Category: Daily Guide Network

The Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council (GARCC) in collaboration with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), the Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly (KoKMA), and the Frankel Foundation for Diabetics, organised a free health screening exercise for diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Accra.

The exercise formed part of a renewed public health drive aimed at raising awareness about diabetes and chronic NCDs such as hypertension, and was organised as part of this year’s World Diabetes Day. The screening saw more than 200 residents benefit at the forecourt of the Accra City Hall.

Speaking at the event, the Mayor of Accra, Michael Kpakpo Allotey, said the initiative was a direct response to the increasing burden of diabetes across the metropolis. He emphasised that early diagnosis remains critical, cautioning that ‘early detection is always better than late regret.’

He encouraged residents not to view a diabetes diagnosis as a death sentence, but rather as an opportunity to adopt proper care, management, and lifestyle adjustments. He urged the public to prioritise routine check-ups instead of waiting until symptoms worsen.

The Mayor added that Accra, as the capital city, must set the pace in preventive healthcare. He advised residents to make health screenings a regular part of their lives, ideally every two to three months.

He stressed that good health underpins all other benefits the government may provide, noting that ‘wealth without health is meaningless.’

Mr. Allotey also encouraged residents to undergo periodic checks for blood pressure, liver and kidney function, and urged men to take prostate screening seriously, expressing concern about the rising number of prostate-related cases.

He assured that he would collaborate closely with health professionals to include prostate screening in future community outreach programmes as part of efforts to expand access to preventive healthcare.

The MCE for KoKMA, Mr. Alfred Allotey-Gaisie, said bringing free screening and health education directly into communities is helping to ‘remove the barriers of cost, distance, and fear,’ enabling residents to know their health status early and seek timely care.

He warned that non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and kidney conditions are quietly becoming a major public health threat in urban centres. He stressed that local authorities can no longer treat these conditions as issues for hospitals alone but must take an active role in addressing them at the community level.

THE GHANA Football Association (GFA) has extended its heartfelt condolences to Young Madrid FC and the family of Ignatius Bosompem, the young footballer who died after collapsing during a Division Two League match against Naajo Royals FC.

In a statement, the GFA President, Executive Council, General Secretary and the Western Regional Football Association (WRFA) expressed their profound grief, describing Bosompem’s passing as a devastating loss to the football community.

They affirmed their solidarity with the bereaved family, Young Madrid FC and the WRFA as they endure this painful period.

The Association noted that it has been in constant communication with WRFA officials to ensure that all necessary support is provided in the aftermath of the incident.

The GFA further called on the wider football fraternity to keep the player’s family and all those affected in their thoughts and prayers as they cope with the tragedy.

Fidelity Bank Ghana has challenged corporate Ghana to radically redefine its approach to governance.

Deputy Managing Director for Operations and Support Functions, Atta Yeboah Gyan, disclosed this at the 3rd Ghana Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) National Conference in Accra.

According to him, in an era where public confidence is increasingly fragile, ‘trust has become the new currency of leadership,’ and the fight against fraud must move beyond mere compliance checklists to a culture of lived integrity.

Speaking to the theme, ‘The Role of Corporate Executives in Promoting Ethical Leadership and Accountability in Ghana,’ Mr. Gyan positioned ethical leadership not merely as a moral obligation, but as a critical economic survival strategy for Ghanaian institutions.

He diagnosed a critical vulnerability in the corporate landscape namely the gap between written policy and actual behavior. He argued that while Ghana has seen commendable advances in digitisation and regulatory frameworks, these tools remain insufficient without the ‘human element’ of steadfast leadership.

‘Corporate executives are the custodians of ethical culture within their organisations,’ Mr. Gyan stated. ‘We set the ‘tone at the top,’ and that tone determines whether integrity becomes a lived value or a mere slogan. When leaders compromise ethics for short-term gain, they send a signal that values are negotiable. And once values become negotiable, integrity becomes optional and that is when fraud thrives.’

He emphasised that a leader’s greatest contribution to the fight against fraud is ‘not the policies we write, but the examples we set,’ urging executives to make decisions based on principle rather than convenience.

Mr. Gyan further outlined the stark economic reality of ethical failure. He noted that fraud and corruption do more than just drain resources; they distort fair competition and weaken the institutional fabric necessary for attracting investment.

‘The question, therefore, is not whether ethical leadership is expensive, but whether we can afford the cost of its absence,’ he remarked. ‘When leaders compromise principles, organisations lose credibility, employees lose motivation, investors lose confidence, and customers lose trust. Rebuilding that trust can take years, sometimes decades.’

