in the past week after aid agencies tried to hand out sacks of food. Both incidents involved government forces, some of whom are poorly trained and disciplined.

It's still unclear why the militia retreated or what its next move will be. There are several possible reasons: the drought and the movement of population away from areas it controls; the diversion of foreign fighters and funding to the Arab Spring; or infighting among its top leadership. It could simply be a change of tactics by a heavily outgunned force to a guerilla-style campaign of suicide bombings and hit and run attacks.

Al-Shabab spokesman Ali Mohamed Rage told a local radio station that the forces had made a tactical withdrawal and would soon launch a counter attack.

"We shall fight the enemy wherever they are," he said.

The militia's withdrawal appeared orderly and coordinated, following a four-hour assault on several AU positions overnight. Witnesses spoke of seeing large numbers of al-Shabab fighters moving in vehicles or on foot with their weapons.

Mohammed Ali said he saw about 150 al-Shabab fighters leaving the northwest part of the capital. He said they may have left town due to a lack of money and disagreements between top leaders, explaining that he had an insight into the militia because "our brothers are that side."

Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali estimated the militants now have vacated 90 percent of the capital and said forces were checking the rest. Ali said the government wants to send security forces into the new areas vacated by al-Shabab, describing the withdrawal as the "first phase of the new war."

In recent years, the Somali government has made little effort to provide services to its citizens despite receiving tens of millions of dollars in cash from foreign donors. Ali said he would declare such donations in the future, making it easier to see how the government was spending the money.

Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, a spokesman for the 9,000-strong AU force, said the al-Shabab has melted into the population and will become more difficult to deal with. Since it was born from the ruins of another radical Islamist group in 2007, al-Shabab has never abandoned Mogadishu entirely.

"We need more troops now than ever before. The area has become too big for the force to cover," Ankunda said, looking out at the ruined city from behind a thick pane of bulletproof glass.

Quarter-million Israelis march for economic reform

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - A quarter-million Israelis marched on Saturday for lower living costs in an escalating protest that has catapulted the economy onto the political agenda and put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu planned to name a cabinet-level team on Sunday to address demands by the demonstrators, who in under a month have swollen from a cluster of student tent-squatters into a diffuse, countrywide mobilization of Israel's burdened middle class.

Israel projects growth of 4.8 percent this year at a time of economic stagnation in many Western countries, and has relatively low unemployment of 5.7 percent. But business cartels and wage disparities have kept many citizens from feeling the benefit.

"The People Demand Social Justice" read one of the march banners, which mostly eschewed partisan anti-government messages while confronting Netanyahu's free-market doctrines.

Police said at least 250,000 people took part in Saturday's march in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities, a greater turnout than at marches on the two previous weekends.

Demonstrations on such a scale in Israel -- population 7.7 million -- have usually been over issues of war and peace.

In a "Peace Index" poll conducted by two Israeli academics, around half of respondents said wage disparities -- among the widest of OECD countries -- should be the government's priority, while 18 percent cited the dearth of affordable housing.

Some 31 percent cited the stalled Middle East peace talks, Israel's international image, or the need to bolster the armed forces.

The demonstrations have upstaged Netanyahu's standoff with the Palestinians ahead of their bid to lobby for U.N. recognition of statehood next month. Protests also deflated his celebration of Israel's stability as citizen revolts rock surrounding Arab states across the Middle East and North Africa.

"There has been nothing like this for decades -- all these people coming together, taking to the streets, demanding change. It's a revolution," said Baroch Oren, a 33-year-old protest leader.

The conservative coalition government has vowed to free up more state-owned land for development, build more low-rent housing and improve public transport. It also wants to lower dairy prices with more imports and boost medical staff numbers to address demands by striking doctors.

But the demands submitted by the National Union of Israeli Students go much further in calling for an expansion of free education and bigger government housing budgets.

Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon, named by a Netanyahu spokesman as a likely member of the cabinet troubleshooting team, said a solution was required even if it "cost billions" at a time when Israel is watching the debt jitters of the United States and parts of Europe. Israel's debt burden is 75 percent of GDP, lower than that of most major Western economies.

Interviewed by Israel Radio on Friday, Kahlon floated tax cuts and a breakup of cartels to benefit the middle class.

