Welcome To Blaco Smiles Blog: September 2015

Monday 28 September 2015

12 year old with HIV receives standing ovation after delivering the opening remarks at a UN summit on AIDS

12-year-old Elijah Zachary Lamaiyan Sime, a student at Lamaiyan Academy in Nairobi received a standing ovation from hundreds of delegates after delivering the opening remarks at a United Nations conference on Aids on Sunday. "We are children, we have rights, we have a future,".

Elijah told the UN event on Ending AIDS by 2030 that was co-chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

112 Nigerian and Sudanese migrants were rescued by MSF Sea ships, Argos and Dignity, from the Mediterranean sea on Sunday, September 27. Among the rescued is this little Nigerian girl named Miracle.

13-year-old boy gets $7,500 after a photo of him studying & working outside a metro station goes viral on Facebook

13-year-old Harendra Singh Chauhan got a check for 500,000 rupees (approximately $7,500) from the Uttar Pradesh government after a photo of him studying on the ground outside the Noida City Centre metro station in Noida, India, went viral on Facebook.

US Athletes Refuse To Drink Gatorade Bearing Usain Bolt's Image

IT is so! The United States athletics team were even intimidated by a drink with Jamaican sprint sensation Usain Bolt's image on the label.

For long, rumours circulated that members of the United States team, which participated in the World Championships in Beijing, China last month, refused to even take a sip of the sport energy fluid Gatorade, all because Bolt advertises the product and the producers of the commodity proudly display the Trelawny-born's photograph on certain bottles.

The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC) has released prices of petroleum products of the various Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) as at Wednesday, September 23, 2015.

The prices chart, according to the Chamber, would help Ghanaians to know which OMC sells the cheapest fuel on the market since the deregulation exercise started.

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) on June 16, 2015 allowed OMCs to set their own ex-pump prices for petroleum products.

“I came to contribute my quota to ensure that our nation develops. If it was all about money, I would have stayed in law and in business. Have confidence in me that I am coming for the development of our nation, because we are not entitled to be a poor country, but a prosperous one” says flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo.

The pastor of the Mount Zion Methodist Church at Sakumono in Accra, Rt. Rev. Col. Paul A. Brewu, has assured the Flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo, that he will be President in 2017 if he is able to instill discipline within the rank and file of the NPP.

It is unclear whether the pastor was merely offering counseling to Nana Addo or was giving a prophecy.

The pastor made the comments when Nana Addo on Sunday, September 27, attended a thanksgiving service held at the church for the New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary candidate for the Tema West constituency, Carlos Ahenkorah. Accompanied by the National Women’s Organizer, Otiko Afisa Djaba; his Political Assistant, Francis Asenso-Boakye; and his Press Secretary, Eugene Arhin, Nana Akufo-Addo, the NPP flagbearer, was given a rousing ovation by the congregation, as he made his way into the church’s auditorium.

Barely 24 hours after Nana Ansah Kwaw IV confessed his unquenchable love for Gifty Anti on air, the TV goddess has responded in an even more romantic fashion, online.

Anti took to facebook and poured her all; her undying love for the Royal Highness the host of Joy FM's That's My Opinion.

Prior to what can now be described as a who loves who more contest in the media, the two love birds for months remained tight-lipped on their relationship.

Seven parliamentary aspirants of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) stepped down while three others were disqualified before the party’s vetting committee in Tamale in the Northern Region.

The Northern Region recorded the highest number of parliamentary nominations with 120 aspirants filing to contest in the 31 constituencies in the region.

The stepped down candidates include Alfred Donkor Odzidzator, Tamale South constituency, Bernard Jagri Bagyepu and Noah Megma Shei both from Bimbila Constituency, and Mohammed Ali, Yagaba/Kubori Constituency.

Three parliamentary aspirants in the Western Region who were vetted by the Vetting Committee of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have been disqualified from contesting in the party’s primaries slated for November 1.

They are Mr. Emmanuel Owusu Ansah, Sefwi-Bodi constituency, Mr. Bismark Gyenim, Bibiani/Anhwiaso/Bekwai constituency and Mr. Issah Mumuni, Sefwi-Ankontombra constituency.

They were disqualified for various reasons including alleged involvement in fraud, forgery and failure to appear before the Vetting Committee.

The overwhelming majority of Burkina Faso’s citizens prefer democracy over all other forms of government and affirm that elections are the best method for choosing leaders, new Afrobarometer survey findings show.

