Category: Daily Guide Network

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) will on Thursday, November 20, 2025, resume its suspended 2025/2026 recruitment exercise in the Greater Accra Region, after last week’s tragic stampede at the El-Wak Stadium that left six people dead and several others injured.

In a statement issued by the Public Relations Directorate, the GAF announced that the screening exercise will now be decentralised across five key locations, with a total of eight sub-centres created to prevent overcrowding and ensure a safer process.

Under the revised arrangements, the El-Wak Stadium will host two screening centres, Nicholson Park in Burma Camp will also have two, while additional centres have been designated at the Air Force Base in Burma Camp, the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) in Teshie with two centres, and the Eastern Naval Base in Tema.

To further manage crowd numbers, the Armed Forces advised that qualified applicants will be processed in batches of 600.

Applicants who do not receive a call by Thursday are encouraged to contact the helpline on 0256406104 or send a WhatsApp message to 0256405554.

The statement stressed that family members and friends must not accompany applicants to the centres, noting that strict enforcement of this directive will be in place to avoid congestion and ensure order.

Inquiry

Meanwhile, the Board of Inquiry set up to investigate the deadly stampede at El-Wak Stadium is ongoing, with military authorities assuring the public that anyone found culpable will face sanctions.

The tragic incident occurred on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, when thousands of young people massed at the stadium to take part in the recruitment exercise.

Intense pushing at the entry points sparked chaos, resulting in a crush that killed six people and left many others injured.

According to the GAF, 28 persons were rushed to the 37 Military Hospital.

Six were confirmed dead; five were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, while 12 remained in critical condition.

Earlier conflicting reports suggesting 12 deaths added to public confusion, but the military reiterated that six fatalities had been officially confirmed.

Security forces swiftly cordoned off the area and blocked major access roads leading to the stadium to manage the situation and support rescue operations.

The recruitment exercise had already been under pressure after its deadline was extended from October 31, 2025 by one week due to technical difficulties on the online portal, a factor believed to have contributed to the heightened turnout.

Changes in Recruitment Leadership

In an effort to restore public confidence and strengthen oversight of the ongoing recruitment, the Armed Forces has announced key changes within the recruitment management team.

Cdr F.A. Nyarko has been appointed Director-General of Human Resource, with Col F. Kusi-Darko and Col G.B. Eduah taking over as Director IT and another senior role respectively.

The Armed Forces says the adjustments are intended to promote transparency and ensure fairness throughout the exercise.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen William Agyapong, has assured the public that the military remains committed to a credible, safe, and orderly recruitment process as the exercise resumes under tightened security and administrative measures.

ACCRA GREAT OLYMPICS finally halted their six-game winless streak in the Access Bank Division One League with a crucial 1-0 victory over WAFA SC in Sogakope on Sunday.

The win, their first of the season and their first league triumph since April 2025, offered a much-needed boost to the struggling former Premier League side.

Elsewhere, Struggling Berekum Arsenal revived their season with a much-needed 3-1 victory over K.A.C. Soccer Academy at the Golden City Park, snapping a four-game winless run and securing just their second win of the campaign.

Kwasi Fosu was the star of the afternoon, netting twice in the 39th and 45th minutes to hand the home side a commanding lead at the break.

K.A.C. Soccer Academy briefly threatened a comeback when Stephen Korankye reduced the deficit in the 49th minute, but Gyan Gideon’s strike in the 62nd minute restored Arsenal’s two-goal cushion and sealed a crucial win.

After a cagey first half, Islam Mohammed delivered the breakthrough in the 78th minute, slotting home the decisive goal to hand Olympics all three points.

Despite the morale-lifting victory, the Wonder Club remain in the relegation zone with just six points.

In another keenly contested fixture, Okwawu United dropped points for the third straight match after a pulsating 2-2 draw away to FC Nania.

Collins Ntiful fired Okwawu United into an early lead in the 12th minute, but Joshua Selorm Adjei equalised for the hosts before halftime.

FC Nania came out stronger in the second half and took the lead through Peter Fiifi Hammond’s 50th-minute finish.

However, Okwawu United’s resilience paid off when Gideon Ofori Offei unleashed a superb strike in the 69th minute to restore parity.

They now have 11 points from seven matches as they continue to push for consistency in their quest for promotion.

A 45-year-old businesswoman, Millicent Asamoah Ampofo, has been dragged before a Circuit Court in Accra for producing and selling drinks and toffees allegedly laced with substances suspected to be cannabis, known in local parlance as ‘wee’, at Taifa in Accra.

Her arrest followed an intelligence-led operation by officers from the Ghana Police Service during a raid at her drinking spot.