"If anything, this demonstration is a demonstration of trust in Netanyahu -- though that may sound upside-down: 'Sir, we demand of you, we insist, you know how to, you are capable of fixing this,'" Kahlon said, noting the lack of support for the centrist political opposition.

But he faulted Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz for trumpeting Israel's macroeconomic indicators.

"On the one hand we say we have a strong economy, on the other hand large groups of people are seeing that it is not reaching them. Hence the frustration and the outcry," he said.

London rioters battle police after shooting protest

LONDON (Reuters) - Rioters throwing petrol bombs battled police in a economically deprived district of London overnight, setting patrol cars, buildings and a double-decker bus on fire in some of the worst disorder seen in the British capital for recent years.

About 200 people rained missiles and bottles on riot officers near Tottenham district police station after a street protest over the fatal shooting of a man by armed officers earlier in the week turned violent.

Mounted police and riot officers on foot in turn charged the crowd to push them back.

Eight officers were taken to hospital, one with head injuries, as rioters smashed windows and looted buildings including banks, shops and a supermarket and torched three police cars in the main road near the local police station.

The trouble broke out on Saturday night following a peaceful demonstration over the shooting of Mark Duggan, 29, who was killed after an exchange of gunfire with police on Thursday.

Duggan had been in a taxi when it was stopped by armed officers as part of a pre-planned operation. One policeman escaped unhurt after a bullet struck his radio. Duggan's death is being investigated by the independent police watchdog.

Although there have been riots in other European countries linked to austerity measures to tackle large national debts, London police and local community leaders said anger at Duggan's shooting was the cause of the riot.

Tottenham has a large number of ethnic minorities and includes areas with the highest unemployment rates in London. It also has a history of racial tension with local young people, especially blacks, resenting police behavior including the use of stop and search powers.

NOTORIOUS RACE RIOT IN 1985

The disorder was very close to where one of Britain's most notorious race riots occurred just over 25 years ago.

In 1985, police officer Keith Blakelock was hacked to death on the deprived Broadwater Farm housing estate during rioting in which around 500 mainly black youths rampaged through the streets, assaulting police, looting and setting fires.

Classford Stirling, a youth worker from Broadwater Farm, said there had been growing anger recently over stop and search practices by police. "It wasn't just black kids. It was the youth in general who are frustrated at the way the police are treating them," he told BBC TV.

"Everybody's now thinking of the way Mr Duggan was shot and they want answers. It's very difficult to turn round and say to them this is the wrong way because they believe this is the only way that they're going to get attention."

Television pictures showed a blazing bus surrounded by rioters and hooded youths pelting an abandoned police car with rocks and missiles. Media reported some locals had to flee their homes to escape the violence.

While the bulk of the disturbance had been brought under control early on Sunday, pockets of trouble were still erupting nearby. Buildings were smoldering with plumes of smoke billowing across the skyline.

"The rioting in Tottenham last night was utterly unacceptable," a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said. "There is no justification for the aggression the police and the public faced, or for the damage to property."

Police Commander Stephen Watson said the scenes were "very distressing" for Londoners and perpetrators would be brought to justice. "Our intention ... is to bring things to as swift a conclusion as we can. Our absolute aim is to restore normality."

Local member of parliament David Lammy said: "The Tottenham community and Mark Duggan's family and friends need to understand what happened on Thursday evening when Mark lost his life. To understand those facts, we must have calm."

London also saw riots at the end of last year when protests against government plans to raise tuition fees for university students in the center of London turned violent with police and government buildings attacked.

During the most serious disturbances last December, rioters targeted the limousine belonging to heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, kicking its doors, cracking a window and reportedly jabbing Camilla with a stick.