Clear majorities also reject military rule and believe that neighbouring countries have a duty to try to guarantee free elections and prevent human rights abuses in Burkina Faso.

Based on a national survey conducted in May 2015, these findings highlight firm public support for democracy as the country pursues its political transition in the wake of a coup d’état by the presidential guard. The African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the United Nations have condemned the coup, and Leaders of other West African countries have taken an active role in mediating the crisis.

ECG To Install Prepaid Meters In Gov’t Institutions In K'si

The Ashanti Regional office of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has begun a pre-installation survey of all government institutions and agencies to assess the viability of rolling them onto prepaid meters to enable them to become more responsible to reduce the government’s indebtedness to the company.

The programme is in line with the government’s directive in 2014 to all metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to be rolled onto prepaid meters to avoid wastage of power and reduce debt.

Fifty-four students between 14 and 19 years tested positive for HIV in the Tema metropolis between January and September this year.

Thirteen others aged 13 to 19 also tested positive for other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and have since been put on counselling and treatment.

According to health officials, children between nine and 10 years had become sexually active, but they were unable to take precautions owing to the lack of sexual education.

The local gold market has been hijacked by Indians which is adversely affecting Ghanaian players in the sub-sector, BUSINESS GUIDE has gathered.

In 2014, gold export from Ghana (small-scale sector) to India was about $ 1,925 billion.

Owing to the situation, state-owned firm, the Precious Minerals Marketing Company Limited (PMMC), is struggling to survive.

Ironically, PMMC continues to issue licenses to the Indians at a fee of about $5,000.

Koforidua Polytechnic To Close Down Over Power Cut

The Koforidua Polytechnic faces imminent closure if electricity supply to the institution is not restored.

It has been over four weeks since the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) cut power supply to the polytechnic over the nonpayment of outstanding electricity bills.

The polytechnic had earlier indicated that they spend close to 1,500 Ghana cedis daily on fuel for their power generating plant.

Two 13-year-old girls from Sydney are attempting to launch a line of fashion bracelets and fulfil their dream of running a business together.

While most teenagers are busy relaxing during the school holidays, twin sisters Summer and Piper Workman have launched a crowdfunding campaign to get their business idea off the ground.

The pair is asking the public to collectively pre-order $8000 worth of their bracelets to fulfil the minimum quantity requirements of their manufacturers.

They have already raised $400 in the first 24 hours of their Kickstarter campaign.

All newly trained teachers in Ghana will soon be required to acquire licences after their professional training to be able to practise as qualified teachers, the Director of the Teacher Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Mrs Evelyn Owusu Oduro, has said.

Currently, a draft Pre-tertiary Teacher Professional Development and Management (PTPDM) policy project is being fine-tuned to outline the implementation plan, including the framework for the career progression of teachers.

The project is being implemented by the GES and the National Teaching Council (NTC), with support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

It may look luxurious and fashionable, but it has now been declared a major medium of transmitting infections for women.

If you wear G-String, the bad news is that health experts have warned that a new study shows that they are dangerous for your health.

The Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood has warned “no judge is above the laws” of Ghana, adding her office is bent on investigating the bribery scandal which has hit the judiciary.

Thirty-four judges have been allegedly caught in the web of corruption to compromise cases before them after a two-year painstaking investigations by undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

The Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper Kwesi Pratt Junior has commended investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas for his investigative piece that has uncovered massive corruption in Ghana’s judiciary.

According to him, regardless of the ethical and professional concerns people are raising over the manner in which Anas procured the video evidence against the judges, one must admit that he has done greater good to the democratic journey of the country.

Ghana’s president John Mahama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg will today host in New York, a major event aimed at preparing the world to better manage any health crisis that arises.

The “Securing a Healthy Future: Resilient Health Systems to Fight Epidemics and Ensure Healthy Lives” event will take place on the margins of the UN Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Developmental Agenda.

CIMG Marketing Woman of the Year, Lucy Quist, has dedicated her award to ‘every African child who has a dream’.

“I dedicate this to every African child who dares to dream. Dream big, discern the voices that are for you, stay focused and enjoy the journey. The award is a testimony that the dream of every child in Africa is achievable,” she said on Starr FM’s Business Focus.

The Editor in chief of the Crusading Guide newspaper Kweku Baako Junior has said he foresees some of the judges implicated in the judicial corruption scandal going to jail.

