Category: Daily Guide Network

A Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) initiative by Gold Fields Ghana Foundation is improving the living standards of the people in the beneficiary communities.

A monitoring exercises carried out by the Foundation recently revealed encouraging improvements in sanitation practices and water infrastructure maintenance in the communities.

It was also revealed that the standpipes and pipelines of the communities are well kept. The Foundation therefore supplied them with sanitation materials to motivate them to maintain cleanliness around their facilities.

This came to light during the Quarter Four (Q4) WATSAN Review meeting to assess activities carried out throughout 2025.

The meeting brought together WATSAN committees from communities across the Tarkwa-Nsuaem and Prestea-Huni Valley municipalities to assess the activities carried out.

Project Coordinator, Ayishetu Mohammed, noted that the Q4 review meeting provided a platform for all 22 host communities to give accounts of their achievements, challenges, and recommendations for the 2026 WATSAN programme.

She said, ‘New Atuabo had a success story. Other communities such as Amoanda and Koduakrom are also doing well.

‘Some have undertaken extensions to underserved areas, while others have drilled additional boreholes to augment existing systems,’ she indicated.

She mentioned that some community members still think that because Gold Fields provided the water systems, they should use them for free.

She said, ‘For water systems to remain sustainable, communities must take ownership and contribute to their upkeep’.

She told the people that once they accept that the system belongs to them, they should be committed to protecting and sustaining it for the future.

She encouraged the WATSAN teams to continue improving their operations and maintain the momentum as the Foundation prepares to refine its 2026 water and sanitation strategy.

Access Bank (Ghana) PLC has been ranked among the top-performing companies in boardroom gender diversity, according to the newly released Ghana Board Diversity Index Report 2025.

The Bank emerged as the second most gender-diverse board in Ghana, with 44% of its board seats occupied by women, significantly higher than the national average of 25%.

The annual report, published by TheBoardroom Africa in partnership with the Ghana Stock Exchange, assesses female representation across the boards and senior leadership teams of all 36 listed companies in the country.

Access Bank’s performance places it firmly in the category of ‘Gender Champions’, a designation for companies with at least 30% women on their boards. Only 39% of Ghana’s listed firms meet this benchmark.

Beyond its 44% female board representation, the report also highlights that 50% of Access Bank’s Non-Executive Directors are women.

The Bank further distinguishes itself as one of the few listed companies with both a Woman Board Chair and a Woman Chief Operating Officer, underscoring its strong commitment to gender inclusion at both board and executive levels.

The Board Chair of Access Bank Ghana, Ms. Ama Sarpong Bawuah, noted, ‘Our diversity agenda is integral to our culture and our business. We believe organisations that reflect the diversity of their markets are better equipped for innovation, sustainability, and long-term value creation.’

Commenting on the recognition, the Managing Director of Access Bank Ghana, Ms. Pearl Nkrumah, described the achievement as a reflection of the Bank’s long-standing commitment to inclusive leadership.

‘We are proud to be recognised as one of the top organisations driving gender balance in Ghana’s corporate space. Diversity is not just a metric for us; it is a strategic imperative. The presence of women at the highest levels of leadership has strengthened our governance, broadened our perspectives, and enhanced our decision-making as a bank,’ she said.

Despite Ghana recording a modest 1% increase in women’s board representation since 2024, progress remains slow. Sixty-one percent of listed companies are still below the 30% board diversity benchmark, while 14% have no women on their boards at all.

According to the report, companies chaired by women are nearly twice as likely to achieve the 30% diversity threshold.

Football fans worldwide now have a clearer picture of their FIFA World Cup 2026S journey after a colourful Final Draw held in Washington, D.C. The event-featuring legends Ronaldo Nazário, Francesco Totti, Hristo Stoichkov and Alexi Lalas-saw FIFA President Gianni Infantino announce an updated match schedule designed to improve player welfare, fan experience and global broadcast reach.

A total of 42 qualified teams, along with 22 others chasing the final six slots, discovered their group opponents and match dates during the live event.

Co-hosts Mexico, Canada and the United States now know who they will face and when. Mexico will open the expanded 48-team tournament on Thursday, 11 June, when El Tri take on South Africa at Mexico City Stadium at 13:00 local time-a nostalgic repeat of the 2010 World Cup opener.

On Friday, 12 June, Toronto will buzz with excitement as Canada host the winner of the European play-offs involving Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The USA begin their campaign later that day in Los Angeles, facing Paraguay at 18:00 local time in their first-ever competitive meeting.