Court documents indicated that the accused told officers she produced and sold the drinks and toffees herself, with a bottle of sobolo selling for GHS5, the mango drink priced at GHS20, and one toffee costing GHS5.

She has been provisionally charged with unlawful control of a narcotic drug, and her plea has been reserved by the court, presided over by His Honour Kwabena Kodua Obiri-Yeboah.

The seized items have been forwarded to the Police Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis and report to aid the prosecution.

In the meantime, the court has granted her a bail of GHS50,000 with one surety. The prosecution did not oppose the grant of bail but urged the court to impose conditions that will compel the accused to appear for the trial.

The prosecution was directed to file its disclosures and serve same on the accused for the commencement of the case.

Court documents indicate that Millicent Asamoah Ampofo was arrested on November 5, 2025, during an intelligence-led operation conducted by officers from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at her drinking spot at Taifa.

The brief fact states that a search conducted on the premises revealed 47 plastic bottles of sobolo, 20 bottles of mango drink, 23 bottles containing unidentified liquid substances, and a blue mini drum filled with liquid.

The documents point out that the police also found two plastic containers of dried plant material, two rubber bags with powdery substances, and 180 pieces of hard brown toffees. The prosecution says all the seized items are suspected to contain cannabis.

Madam Ampofo reportedly claimed ownership of the products during interrogation and told police officers she got the supplies from a man who was only identified as Richard, who resides in Accra.

The police say efforts are underway to arrest the said Richard.

FOUR POLICEMEN have been rendered homeless after a raging inferno gutted their rooms last Thursday.

The blaze, reportedly, swept through a police barracks at Jacobu in the Ashanti Region, sparking fear and panic.

Luckily, no casualties were recorded, but the blazing fire caused massive destruction in the four affected rooms.

What started the fire was not immediately known, with eyewitnesses suspecting electrical fault to have caused the fire outbreak.

According to some people at the scene, they saw a thick smoke emanating from one of the rooms around 12pm.

They said few minutes later, the smoke was followed by an intense blaze, which travelled to other rooms at top speed.

According to them, firefighters were called to douse the blaze, but it was too late as four rooms had already been gutted.

Meanwhile, when the report was being filed, the authorities concerned were investigating the cause of the inferno.

Security analysts have expressed concern about the escalated activities of Islamic militants operating in the Sahel, their recent noose around the neck of Bamako, Mali, coming especially into focus.

Although the noose has been loosened somewhat, it is by no means the dropping of their objective of bringing countries they have targeted under their subjugation and ideology.

For about a month, they held as it were the city of Bamako hostage; fuel was in short supply until recently when the Malian military devised a means of escorting tankers into the nation’s capital.

So bad was the situation that France sent a depart notice to her citizens in their former territory.

The coastal parts of West Africa could also be in the sight of the militants, according to security analysts who mentioned Ghana as one of the countries likely to suffer from the activities of the militants.

For now, though it might sound distant and near impossible for Ghana to have a taste of the unwanted activities of the militants, we must take measures to ensure that we are not surprised.

It takes only two days to travel from Tamale to Bamako, all things being equal, and this shows that movement by the militants and by extension firearms would not be a challenge for the bad guys who appears to have an inexhaustible supply of ammo.

With Burkina Faso still in the woods of security uncertainty, we as a country sharing a border with that country which also shares a frontier with Mali should not tarry in beefing our security.

We are aware about the forward operating bases thought out under the previous government; knowing us as a people, the concept could suffer an unannounced scale-down, the consequences of which could be detrimental to national security.

Beefing our security should not be entirely restricted to tactical preparations but the sensitisation of citizens in border areas about their supplementary role in protecting the country against the bad guys.

As we pointed out in a previous leader, citizens living in border areas have a critical role to play in identifying persons of security interest to our country. Such persons would need the necessary education on how to cooperate with the security agencies such as the soldiers on forward observation duties and personnel of the Ghana Immigration Service, and indeed the Police.

Basic human profiling techniques of persons breaching our borders, a daily occurrence, is knowledge which should be imparted to such residents; this would go a long way in supplementing the work of security personnel performing border operations.

Traditional authorities in such areas should not be overlooked. Indeed, it is these revered personalities who should form the backbone of the involvement of border areas residents.

Periodic engagements with such important publics should be part of the terms of reference of border security managers. The recent occasional conflicts between some residents and security personnel must be stemmed because it does not make for the necessary cordial and productive relationship between the two parties.

FIFA says it has reported more than 30,000 abusive social media posts to various platforms this year as part of its ongoing efforts to combat online harassment targeting players, officials and teams.