In his view, the scare of contempt being used by some of the implicated judges is not enough to reduce the effect of the crimes they are alleged to have committed.

Abeiku Santana has failed Central region – Allotey Jacobs

The Central Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Allotey Jacobs says the decision of Radio personality, Abeiku Santana, to bow out from the NDC primary race is unfortunate for the region.

He said although the Okay FM Broadcaster couldn’t have been forced to reconsider his decision for pulling out of the contest, Abeiku’s candidature was in no doubt a good move for the party, which he noted would have enriched the image of the party.

A raunchy sex scene involving a court clerk and a woman in the Anas Aremeyaw Anas investigative piece captured the wild imagination of patrons who watched the video of their ‘revered’ judges being given cash amounts, sheep, goats, guinea fowl and yam in order to pervert the course of justice at the premiering last Tuesday.

A clerk who asked for the service of a woman as part-payment for introducing the Tiger Eye (Anas’ company) team to a judge was seen in the video removing his clothes and romping in bed with the woman for a sexual affair.

There were gasps and horrified screams from audience at the Accra International Conference Centre – venue of the screening – as all burst into laughter to end the two-day show of the video that has scandalised the judiciary.

Controversial Ghanaian movie producer Socrate Safo has called for the prosecution of ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas for screening his recent investigative work, ‘Ghana In The Eyes Of God’, at the International Conference Centre without seeking clearance from the Ghana Cinematography Board of Control.

According to Mr Safo, Chief Executive of Movie Africa Productions, the Cinematography Act 1961 (ACT 76) makes it mandatory for Anas to have presented the contents of his journalistic work to the Cinematography Board for viewing and classification before its public screening.

Some Ghanaians living in the United Sates are threatening to petition the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations over police brutalities against Let My Vote Count Alliance demonstrators.

The group describes the attacks on the demonstrators last week as an affront to democracy.

The Accra Regional Police Command has secured an injunction to restrain pressure group, Let My Vote Count Alliance from picketing at the premises at the Electoral Commission (EC).

The Police met the group in a similar demonstration with brute force, ending the march abruptly last week.

This was after the demonstrators attempted to veer of the agreed routes, which did not include the premises of the EC.

Anas Aremeyaw Anas's profession as an investigative journalist is very risky – but according to him, he is well protected from harming.

His undercover works have earned him many admirers and enemies, most of which are in Ghana because he does majority of his works in here.

The faceless investigator's recent judicial bribery scandal exposé has indeed attracted much hatred for himself from the judicial service and families of judges captured in his two years investigation.

Namibia’s wife swapping practice ignites debate

Wife-swapping among Namibia's nomadic tribes has been practised for generations, but a legislator's call to enshrine it in law has stirred debate about women's rights and tradition in modern society

The practice is known as “okujepisa omukazendu” – which loosely means “offering a wife to a guest” – the practice is little known outside these reclusive communities, whose population is estimated at 86 000. It is a kind of gentlemen’s agreement where friends can have sex with each others’ wives – no strings attached.

Reggie Rockstone & Family (Photos)

Apart from his successful musical career, he is known to be a party dog, fashionista and an ambassador of some big brands in Ghana.

With his plate always packed with loads of activities, one would wonder if Reggie Rockstone makes time for himself.

The answer is a big yes! Behind the grandpapa, as he is affectionately called, is a homy and funky wife called Zilla Hagbangsuglo Limann.

She is friendly but very firm! Indeed, it is her firmness that puts the grandpapa in check and on his toes as a responsible family man.

Ezenator Rawlings, daughter of Ghana’s former president Jerry John Rawlings, is contesting the Korle Klottey NDC primaries. These are facts about the young lady who has gotten the nation talking for months.

Early life
She is the first born of the Rawlings’. Born in 1978, she went to Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast. Her SSSCE grades got leaked to the press though.

A 29-year-old Nigerian who allegedly rammed his vehicle into a crowd of Catholic faithful at Taifa Bankyease, a suburb of Accra, killing one person in the process, has been arrested by the Kwabenya District police.

Joshua Nathanial, who was driving a Toyota Corolla saloon car, committed the act on Thursday, September 17, 2015 at about 1pm.

He was alleged to have committed the act under the influence of alcohol.

How energy drinks affect your body within 24 hours

The energy drink will give you a high for a short period, but will take 12 hours to fully leave your system.