England and Croatia will renew their rivalry on Wednesday, 17 June, at Dallas Stadium in a rematch of their dramatic 2018 semifinal. In Houston, Curaçao will make history on Sunday, 14 June, becoming the smallest nation to play at a World Cup as they debut against Germany.

Another standout fixture comes on Saturday, 13 June, when Brazil meet Morocco at New York New Jersey Stadium.

Monterrey will mark a major milestone on Saturday, 20 June, hosting the 1,000th FIFA World Cup match, featuring Tunisia versus Japan.

FIFA says the final match calendar was created to minimise travel, maximise rest days and ensure comfortable conditions for teams and fans. Venue temperatures, transport systems, security and global broadcast windows were key considerations.

The final schedule will be confirmed in March once the remaining six qualification spots are decided.

Tickets and hospitality packages are available at FIFA’s official platforms, with the next sales phase opening on 11 December.

Former Chief Executive Officer of National Food and Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO), Hanan Abdul-Wahab, has filed an application for the review of the order of a High Court in Adenta, Accra, confirming the ‘unlawful’ freezing of some of his properties by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).

According to him, no factual or legal basis was established by EOCO to support a freezing of his assets and further ‘categorically’ denied EOCO’s allegation of criminal conduct in the acquisition of the properties in question, indicating that they are not found on any credible evidence presented to the court.

He contends that EOCO was merely motivated ‘by a desire to freeze every property tangentially connected to him, irrespective of whether that property was acquired in his period in office or not.’

Hanan Abdul-Wahab, Faiza Seidu Wuni, together with Richard Sam-Asante, who is said to be on run, the Ludiba Foundation and Energy Partners Limited, two companies related to the couple, have been charged by the Attorney General for allegedly stealing money from the state through a criminal enterprise.

The five are facing 24 counts of charges of stealing, fraudulently causing financial loss to the state, abetment of stealing, money laundering, defrauding by false pretences, intentional dissipation of public funds, using public office for profit, dishonestly receiving and intentionally causing financial loss to the state.

Prior to the filing of the charges, EOCO seized some properties believed to have been acquired by the former NAFCO CEO through proceeds of crime.

The properties include three-bedroom house at Kpalsi in Tamale in the Northern Region; uncompleted storey building at Gumami, Tamale; 0.27-acre plot of land in Tamale and another 0.29-acre plot of land also in Tamale.

On November 21, 2025, EOCO secured a court order confirming the freezing of the properties, a confirmation he argues was done ex parte without notice to him.

In an application filed by Richard Gyambibi of Dame and Partners, the applicant argues that by proceeding ex parte to procure the order, EOCO deprived him of his constitutional right to be heard and to contest the factual and legal basis of its application.

Mr. Abdul-Wahab contends that the application for confirmation of the freezing of his properties failed to meet the essential statutory preconditions required for an invocation of the court’s jurisdiction to confirm freezing order made by EOCO, thereby making the order null, void and ought to be set aside.

The applicant further argues that some of the properties frozen by EOCO were acquired long before his appointment as CEO of NAFCO and the entire period of investigation for the alleged offences and, therefore, ‘cannot have any conceivable nexus to the matters purportedly being investigated by the respondent [EOCO].’

This includes the property at Kpalsi, which he said he acquired in 2011 and completed the construction of the house in 2013, and performed part of his Islamic marriage ceremony to his wife in the same year in that house.

He attached documents covering the acquisition of the land as well as photographs portraying a party organised in that house in 2013 to celebrate the marriage.

Mr. Abdul-Wahab also contends that the uncompleted storey building with GPS Address NR-151-7759, Gumami, Adjacent Baobab Guest House, Tamale, mentioned in the freezing order does not belong to him and therefore cannot lawfully form the subject of a freezing order issued against him.

He also argues that he does not have any legal or beneficial interest in the 0.27-acre land with GPS Address NS-320-6111, Estate Junction, Dagomba Street, Tamale, as it was the property of Al-Qarni Enterprise, an entity in which he has no interest.

‘The said Al-Qarni Enterprise transferred full ownership of its interest in the property to OSGAF Furniture Enterprise in 2022, long before the purported investigations commenced,’ he avers.

It is his case that a failure by EOCO to state and prove the essential factors specified by the EOCO Act 2010, (Act 804) and Ghanaian law in general, for a grant of a confirmation order as the one in question, renders the order obtained null, void and of no effect.

He also avers that ‘to the extent that the orders affected properties of mine acquired in 2013, long before I was employed as a staff of NAFCO, same violate my right to own property enshrined in article 20 of the constitution.’

The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has acted again. Until the Commission started raising concern and taking action against the use of unearned academic titles, many had hardly heard about this state agency.