Conversely, he highlighted that ethical practices act as a strategic differentiator, enhancing brand loyalty among socially conscious consumers and positioning institutions to navigate complex regulatory landscapes with agility.

Calling for a systemic shift in how Ghanaian organisations manage ethics, he said ethics must be institutionalised, while also governance structures should make ‘wrongdoing difficult and transparency natural.’

He championed the protection of whistleblowers and the active rewarding of integrity, rather than just the punishment of vice.

‘Technology and regulation alone cannot win the fight against unethical conduct,’ Mr. Gyan concluded, reflecting on the bank’s own journey of strengthening internal controls and culture. ‘That victory belongs to people; leaders who choose integrity over convenience every single day,’ he added.

Africa’s most sought after feminine event, the Women’s Choice Awards Africa, is set to take place on November 29, 2025 at the Labadi Beach Hotel under the theme ‘Breaking Barriers, Bridging Gaps and Building Legacies.’

Now in its seventh year, the awards ceremony shines a spotlight on women’s contributions, often overlooked in various fields, serving as a motivation for young women and girls to pursue their goals and break barriers.

The awards focus on highlighting the progress of women driving positive change in society. The event will be graced by Deputy Chief of Staff, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo among other invited dignitaries.

The categories for this year’s awards include Actress of the Year, Beauty Brand of the Year, Catering Services of the Year, Corporate Woman of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Fashion Accessories Brand of the Year, and Fashion Brand of the Year.

The rest are Health Personality of the Year, Makeup Artist of the Year, Media Personality of the Year, Social Media Influencer of the Year, Sport Personality of the Year, Woman in Tech, Woman Behind the Scene, Young Media Personality of the Year, Young Star of the Year, Creative Woman of the Year and Emerging Woman of the Year.

FIFA on Monday announced a major new partnership with Saudi Arabia, unveiling a stadium-financing initiative worth up to $1 billion to support infrastructure development in member countries.

The agreement, signed with the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), will offer subsidised loans to football associations seeking to build or upgrade stadium facilities.

The move further deepens the global football body’s growing financial ties with Saudi Arabia, which is set to host the men’s FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2034.

The kingdom has increasingly expanded its influence across international sports, including heavy investment in golf, boxing and global media platforms.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino described the funding programme as ‘a crucial step in ensuring our FIFA Member Associations have the facilities to make football truly global,’ adding during a ceremony in Zurich that infrastructure development is essential for the sport’s growth. He publicly thanked the SFD for enabling the partnership.

According to FIFA, the initiative reflects a shared commitment to help developing nations strengthen their sports ecosystems and advance broader social and economic progress.

Sultan bin Abdulrahman Al-Marshad, CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development, said the collaboration merges FIFA’s technical expertise with Saudi Arabia’s development-finance capabilities.

‘We believe in the power of sports to change lives,’ he said. ‘We are investing in infrastructure that will unlock human potential, create jobs, empower youth and support communities for generations.’

The latest investment comes amid a series of high-profile Saudi ventures in global sport. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has bankrolled the LIV Golf tour and hosted major boxing events, while state oil giant Aramco recently signed on as a sponsor for the 2026 World Cup.

In late 2024, FIFA also finalized a worldwide broadcast agreement for the Club World Cup with streaming platform DAZN-just days before selecting Saudi Arabia as the 2034 World Cup host.

Reports of a Saudi investment of roughly $1 billion into DAZN were confirmed several weeks later, further highlighting the kingdom’s expanding role in international sports and media.

TWO PEOPLE, a male and a female, have reportedly been found dead in a locked vehicle at Atonsu Agogo in Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region, sparking speculation.

The male deceased person was identified only as Baba, but the identity of the female was still not known when the report was being filed. It’s being rumoured that they were lovers.

The near-decomposed bodies of the duo, said to be employees of Asomdwie Rubber Company, a Chinese-owned company, were found on Monday, November 24, 2025.

According to reports, they had remained locked up in the Suzuki 4X4 vehicle, registered AS 1405-16, for about 48 hours before a foul stench drew the attention of people in the area.

It’s being alleged that Baba, whose wife is pregnant and the lady, who is about to get married in December, 2025, were lovers. The two were said to have earlier attended a wedding ceremony for one of their managers on Saturday, November 22. From the wedding, the lady reported to work in the evening shift but complained that she was not feeling well, so her supervisors granted her permission to go home and rest.

Rumours making rounds indicated that she did not go home but rather visited Baba, who drove her to the Atonsu Shoe Factory premises, where they were later found dead in the car.