Armed robbers attack passengers on Kumasi-Accra highway

Kubease (Ash), July 15, GNA – A robbery gang at dawn on Thursday, attacked a passenger bus on the Kumasi-Accra Highway and made away with cash totalling more than GH¢14,000.00, cell phones and other valuables.
Four of the passengers sustained injuries and received treatment at the Ejisu Government Hospital.
The robbers numbering about seven and armed with locally manufactured pistols and machetes struck at about 0200 hours at a spot on the Kubease-Duapompo section of the highway.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Stephen Awuah, the Ejisu District Police Commander, confirmed the incident to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and said there had not been any arrest.
They are, however, doing everything to arrest and bring the robbers to justice.
He said the whole operation was believed to have lasted for about 30 minutes.
They cleverly blocked the road with two trucks, depicting a false image of an accident scene.
As the bus neared the blockade, one of the robbers, wearing a black uniform with a reflective jacket, resembling that of the police, signalled the driver to stop, which he did.
ASP Awuah said all of a sudden, his colleagues emerged from the nearby bush carrying guns and other offensive weapons and began firing shots into the air.

They then ordered the passengers to come down, conducted body checks on them and took away their money, phones and other valuables.
They escaped in the two trucks after the operation.
The robbery occurred at the same area where the infamous Amina Yutong bus incident was reported to have taken place.

ASP Awuah expressed concern about the notoriety and attraction of that section of the highway for robbers and appealed for public support to enable the police to effectively deal with the criminals.

GNA

Nigeria's Ogoniland needs biggest ever oil clean-up - UN

ABUJA Aug 4 (Reuters) - Nigeria's Ogoniland in the oil-rich Niger Delta has suffered 50 years of pollution and could need the world's largest ever oil clean-up, the United Nations said in a report on Thursday.

"The environmental restoration of Ogoniland could prove to be the world's most wide-ranging and long term oil clean-up exercise ever undertaken," a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report said.

UNEP said the total restoration could take up to 30 years and would need a $1 billion fund to kick-start the work.

Police: HO NDC demonstrators did not meet Public Order Act requirements

Accra, Aug. 4, GNA – The Ghana Police Service has justified its action of stopping a demonstration by the “Volta Region National Democratic Congress (NDC) Youth for Action” in Ho on Wednesday describing the march as an “illegality”.

The demonstration was against the Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Amenowode and the Ho Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Isaac Kodobissah, for alleged non-performance,

A statement signed by Deputy Superintendent of Police Cephas Arthur, Acting Director of Public Affairs, said the group notified the Police about their intended demonstration.

However, the group could not meet the full requirements of the Public Order Act (Act 491) of 1994 and they embarked on the demonstration illegally.

The statement said during a discussion with the Regional Police, it came to light that a delegation of the group had been dispatched to Accra to meet some top members of the Party.

“Eventually it was agreed between the leadership of the group and the Police that the demonstration be put on hold pending the outcome of the meeting.”

The statement said the leadership of the group told the Police that they were going to inform their members about the development and get back to the police either on August 2 or August 3.

However, while the Police were waiting for the leadership of the group to come back with their response, they had information that they had grouped and were making for the Regional Administration.

“Police, who were on stand-by, quickly mobilised and stopped them. They arrested 12 members of the group, including its membership. Those arrested are made up of 11 males and one female.”

The statement said the Police were not against any group of people, who wanted to demonstrate, but they must adhere to the Public Order Act.

Meanwhile, the Executive Committee of the Ho Central Constituency branch of the NDC has suspended Mr Daniel Idikoko, Chairman and Alhaji Bello, a member of the Sava branch in Ho, who led the demonstration.

Ruptured pipeline spills large volumes of treated water for over a year

A ruptured 21-inch metal pipe, which supplies water from the Kpong treatment plant to the Accra-Tema Metropolitan area, has spilled large volumes of treated water into some areas in the Kpong com­munity for more than one year, resulting in the flooding of farms and homes.

This situation has also created a huge hol­low over a mass of land at Apisco, a suburb of the town.

This pipeline is different from the 42-inch pipeline which got perforated recently caus­ing the supply of water to Accra to cease.

However, while residents of the affected areas have firmly declared that the problem had existed for more than two years, author­ities of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) insist that it has not been that long.

Derrick Adoka and Ebenezer Tekper, both residents of Apisco, told the Daily Graphic that the problem had existed for more than two years.

They disclosed that in the two years, the GWCL had fixed the problem once but just after a few weeks, the problem recurred and had persisted till now.

Comfort Naana Nortey, a teacher, revealed that her son nearly got drowned about a year ago in the area when he went there with a group of mends to take a look at the problem.

The Station Manager of the Kpong Headworks, Mr Ebo Akwandoh, told the Daily Graphic that he was not aware that the pipe had burst.