As a key regulator in the education sector, we have now come to appreciate the importance of this agency. Now we know that all the PhDs being flaunted about are real.

Last week, the agency marked out six University of Ghana learning centres in some parts of the country for not being compliant and so unfit to operate.

Just mulling over the action, we are wondering why it took the agency so long to act; the horses have left the barn already. It would be instructive to know how many students and parents have parted with hard-earned cash for admission into such centres whose certificates are now worthless.

Besides these centres, many so-called private tertiary institutions have been operating unknowingly to most Ghanaians, without the appropriate formal authorisation to do so.

The regulator, it would appear, slept on its assignment thereby allowing so many persons to be fleeced by the unrecognised schools. So what happens to the already issued certificates? Worthless?

We think that GTEC should be queried for allowing the anomalies to have persisted until now.

With many desperate students seeking tertiary education by all means, their vulnerability is often exploited by persons who are not qualified to operate schools they present to the public.

We demand that public education by GTEC be carried out so the public will know the quality of schools they intend attending. In fact, schools unqualified to operate should not even be allowed to do so in the first place. With social media and even traditional ones in abundance for advertisements, desperate students will always fall victims to such schools.

An enforcement unit should also be considered for GTEC whose main role would be to undertake surprise visits to unaccredited schools to spare unsuspecting persons the agony of losing money.

Education is expensive and so those who part with money to acquire it must be sure about what they are getting. That is why we are concerned that these centres and schools have operated for this long until now.

It is our hope that GTEC is going to proceed beyond announcing to take the necessary regulatory measures against the unaccredited institutions. They must proceed to the location of the said schools and ensure that they shut their doors.

For those who have parted with cash, they must be supported to retrieve their monies.

In cases where the issues are about renewal of operating licences, we think the schools must be encouraged to do so immediately.

As for those not meeting the minimum standards and are for instance operating in churches, compounds of proprietors and not even having the qualified lecturers to undertake the academic work required of them, they should not be allowed to continue the flagrant disregard for the GTEC order.

Visits to institutions who meet the standards of operating should be a regular assignment of GTEC so the right things are done. Better late than never as the dictum says is applicable here.

Ghana is a nation of immense promise, yet we struggle with a persistent problem that quietly undermines our governance, public safety, and national discipline: we tolerate too many small wrongs. Littering, illegal parking, open defecation, minor bribery, noise pollution, misuse of state vehicles, unlicensed street vending, non-compliance with building regulations, and countless everyday infractions have become normalised.

Individually these behaviours may appear harmless. Collectively they erode our sense of order.

This is what the Broken Windows Theory explains so powerfully.

Understanding the Theory

The Broken Windows Theory, developed by James Wilson and George Kelling, argues that visible signs of disorder and unchecked minor violations create an environment where more serious crimes and dysfunction flourish. When a single broken window is left unrepaired, it signals that the community does not care and soon more windows are broken.

In governance terms, tolerating small breaches sends a message that the system is weak. It establishes a culture where bending rules becomes normal, and where impunity slowly expands from petty behaviour to institutional corruption and organised crime.

Ghana’s current social atmosphere reflects this escalation.

Every Ghanaian can list countless ‘small’ wrongs we see daily:

Motorbikes jumping red lights with no fear of sanction

Street trading blocking walkways and roads

Drivers creating unauthorised third lanes

Citizens throwing rubbish out of car windows

Residents building on watercourses because ‘everyone is doing it’

Petty bribery becoming the default for routine services

Noise pollution at dawn and dusk with no consequences

Illegal structures mushrooming overnight

People refusing to queue because enforcement is absent.

These are our ‘broken windows.’

They signal to society that following rules are optional.

The danger is simple: when a society normalises minor disorder, it unconsciously trains its population to disregard major rules.

That is how nations lose their moral fibre not through a single collapse, but through thousands of tolerated infractions.

Take Singapore, for instance, it did not become one of the safest, cleanest, most orderly countries in the world by accident. It was the result of uncompromising enforcement of minor offences, such as:

Littering

Jaywalking

Vandalism

Spitting in public

Unauthorised street hawking

Noise violations

Illegal building modifications

The state sent a clear message:

Small wrongs matter, because they create the conditions for bigger wrongs.

This strict enforcement produced three outcomes: A Culture of Discipline, Reduced Crime and Predictable Governance. Singapore proves that society rises to the standard it consistently enforces.

What Ghana Can Learn: Five Governing Principles

Based on the theory and global best practice, Ghana needs a new philosophy of governance one that treats small violations as threats to national order.