Some residents of Atonsu Agogo, reportedly, said they saw Baba’s car heading into the shoe factory area on Saturday evening. The car was eventually parked with the engine running.

They disclosed that the vehicle’s engine later went off, but nobody in the community approached the vehicle to verify those onboard.

According to the residents, the vehicle, which had tinted glass, remained parked in the shoe factory premises from Saturday to Monday, when a bad odour started to emanate from it.

The people then started to suspect that perhaps there were dead bodies in the vehicle, so they quickly called the police, who broke the car’s side glass, only to find two dead bodies.

According to reports, the two were found seated at the back seat of the car. Baba was said to be wearing only singlet and shorts, and the lady was resting her head close to his shoulder.

It was not known whether the two people died because of suffocation from the excessive heat in the vehicle or whether something else caused their deaths in that bizarre way.

Meanwhile, the police have deposited the two dead bodies in a morgue in the city, as investigations to unearth what actually caused their deaths have commenced.

The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to advance gender equality and child rights.

Dr. Lartey stated this when she formally received the Dakar Girls’ Summit Declaration on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama during the national commemoration of World Children’s Day in Accra.

She stressed that the Declaration aligns with Ghana’s national priorities, which include investments in girls’ education, protection from violence and harmful practices, access to health and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) services, digital inclusion, and girls’ economic empowerment.

Dr. Lartey said, ‘The Dakar Declaration is not just a document, it is a moral call. Ghana is fully committed to ensuring that every girl can learn, lead, and thrive without fear, without limitation, and without discrimination.’

She emphasised that the voices of children and adolescents will continue to shape Ghana’s policy direction, noting that the country remains steadfast in upholding its legacy as the first nation to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

The Declaration was developed at the Dakar Girls’ Summit through consultations across 24 West and Central African countries, which reflects the priorities and demands of adolescent girls across the region.

Ghana was represented at the Declaration by a multi-sectoral delegation which includes six adolescents, the Director of Gender, a Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the Gender and Children’s Committee, academia, UNICEF’s Adolescent and Gender Lead and Education Officer.

The event also featured the launch of ‘Let Them Shine,’ a new child rights advocacy song produced in collaboration with multi-award-winning Ghanaian artiste Kuami Eugene, which reinforces the national call to safeguard and promote the rights of every child.

Head of the extended family of legendary highlife musician Daddy Lumba, Abusuapanin Kofi Owusu, has told a High Court in Kumasi that he was informed the late musician was married to Priscilla Ofori, also known as Odo Broni.

During cross-examination in the ongoing court case Abusuapanin Owusu said Odo Broni and some family members had told him about the marriage.

The musician, born Charles Kwadwo Fosuh, is also survived by Akosua Serwaa Fosuh, who is contesting the marriage in court.

Akosua Serwaa is praying the court to declare her the only surviving wife and to restrain Priscilla Ofori from identifying as the late musician’s wife.

According to Adomonline report, when asked by Counsel William Kusi whether he attended a marriage ceremony between Daddy Lumba and Odo Broni in 1991, Abusuapanin Owusu replied in the negative stating that he first met Odo Broni at Daddy Lumba’s residence after the musician’s death.

The family head added that he learned of the customary marriage in April 2010 at Tantra Hills. Upon receiving news of Daddy Lumba’s passing, Abusuapanin Owusu said he sent two of his nephews to confirm the news at the late musician’s residence. Priscilla Ofori, he said, was inconsolable and declined to speak to him over the phone when his nephews went to the house.

Abusuapanin Owusu explained that, before this, he had always known Akosua Serwaa as Daddy Lumba’s only wife. However, upon meeting Priscilla Ofori, he was surprised to learn that she had had six children with the late musician and was customarily married to him. She also introduced him to those who conducted the marriage rites and participated in the head-drink (tsir nsa) ceremony.

Abusuapanin Owusu further revealed that Daddy Lumba’s youngest sister, Faustina Fosuh, confirmed the marriage to him, though she is currently indisposed.

Following customary practices, Abusuapanin Owusu said he presented Akosua Serwaa with drinks to officially notify her family of the musician’s death. However, he was later informed by his family that Serwaa had returned her head drinks (tsir nsa), signalling the dissolution of her marriage to the late musician. The case is ongoing at the Kumasi High Court.

A constant refrain heard is that Ghanaians don’t like paying tax, the reason why revenue for the Government’s developmental programmes is usually below what is expected, thus the need to widen the tax net.