In its latest report, world football’s governing body revealed that 11 individuals were referred to law enforcement authorities in 2025, with one case escalated to Interpol.

The identified offenders were located in Argentina, Brazil, France, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, and were traced ‘following abuse during FIFA competitions’.

Speaking on the International Day for Tolerance, FIFA president Gianni Infantino stressed the need to safeguard all participants in football-both on and off the pitch.

‘Football must be a safe and inclusive space-on the pitch, in the stands and online,’ Infantino said.

‘Through the FIFA Social Media Protection Service (SMPS), and by deploying advanced technology and human expertise, we are taking decisive action to protect players, coaches, teams and match officials from the serious harm that online abuse causes.’

FIFA launched the SMPS in 2022 in partnership with global players’ union Fifpro to detect, block and report abusive content.

The organisation faced criticism earlier this year for appearing to drop anti-racism messaging during the Club World Cup in the US, although the SMPS was fully operational throughout the tournament

According to FIFA, the service monitored 2,401 active accounts across five platforms during the competition, analysing 5.9 million posts. Out of these, 179,517 posts were flagged for review, with 20,587 reported to relevant social media companies.

Infantino reaffirmed Fifa’s commitment to confronting online abuse. ‘Our message is clear: abuse has no place in our game,’ he said.

‘We will continue working with member associations, confederations and law enforcement authorities to hold offenders accountable. Such behaviour has no place in football or society, and Fifa is taking all possible steps, including blacklisting individuals from purchasing tickets for Fifa tournaments.’

Since the SMPS was launched in 2022, more than 65,000 abusive posts have been reported to social media platforms.

Fuel prices have risen across pumps following increasing global crude prices and the weakening Cedi.

The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) last week predicted the rise in fuel prices from Saturday, November 16, 2025.

In a statement signed by its Executive Secretary, Duncan Amoah, COPEC projected that petrol prices will increase by about 3.38%, moving from an average of GHS12.18 to GHS12.59 per litre. Diesel, the statement noted, could see a much sharper jump of 9.81%, rising from GHS12.49 to GHS13.71 per litre.

LPG prices went up by 1.97%, reaching GHS11.87 per kilogram.

COPEC explained that the adjustments reflect international market trends and currency pressures affecting petroleum import costs.

The Chamber added that the actual increases may differ slightly at various pumps, but would likely fall within a five percent margin of the projected figures.

Duncan Amoah urged Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to cushion consumers where possible.

‘We appeal to OMCs to absorb part of the increases to avoid burdening consumers with steep hikes,’ he said.

On November 22, 2025, four of Ghana’s leading music stars-reggae artiste Samini, Afrobeat songstress Efya, gospel sensation Joe Mettle, and highlife legend Ofori Amponsah will share one stage to commemorate the 10th anniversary of EMY Africa Awards.

Set to take place at the Grand Arena of the Accra International Conference Centre, these carefully selected musicians are expected to perform their hit songs to entertain an array of distinguished guests invited to observe the ceremony.

Known as the ‘Father of Live Band’ music, Samini, over the years, has earned the reputation of thrilling music lovers with his live performances as a result of his high-energy stage showmanship.

This consistency and innovation earned him his role as the trailblazer who proved a dancehall act could thrive with a full band on stage.

Efya is not new to the EMY Africa performing stage, but the songstress over the years has carved her name in the hearts of attendees, making her one of the longest performing acts for the awards. Her voice flips from sultry whispers to powerhouse belts, hitting every note with crystal-clear emotion, so audiences feel the song right in the chest.

Efya is known for blending Afrobeat, soul, RandB, and traditional Ghanaian rhythms, creating a fresh, eclectic sound that keeps fans hooked.

This year’s attendees will experience another side of gospel act, Joe Mettle. Aside from being known for carrying the weight of the gospel, hitting notes that shake the arena and lift spirits, Joe Mettle also commands attention the moment he steps out, moving, dancing, and connecting with every corner of the crowd.

Known for his timeless highlife songs, Ofori Amponsah is expected to sing his hit singles such as ‘Odo Nti’, ‘Akua Ataa’, and ‘Otoolege’, among others. The highlife legend is known for keeping the classic highlife groove alive, blending it with modern beats, so it feels both nostalgic and fresh.

This year’s milestone marks a decade of celebrating African excellence, leadership, and impact across the continent and the diaspora.

For ten years, the EMY Africa Awards have honoured outstanding individuals whose achievements inspire progress in business, culture, sports, public service, social impact, and the creative industries.

This year’s anniversary edition is presented in partnership with UNESCO, the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, the Diaspora Affairs Office at the Office of the President of Ghana, and EY Ghana, reinforcing EMY Africa’s mission of fostering pan-African collaboration and global influence.