Enforce Minor Offences Consistently

Laws against littering, noise, unauthorised parking, petty bribery, and illegal vending must be enforced every day, everywhere.

Consistency builds credibility.

Strengthen Municipal Law Enforcement

Local government should be empowered with well-trained, well-supervised, corruption-resistant enforcement teams. Urban order cannot be maintained without capable frontline enforcement.

Public Officials Must Model Discipline

When state actors break small rules: sirens misused, queues jumped, vehicles driven on shoulders citizens lose all respect for the law.

Simplify Compliance

Provide clear signage, simplify licensing processes, create transparent fine systems, and digitise routine approvals. When rules are easy to follow, more people follow them.

Swift Sanctions, Not Endless Warnings

Warnings do not deter habitual offenders.

Sanctions which are fair, predictable, and immediate reset societal expectations.

What Ghana needs is not draconian policing, but predictable, everyday order. The Broken Windows Theory shows that big reforms often start with small, symbolic victories:

Clean streets

Organised walkways

Obedience to traffic lights

Disciplined queues

Respect for public spaces

Elimination of petty extortion

Removal of illegal structures

Timely compliance with local regulations

These ‘small wins’ recalibrate society’s expectations and restore civic responsibility. They communicate that Ghana is a serious country, a disciplined country, a country where rules matter.

Conclusion

Ghana’s governance challenges are not insurmountable. They stem from a mindset that treats small violations as harmless inconveniences. But nations fail and succeed on the strength of their everyday discipline.

If we consistently fix our broken windows, enforce our minor rules, and cultivate a culture of order, Ghana can achieve the kind of societal transformation that Singapore exemplifies.

The path to national excellence is not mysterious. It begins with the little things we choose to tolerate or refuse to tolerate today.

The Northern Regional Police Command has rescued a kidnapped victim at Wapuli in the Yendi District after a swift intelligence-led operation.

According to the police, the case was reported to the Tamale Regional Police Intelligence Directorate (RPID) on December 2, 2025, at about 9:30 a.m., with the kidnappers said to have demanded GHS100,000 from the victim’s family for his release.

The Northern Regional Commander, DCOP Wisdom Lavoe, dispatched a five-member intelligence team from Tamale RPID to Wapuli to conduct surveillance and rescue operations. This led to the victim being successfully rescued on December 5, 2025.

On December 6, around 12:30 a.m., the police engaged the suspects in a gun battle. The suspects fled, leaving behind a motorbike with registration number M 25 NR and a Samsung mobile phone, which were retrieved as exhibits.

Later that morning, the police arrested three suspects; Haruna Seidu, 31, Amidu Bandi, 30, and Osman Bandi, 40, at Bokpaba along the Bimbila Yendi road. The police also recovered GHS70,000 believed to be part of the ransom, along with two motorbikes. One suspect remains on the run.

A total of 31 clubs have officially secured their place in the Round of 32 of the MTN FA Cup, with the final slot set to be determined after the outstanding fixture between Future Stars and Asante Kotoko on December 10, 2025.

This year’s knockout competition has already delivered major drama, with record holders Accra Hearts of Oak crashing out after a shocking 1-0 defeat to Division Two side True Life FC in the previous round.

Twelve Premier League sides have progressed, including two-time champions Medeama SC, 2023 winners Dreams FC, Aduana FC, Berekum Chelsea, Nations FC, FC Samartex, Karela United, Heart of Lions, Swedru All Blacks, Young Apostles, Gold Stars, and Eleven Wonders.

The Division One League will also be strongly represented with 16 clubs advancing. Notable among them are Real Tamale United, FC AshantiGold, King Faisal, Inter Allies, Port City FC, WAFA SC, Techiman Liberty Youth, Victory Club Warriors, Yepei FC, and Home Stars.

Three Division Two teams have also secured qualification, adding extra intrigue to the knockout phase as lower-tier clubs continue to upset expectations.

The draw for the Round of 32 is scheduled for Tuesday, December 16, after which matches will be played from Tuesday, December 30, 2024, to Thursday, January 1, 2025.

President John Dramani Mahama and First Lady, Lordina Mahama, have sponsored free medical screening, treatment and medical supplies for retired pastors, spouses and widows of pastors of the Assemblies of God, Ghana.

In addition, Mrs. Mahama presented a Christmas hamper containing fabric, rice, oil, tin tomatoes, indomie and an undisclosed amount of cash gift to each person.

The fifth in the series of the quarterly programme took place at the premises of Ringway Gospel Centre of Assemblies of God in Accra where both President Mahama and the First Lady worship.