We also hear the same complaint about attitude to paying utilities bills and other statutory obligations, such as Property Rate (PR).

Currently my local assembly, the Ablekuma West Municipal Assembly (ABWMA) seems to have launched a Property Rate offensive, which is what has prompted this article.

But the question must be asked: do the institutions or establishments ensure that people find it easy to settle bills? For example, in this digital age, why can’t all revenue collection for the state have an electronic payment component too – one that works efficiently?

I think that this is an issue that should engage the attention of both the Ministry of Local Government (Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), as part of the state’s revenue maximisation agenda. After all, the stated Mission of the GRA is ‘To mobilise revenue for national development in a transparent, fair, effective and efficient manner’.

It appears that mostly the convenience of clients is not important to the revenue collecting agencies. Even when people pay, evidently many institutions don’t keep proper records, the reason why some billing notices include: ‘If you have paid already, please disregard this message’, and similar.

Why can’t they keep records of payments, so that there will be demands to only those in arrears?

Last Thursday, November 20, a man called at my house to deliver a ‘WARNING NOTICE, PROPERTY RATE BILL. It appears from our records that an amount of GHS1,000.00 Ghana cedis is still being owed on your Property Rate account no. as at 20/11/2025 .

‘Take note that if the arrears are not paid on or before 26th November, 2025, legal proceedings will be taken against you . without further communication to you.

‘Where payment have (sic) already been made please present receipt for verification and updating of our records.’ (Emphasis added.)

I don’t know about other ABWMA homeowners, but last year I received no PR bill; ditto this year. Yet, I have been given a ‘warning notice’, and threatened with court action! As the saying goes, ‘(this can happen) only in Ghana’!

Thus, obviously, my PR arrears are due to a simple reason: No bills received. And as it was so frustrating, I forgot to continue trying to check my account online. To compound the problem, each time I did manage to access the site, the assurance there was: ‘No outstanding bills found.’

It will be recalled that some years ago, PR payment moved into the digital age, with the launch of a portal, ‘myassembly.gov.ghl, part of a unified platform for property rate collection.. To pay, go to portal.myassembly.gov.gh, log in with your phone number .and make payments electronically through various methods like mobile money.’ It sounded so straightforward!

However, even then trying to access the portal, proved to be extremely vexatious! After I eventually got through, I had the monumental challenge of navigating a cluster of flickering departmental headings, vanishing before I could click on one and pay.

Nevertheless, on Friday, November 21, I decided to try to access the portal again, to confirm the debt, hoping that this time there would be no vexation. Wishful thinking!

Each time I typed in the portal address, the message was: ‘This site cannot be reached.’

A call to the Assembly didn’t achieve any positive result, although the impression I got was that ABWMA is aware that their electronic payment system is not working well. The call ended with a ‘you will have to come to the Assembly’.

That response is, of course, typical of the ‘come tomorrow’ attitude of Ghanaian service-providers, with little or no regard for the convenience of clients.

Should a client have to go in person to make a simple payment when there is an electronic system in place?

Why does an establishment spend money to set up an online payment system that people find hard to access?

A couple of years ago a short code for PR payments, *222*55#, was announced, so last Friday I decided to try that one, too.

Success was achieved at last, and the response was: ‘No outstanding bills found’. Again, that was last Friday, November 21, 2025.

So Ablekuma West Municipal Assembly, if your own electronic payment apps tell me I have no arrears, why have I been given a ‘Warning Notice’, with threat of court action?

Still, on Saturday, November 22, too, I kept trying to test both the short code and the portal.

After finally accessing the portal, I was surprised to get this message on my phone: ‘Your Login OTP is .; this expires after 5 minutes, do not share it with anyone’!!!

Why on earth does an Assembly needing clients to PAY MONEY TO IT put in a time-out restriction? What is the need for a ‘One-time password’ (OTP) in this matter? After all, I’m trying to make a payment, I’m NOT COLLECTING MONEY FROM the Assembly!

What is the problem if somebody else sees the OTP? (Curiously, the OTP that was supposed to expire after five minutes, was still on my phone at the time of filing this article on Tuesday, November 25!)

Numerous portal attempts later, I succeeded, but the fluttering message there was ‘Application error: a client-side exception has occurred (see the console for more information)! What did it mean?!

Nevertheless, I was on a testing mission, so I continued trying and eventually accessed the site, only to encounter another complication! The ‘Dashboard’ there showed a confusing, flickering, acrobatic array of departmental headings, which kept disappearing before I could decide the appropriate one. It seems that the designer of the Assembly’s system was more interested in displaying his/her design prowess than creating a simple user-friendly facility!