He pointed out that he took up his post in February, this year, and a month after, his attention was drawn to the problem but he had it fixed.

Ghana, Niger clash over stolen vehicle

The Ghana branch of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) and its Nigerien counterparts are set on a collision course over an Audi Q7 vehicle which was stolen in Accra in 2010, but presently said to be in Niger.

This is as a result of the alleged refusal of Interpol Niger to hand over the vehicle, stolen from Ghana and belonging to one Fati Baba to Ghanaian security agencies even in the light of concrete evidence that the vehicle is indeed in Niger.

The case of the suspected stolen car presents a story of armed robbery laced with allegations of political interference and stampeding from security and political power in Niger.

Not even the dispatch of an Interpol officer from Ghana, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mr Vincent Adotey, to Niger, could secure the return of the car, as Mr Adotey was given a 24-hour ultimatum by police authorities in Niger to leave the country or face detention.

Sources at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service told the Daily Graphic that even as Mr Adotey left Niger, the commercial bus he was travelling on was stopped at the border. Subsequently, his passport was seized and he was only released as he made calls to the Interpol Secretariat in France and also to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Quaye.

Prior to that, another Ghanaian, Alhassan Omar Farouk, a brother of Fati Baba, who had been given a letter by Interpol Ghana to Niger to assist in impounding the vehicle, was arrested by the Nigeriens, detained for five days and arraigned on charges he said were not clear to him.

“They accused me of not having an authority note from my sister, then they asked me to disclose who led me to Niger and when I said I was alone, they said I was not telling the truth,” Farouk told the Daily Graphic.

Farouk narrated to the Daily Graphic his Niamey ordeal, during which he spent five days in a prison reserved for hardened criminals, and was subsequently asked by security operatives in Niger whether he wanted the car or his life.

“I had no other option than to plead for my life,” Farouk said and confirmed that the car was indeed in Niger and he had seen it at an auto mechanic garage in Niamey.

He said initially the Interpol officers in Niger had welcomed him warmly and facilitated his initial stay. However, he said, after he had spotted the car at the garage following a tip-off, events took a dramatic turn as it emerged that there were some people with political influence in Niger involved in the purchase of the stolen vehicle.

Farouk recounted events leading to the stealing of the car and said he had been attacked by three armed robbers after he had driven into his sister’s house in the evening.

Subsequently, upon a tip-off, one Alhaji Talatu, who is said to be a Nigerien, was arrested after it emerged that he was the one who had allegedly been funding the operations of the armed robbers who stole the car.

Farouk said there was a recorded conversation in which Alhaji Talatu was implicated and in the tape there was talk of an elaborate car stealing syndicate that cited operatives possibly linked with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and some officials at the country’s borders.

He said the tape had been played to security officials in the country, including the Inspector General of Police.

Farouk said Alhaji Talatu was arrested at one of the country’s borders as he tried to leave the country by one uncompromising border official, who resisted attempts to be bribed, and he was subsequently charged with armed robbery.

He was, however, released by the police on bail but had since jumped bail and is presently on the run.

Fati Baba corroborated the story of her brother and indicated that efforts to seek the involvement of the Minister of Interior had proved unsuccessful, but recounted the assistance of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alhaji Muhammed Mumuni, when her brother was arrested in Niger.

She said there had also been efforts to seek the assistance of an influential Nigerien businessman who is based in Accra and said to be connected politically in both Ghana and Niger, who said the case was a difficult one to crack.

“He also asked me whether I wanted my brother or the car,” she said, adding that under the circumstance she had no other option than to plead for her brother’s life.



Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana

Nigeria deports 45 Ghanaians

Emmanuel Padi, AfricaNews reporter in Accra, Ghana

Nigerian authorities have deported Ghanaians from that country. Following the arrest and deportation of 24 Ghanaians last week, 21 more Ghanaians have been deported from Nigeria, bringing the number so far deported on the orders of Nigerian two state governors to 45.
The deportation were at the order of the state governors of Ondo State and Kwara State in Nigeria which run a federal system thus making foreign affairs, defence and internal affairs the preserve of the federal government in Abuja.