That’s according to a new graphic on how energy drinks affect the body.Within 10 minutes, the graphic says, heart and blood pressure spike. Within 15 to 45 minutes, you’ll feel the most alert. But the beverage’s 27 grams of sugar head to the bloodstream, setting customers up for a crash.

A Diamond Bank employee, Obioha Okengwu, was remanded at Ikoyi Prisons on Thursday by Justice Mohammed Yunusa of a Federal High Court, Lagos, for allegedly defrauding the bank of N111.2 million.

The graduate of Abia State University, who is standing trial on a nine-count charge bordering on conspiracy and fraud, committed the offences between April and August 2014 in Lagos.

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The five-member committee sitting on an impeachment petition brought against some 34 judges by investigative Journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has discharged him.

The committee Friday adjourned sitting as it argued it needed to respond to a suit challenging it.

The Tiger Eye boss was expected to be grilled in a cross-examination exercise by counsels for the accused Judges.

He was first summoned to appear before the committee last Tuesday but when he honoured the invitation the panel was unable to sit because one of its members, the immediate past President of the Ghana Bar Association, Nene Amegatse was out of town.

Feeling a little lightheaded? Here’s what you should know about causes of dizziness and vertigo.

Occasional dizziness is very common in adults, but it may surprise you to learn that vertigo — a related but more serious condition that makes you feel like the room is spinning as you stand still — affects nearly 40 percent of people over 40 at least once, according to the University of California San Francisco Medical Center.

While dizziness can make you feel momentarily unbalanced, and ranges in severity from merely annoying to seriously debilitating, vertigo may be a major symptom of a balance disorder. It can also cause nausea and vomiting.

To get the facts about both conditions and learn how to differentiate between the two, we asked a few of the nation’s leading experts on dizziness and balance problems to share their insights. Here’s what they had to say:

Leadership of the ‘Let My Votes Count Alliance’ (LMVCA) and their affiliate pressure groups pushing for a new voters register for the 2016 general elections have given indications of their intention to hold another picketing come next week.

A day after police brutalities led to an abrupt end of their march to the headquarters of the Electoral Commission (EC) which left in its wake many causalities, some of who are still receiving treatment, leadership of the LMCVA, the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), Movement for Change (MFC), the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (CFFE) and some political parties served notice that “we are going back next week to finish the work we set out to do.”

The Presiding Bishop of Lighthouse Chapel International has cautioned persons linking him to one of the judges caught on camera allegedly taking bribes.
Without recourse to any check, some social commentators went berserk with wild claims that one Justice Ivy Heward-Mills, involved in the judicial scandal, is the wife of the Bishop.
He has therefore cautioned persons spreading such false information to desist from it.
Bishop Dag Heward-Mills stated categorically that "my wife is not a judge and has never been a judge, not even for one day in her life. My wife is a pastor."
However, he admitted on Sunday that his wife, Pastor Adelaide Heward-Mills is a trained lawyer, he reiterated that she has never worked as a judge.
Bishop Heward-Mills said even if his wife had wanted to be a judge he would not have approved of it.

Airtel Ghana is investing heavily to support the development of sports in Ghana through sponsorships and brand activation initiatives.
The move by the Corporate Social Responsibility Company of the year is part of its community investment strategy.
The company demonstrated its commitment to harness the power of sports for tourism, health and fitness and as a development tool by headlining the sponsorship of arguably the biggest international marathon organised in Ghana – the Accra Millennium Marathon which attracted some 15,000 professional and amateur athletes from across the world.

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has said attempts by some political figures in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to make his daughter, Ezenator, unpopular will not work.

In an interview with Citi News during an inspection of the dredging of the Korle lagoon, spearhearded by his daughter, the former President said Ezenator is a formidable candidate and that she has always had the desire to serve people.

Woman Scatters Pastor’s Wedding

AN ANTICIPATED happy wedding of Prophet Albert Mensah alias Nana Kofi, Founder of the Jesus Foundation Prayer Ministry at Site 14, Community 1, Tema, rather went sour yesterday morning when a 20-year-old woman with her three-week-old baby boy disrupted the ceremony.

The marriage department of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) became a site of attraction for most staff of the assembly, passersby and traders at the Tema Central Market when the woman, Ms Mabel Patamia, accompanied by her relations and sympathisers, demanded that the registrar halt the solemn ceremony between the prophet and one Joyce Anima Damptey.