When I finally succeeded, what I saw was ‘Outstanding Bill Amount’: GHS154, for 2023. But under Payment History, the statement there was that on September 18, 2023, I had paid GHc154! How can both be correct, an unpaid 2023 bill of GHS154 and a 2023 payment of GHS154?

Arithmetic was never my forte, but my calculator shows that even if I owe PR for 2024 and 2025, 154 x 2 is 308, so how come I’m told I now owe GHS1,000?

Clearly, there is something seriously wrong with the ABWMA’s electronic PR payment system, not to mention their record keeping! Why not an app dedicated only to Property Rate payments, instead of one that is part of a ‘unified platform’?

How many clients have the inclination – and the time – to try countless times to use a payment system that is so vexatious?

Now that in Ghana even income tax returns can be filed online, thanks to the exemplary initiative and pragmatism of the GRA, similarly, I think all revenue collecting agencies, too, should have both in-person and online payment options.

Equally importantly, where an online system is in operation, IT SHOULD BE CONSTANTLY MONITORED TO ENSURE THAT IT IS WORKING!

Certainly, there are responsible citizens who want to settle their statutory bills, if and when received. But the paying should not be an ordeal!

Fortunately, there are institutional electronic payment systems worthy of emulation, such as that of the Ghana Water Company Ltd.

Another example is that of the National Health Insurance Scheme. The NHIS Renewal short code, *929#, is very user-friendly. One can immediately find out one’s membership status – as in whether, ‘ACTIVE’; including the ‘active’ start and expiry dates, too.

And, interestingly, now apparently, hospitals too have online messaging to make life easier for patients.

A recent message I received from Cocoa Clinic was: ‘Dear Ms. AJOA, your lab results are ready. Thank you for choosing Cocoa Clinic.’ Impressive and heart-warming!

Whatever the problem, ABWMA should solve it and resume sending clients bills.

As indicated, I doubt very much if I do owe my Assembly a whopping GHS1000 – unless there have been unannounced PR increments.

Nonetheless, I have dutifully settled the dubious GHS1000 ‘arrears’, by sending someone to the Assembly to pay – in the expectation that my account will eventually reflect a credit. I paid not because of the court threat, but because by nature when I receive a lawful bill, I pay, even before the deadline.

So next year, ABWMA had better not send me a ‘WARNING NOTICE’ with threat of court action. They’re not the only ones who know lawyers’ chambers!

The government has been called upon to, as a matter of urgency, revise the Domestic Violence Fund (DVF) upward to strengthen response, protection, and prevention services across the country.

It has also been asked to undertake the upward revision of the Fund during the 2026 budget approval process.

The Fund, established in 2011 to support shelters, investigations, legal aid, psychosocial services, rescue efforts, and survivor rehabilitation, has witnessed a drastic reduction in government allocation.

In 2024, the allocation to the fund was GHS2.7 million, but that has been reduced to GHS1 million in 2026, representing a reduction of 63 per cent.

Human Rights and Development Services (HURDS), which made the call, could not fathom why the Fund should be reduced at a time when cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) are rising nationwide.

HURDS is a rights-based organisation committed to advancing gender justice and social inclusion. It is based in Takoradi, in the Western Region.

The organisation noted that recently, a disturbing viral video circulated on social media showing a man violently assaulting his wife.

‘This heartbreaking incident reflects how countless women and girls suffer abuse behind closed doors and often without support, protection, or access to justice.

‘The national outrage that followed serves as a powerful reminder that gender-based violence remains a critical public concern requiring urgent, sustained, and well-resourced interventions,’ it added.

Members of HURDS and some persons living with disability therefore embarked on a float through some principal streets of Sekondi to drum home their message. They later presented a petition to the Regional Minister.

They held placards some of which read ‘Sexual Violence is not Women issue. It’s everyone’s fight’ and ‘Increase Funding for Domestic Violence Response’ among others.

Presenting the petition, Eva Ankrah, Executive Director of HURDS, said the current allocation of GHS1 million is significantly inadequate to sustain critical, lifesaving services.

She mentioned some of the services as provision and maintenance of safe spaces and shelters, medical, legal, and psychological support for survivors.

She said, ‘Without adequate funding, the national Sexual and Gender-Based Violence response system remains weakened and unable to deliver justice or safety for vulnerable groups.’

Madam Rachel Fosua Sarpong, Western Regional Coordinating Director, who received the petition on behalf of the Minister, assured that the petition would be forwarded to the appropriate quarters for redress.