Present were the First Lady of Liberia, Mrs. Kartumu Boakai, the former First Lady of South Africa, Mrs. Tobeka Madiba-Zuma and Ghana’s Ambassador to Spain, Madam Kalsoume Sinare Baffoe.

Mrs. Mahama, Founder and President of Lordina Foundation, commended Mrs. Boakai and the other guests for their special show of solidarity with the retired pastors and widows in particular, and vulnerable people in general.

The General Superintendent of Assemblies of God, Ghana, Rev. Stephen Wengam, praised the first couple and Lordina Foundation for ‘this unequalled act of magnanimity.’

He noted that medical treatment for retirees is a huge financial burden.

‘This quarterly medical intervention and fulfillment of pledge by President Mahama and his wife is a huge relief to the beneficiaries and the church,’ Rev. Wengam added.

The Board Chairman of Lordina Foundation, Pastor Boateng Sarpong, reiterated the commitment of the Foundation to care for the vulnerable in society.

Former Chief Executive Officer of National Food and Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO), Hanan Abdul-Wahab, has filed an application for the review of the order of a High Court in Adenta, Accra, confirming the ‘unlawful’ freezing of some of his properties by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).

According to him, no factual or legal basis was established by EOCO to support a freezing of his assets and further ‘categorically’ denied EOCO’s allegation of criminal conduct in the acquisition of the properties in question, indicating that they are not found on any credible evidence presented to the court.

He contends that EOCO was merely motivated ‘by a desire to freeze every property tangentially connected to him, irrespective of whether that property was acquired in his period in office or not.’

Hanan Abdul-Wahab, Faiza Seidu Wuni, together with Richard Sam-Asante, who is said to be on run, the Ludiba Foundation and Energy Partners Limited, two companies related to the couple, have been charged by the Attorney General for allegedly stealing money from the state through a criminal enterprise.

The five are facing 24 counts of charges of stealing, fraudulently causing financial loss to the state, abetment of stealing, money laundering, defrauding by false pretences, intentional dissipation of public funds, using public office for profit, dishonestly receiving and intentionally causing financial loss to the state.

Prior to the filing of the charges, EOCO seized some properties believed to have been acquired by the former NAFCO CEO through proceeds of crime.

The properties include three-bedroom house at Kpalsi in Tamale in the Northern Region; uncompleted storey building at Gumami, Tamale; 0.27-acre plot of land in Tamale and another 0.29-acre plot of land also in Tamale.

On November 21, 2025, EOCO secured a court order confirming the freezing of the properties, a confirmation he argues was done ex parte without notice to him.

In an application filed by Richard Gyambibi of Dame and Partners, the applicant argues that by proceeding ex parte to procure the order, EOCO deprived him of his constitutional right to be heard and to contest the factual and legal basis of its application.

Mr. Abdul-Wahab contends that the application for confirmation of the freezing of his properties failed to meet the essential statutory preconditions required for an invocation of the court’s jurisdiction to confirm freezing order made by EOCO, thereby making the order null, void and ought to be set aside.

The applicant further argues that some of the properties frozen by EOCO were acquired long before his appointment as CEO of NAFCO and the entire period of investigation for the alleged offences and, therefore, ‘cannot have any conceivable nexus to the matters purportedly being investigated by the respondent [EOCO].’

This includes the property at Kpalsi, which he said he acquired in 2011 and completed the construction of the house in 2013, and performed part of his Islamic marriage ceremony to his wife in the same year in that house.

He attached documents covering the acquisition of the land as well as photographs portraying a party organised in that house in 2013 to celebrate the marriage.

Mr. Abdul-Wahab also contends that the uncompleted storey building with GPS Address NR-151-7759, Gumami, Adjacent Baobab Guest House, Tamale, mentioned in the freezing order does not belong to him and therefore cannot lawfully form the subject of a freezing order issued against him.

He also argues that he does not have any legal or beneficial interest in the 0.27-acre land with GPS Address NS-320-6111, Estate Junction, Dagomba Street, Tamale, as it was the property of Al-Qarni Enterprise, an entity in which he has no interest.

‘The said Al-Qarni Enterprise transferred full ownership of its interest in the property to OSGAF Furniture Enterprise in 2022, long before the purported investigations commenced,’ he avers.

It is his case that a failure by EOCO to state and prove the essential factors specified by the EOCO Act 2010, (Act 804) and Ghanaian law in general, for a grant of a confirmation order as the one in question, renders the order obtained null, void and of no effect.

He also avers that ‘to the extent that the orders affected properties of mine acquired in 2013, long before I was employed as a staff of NAFCO, same violate my right to own property enshrined in article 20 of the constitution.’