Some of the Let My Vote Count Alliance protesters have been beaten and others arrested by the Police for allegedly using unapproved routes in their march to demand a new electoral roll.
The police fired tear gas and beat protesters with horse whips in attempts to cow them into submission.
The police suspected the protesters were trying to deviate from the planned route and where heading to the Electoral Commission. The police secured a court order yesterday to stop the protesters from going to the Commission's premises to picket.
It started peacefully.....

Gabby Asare Otchere Darko says he is worried about Ghana's worsening human rights record under President John Mahama following police brutalities inflicted on protesters of the Let My Vote Count Alliance.
He says the democracy inherited by President Mahama was one of peaceful and civilized state of affairs in which citizens were free from unprovoked and barbaric attacks by security forces.
The opposition New Patriotic Party man was among thousands of protesters who were roughed up and beaten after police claimed they deviated from an agreed route for their demonstration.

One of the High Court Judges cited in the judicial bribery scandal, Justice Essel Mensah, has denied taking a bribe of GHC5, 000 to grant bail to a murder suspect.
According to him, although he had been approached with the bribe money by undercover journalists, he rejected it.
“Anas Aremeyaw Anas for obvious reasons known to himself deleted the portion that showed him taking his money back from the edited video footage”, he said in a 25-point response to the Disciplinary Committee of the Judicial Council.

An uneasy calm prevailed in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso, after the presidential guard detained the interim president and prime minister on Wednesday.

Soldiers from the presidential guard stormed an afternoon Cabinet meeting and detained interim President Michel Kafando and interim PM Yacouba Isaac Zida as well as ministers who were present.

The incident plunged the West African country into uncertainty just weeks before the first elections since the ouster of ex-leader Blaise Compaore.

“Today is yet another sad day for Ghana. The State Police, who are paid from our taxes and supposed to provide security and protect lives, are the very ones that turned around to unleash violence on us.

“Nothing and absolutely nothing warranted such excessive use of force as applied by the Police on the peaceful protest march of the armless members of LMVCA, MFC, AFAG and several other trade groups and associations.

The daughter of former President Rawlings, Dr. Ezenator has dismissed claims that she is not a member of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), after photos of her in another political party, National Democratic Party (NDP) colours emerged.

Speaking in an interview with Citi News, Dr. Ezenator Rawlings urged her constituents to ignore attempts to paint her as an ‘outsider.’

National Youth Organizer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Samuel Awuku has described as “shameful” police brutalities at the demonstration by pressure group, Let My Vote Count Alliance to demand a new voters register for the 2016 general election.

Fear was said to have gripped some lawyers and judges taking part in the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) Conference in Kumasi following reports that ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, had arrived at the venue.

Reports of Anas – a member of the association – storming Kumasi to take part in the confab, spread in the Ashanti Regional capital 24 hours before the national event kick-started.

Most of the legal practitioners and political pundits in Kumasi expressed doubt if indeed Anas, whose undercover investigations had exposed some judges taking bribes, could muster courage to take part in the conference.

Doctors remove pellets of cocaine from disabled Nigerian

Doctors have surgically removed pellets of substances suspected to be cocaine from a 55-year old Nigerian arrested at the Kotoka International Airport on Thursday.

Okeke Ambrose Ifedilichukwu who is a physically challenged man, is currently in a stable condition at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra, TV3 sources at the Narcotics Control Board has revealed.

Details on the number of pellets removed have not yet been disclosed. Initial attempts to get him to expel the substances failed as he was said to be uncooperative.

A US-based Ghanaian law professor, H. Kwesi Prempeh has challenged the Judicial Council to televise the hearing of circuit court judges and magistrates in the bribery scandal to boost public confidence in the judiciary.
He strongly believes the ongoing in-camera hearing will further deepen the public mistrust in the judicial system.

The beneficiaries, officials of Tullow Ghana Ministries of Education and Petroluem, the British Council in a group photograph after the event

About 41 Ghanaian scholars have benefitted from this year’s Tullow Group Scholarship Scheme (TGSS).

The annual scholarship scheme, which is in its fifth year and being managed by the British Council Ghana, provides the opportunity for Ghanaians to pursue post-graduate programmes at leading universities in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France.

Monday 28 September 2015

Saturday 26 September 2015

Friday 25 September 2015

Saturday 19 September 2015

Friday 18 September 2015

Thursday 17 September 2015

Saturday 12 September 2015