The External Branches of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) have petitioned the National Executive Committee (NEC) to overturn a directive by the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) banning proxy voting in the party’s upcoming presidential primary scheduled for January 31, 2026.

In a petition dated November 10, 2025 and signed by chairpersons of all 30 recognised external branches, the group described the directive as unconstitutional, discriminatory, and a direct attempt to disenfranchise legitimate delegates who live and work outside Ghana.

The petition, submitted through the party’s General Secretary, argued that the PEC overstepped its mandate by unilaterally announcing that ‘there shall be no proxy voting’ for the presidential primary.

The petitioners are Atta Adu-Osae (Australia), George Fobi (Austria), Solomon Agyin (Belgium), Victoria Owusu Ansah (Canada), Ben Owusu Achiaw (China), Catherine Senkyere (Cote d’Ivoire), Samuel Antwi Darkwah (Czech Republic), Kennedy Agyei (Denmark), Maxwell Boateng (Equatorial Guinea), and James McKeown (Finland).

The rest are Frederick A. Addo (France), Dr. Felix Yamoah (Germany), Dr. Paa Kwesi Wolseley (Hong Kong), Alf Marshall Agyapong (Ireland), Rexford Osei Mensah (Italy), Alhaji Abdul Razak (Japan), Isaac Osae (Middle East), Joseph Antwi Baffour-Awuah (Nigeria), Isaac Agyemang (Norway), and Addofoh Dwamena-Oboankoma (Qatar).

Others are Ajene Abongo Mashood (Russia), Joe Armstrong Qauicou (Senegal), Jones Yaw Marfo Frimpong (South Africa), Richard Zinleri (South Korea), Michael Sanko (Spain), Richard Oti-Aboagye (Sweden), Elvis Agyei (Netherlands), George Nana Gyedu (Togo), Kingsley Adumattah Agyapong (UK), and Yaa Amponsah Frimpong (USA).

According to the petitioners, Article 13(2.6) of the NPP Constitution clearly vests the authority to set rules for presidential elections in the National Executive Committee, acting in consultation with the National Council, and not in an ad hoc committee acting alone.

The External Branches questioned whether the PEC consulted the National Council before making the announcement, ‘Any rule emanating solely from the PEC without satisfying constitutional requirements is ultra vires and void.’

The petitioners emphasised that the ban would effectively exclude all external-branch delegates from the presidential primary, contrary to Article 8 of the party’s constitution, which recognises the branches and grants them full participatory rights in internal elections.

They noted that because the branches operate outside Ghana, physical participation is practically impossible, making proxy voting the only feasible mechanism for inclusion.

They argued that the NPP has successfully implemented proxy voting in previous presidential primaries and national executive elections, questioning why the party suddenly considers the system unmanageable.

The petitioners criticised the new directive as ‘a convenient or lazy approach’ and said it reflected poorly on the party’s administrative competence.

‘If the national electoral body can design and safeguard proxy voting for millions of voters, it is difficult to understand why the NPP, known for its organisational strength and the proud claim that we ‘have the men’, cannot manage the same within our much smaller internal structure,’ the chairpersons wrote.

The petition further argued that a blanket ban on proxy voting undermines fairness, natural justice and long-standing party practice.

It warned that disenfranchising external delegates would be a serious breach of the party’s democratic commitments and could erode trust among members abroad who make significant contributions to the party’s operations.

The External Branches requested that the NEC declares the PEC’s directive null and void for violating the party’s constitution; and that proxy voting be reinstated, or an alternative mechanism adopted to enable external delegates to participate meaningfully in the 2026 presidential primary.

THE BLACK Stars have left Nagoya for Seoul as preparations continue for their second international friendly, this time against South Korea on Tuesday.

The trip follows Ghana’s 2-0 defeat to Japan in the Kirin Challenge Cup, a match overshadowed by the serious injury suffered by midfielder Francis Abu.

Coach Otto Addo will lead a 21-man squad to Seoul, reduced by one following Abu’s setback. The team is scheduled to hold three training sessions in the South Korean capital before the November 18 clash, a key fixture in Ghana’s buildup to the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, Canada, and the United States.

Having already secured World Cup qualification last month, the Black Stars are aiming to rebound from Friday’s loss and regain momentum.

Addo’s squad features an exciting blend of seasoned campaigners and emerging talents, with newcomers Prince Kwabena Adu, Kojo Oppong Peprah, Caleb Yirenkyi, Kelvin Nkrumah, Prince Owusu, and Prince Osei Owusu all earning call-ups.

The team remains focused on sharpening its performance and strengthening cohesion as the countdown to next year’s global showpiece continues.