The deportees were taken to Nigeria/Benin border by road and handed over to authorities in that country and later transported to the Togo/Ghana border at Aflao and handed over to Ghanaian authorities and the National disaster management organization in Ketu North District of the Volta Region without any belonging.

It has emerged that no reason was proffered for their arrest and subsequent deportation to Ghana and ironically, more and more Nigerians, most of them without valid travel documents, continue to troop to Ghana for the purpose of mostly sojourning.

In an interview with news men, the Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana, Alhaji Musiliu Obanikoro, condemned the action of the governors, describing it as the work of overzealous public officials. He has however promised looking into it with the view to reviewing the trend to remedy the situation.

US Congressional leaders reach agreement to raise the debt ceiling

Republican and Democratic leaders have agreed on a plan to raise the debt ceiling, President Obama announced Sunday night.

The announcement arrives after months of intense closed-door negotiations, and just two days before the deadline set by the Treasury Department.

According to the details available, the agreement would slow the growth of government spending over the next decade by $2-$3 trillion and allow enough borrowing to put off another vote to raise the ceiling to 2013. About $1 trillion will be cut immediately, and the details of the remaining spending reductions will be handled by a bipartisan committee of 12 lawmakers from both chambers, who will recommend cuts for Congress to vote on. To appease the GOP's conservative wing, the deal would also require a vote in both chambers on an amendment to the Constitution requiring the federal government to balance its budget each year.

"I want to announce that the leaders of both parties, in both chambers, have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid default--a default that would have had a devastating effect on our economy," Obama said. "Now, is this the deal I would have preferred? No. . . . But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need, and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year."

House Speaker John Boehner held a conference call Sunday evening with House Republicans in which he urged them to support the package, declaring that the deal in place "meets our principles of smaller government."

"There is a framework in place that would cut spending by a larger amount than we raise the debt limit, and cap future spending to limit the growth of government," he said, according to a transcript provided by Boehner's office. "Now listen, this isn't the greatest deal in the world. But it shows how much we've changed the terms of the debate in this town."

With the approval of leaders of the House and Senate, and Tuesday's deadline looming, Congress must act quickly to convince enough members to seal the deal with a vote on Monday. The deal will require bipartisan support due to the opposition within factions of both parties.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Majority Leader Harry Reid will both present the deal to their caucus Monday at 11 a.m. with a vote expected afterward.

Apple has more cash than the federal government

As the BBC has reported, the software company Apple has more cash on hand than the United States federal government, according to the company's financial records.

Apple's quarterly financial report shows that the company responsible for the iPad, iPod and the iPhone now has $76.4 billion in reserve cash, while the Treasury Department is sitting on just $73.7 billion.


The feds could probably learn a thing or two from Apple's success. Congress remains embroiled in a debate over spending and whether the federal government, which currently owes trillions in debt, should be allowed to borrow even more. International credit rating agencies have threatened to downgrade the national debt for the first time in the nation's history if Washington doesn't come up with a solution to lift the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling while implementing a concrete plan to get the nation's financial house in order.

Meanwhile, Apple's financial report shows that the company's profits, even through the last recession, are booming.

Interim committee to regulate television content

Story by Ernest Dela Aglanu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Source:Modern Ghana


Film producers and representatives of television stations together with the Information Ministry have agreed to set up an interim committee to establish standards for the previewing and classification of films shown on TV.

The decision was made during a meeting between the various bodies and the Deputy Minister for Information, Baba Jamal in Accra Thursday.

Thursday's meeting was attended by Film Producers, representatives from; Ghana Television, the Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI), the National Media Commission, the Cinematography Board and the Ministry for Information.

A source told Myjoyonline.com that the meeting was necessitated by the minister's complaints about the content of movies and programmes shown on television stations.

The various representatives at the meeting agreed to nominate a member each to be part of the interim committee which will meet in a weeks time to formulate the standards.

This committee will work in the absence of the official regulatory bill before parliament.

He urged film producers to also produce movies that are suitable for the family, especially children, and not only audiences of 18 years and above.

The Minister also used the meeting to call on television stations to show more local content on their channels so as to help the local industry grow.

Representatives who were at Thursday's meeting will meet in two weeks to discuss the implementation of the interim committee's proposed standards.

Story by Ernest Dela Aglanu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana