Category: Daily Guide Network

Say Cheers, one of Ghana’s leading premium wine and spirits brands, is marking 25 years of operations, celebrating a legacy built on taste, trust and quality.

Established in 2001, the company set out with a clear strategic vision to elevate the wine and spirits experience in Ghana through expert selection, quality and consistency.

What began as a personal conviction of its Founder and CEO, Nana Adwoa Konadu Karikari, has evolved into a solid brand that has redefined industry standards and positioned Say Cheers as a trusted authority in premium beverages over the past two decades.

According to Mrs. Karikari, the business was inspired by the centrality of celebrations to the Ghanaian ethos and the conviction that premium beverages could build community, deepen experiences and provide sustainable income.

‘At the time, a golden opportunity presented itself. Appreciation for premium wines and spirits was gaining momentum. What I saw was a large gap in the market. Wines were being sold, but the market lacked businesses dedicated to delivering a premium wine experience. I believed customers deserved more than a transaction, they deserved an experience,’ she said.

‘Looking back, I realise that Say Cheers wasn’t born because I just wanted to sell wine, I desired to build something with purpose: a premium experience with wines and spirits,’ she added.

At the core of its value, the company says it does not only offer quality drinks, but ensures that every lifestyle experience moves clients towards a higher level of luxury while creating lasting memories.

Over the years, Say Cheers has grown in scale and depth, shaped by long-standing relationships with carefully selected vineyards and distilleries across Europe, Australia and South Africa, and guided by respect for craftsmanship. Its service is anchored on a team with expertise in sommelier art, with understanding of people, their tastes and moments.

The company says it champions subtle excellence and prioritises consistency and trust over mere scale, noting that intention rather than scale defines its essence.

‘Every experience, every bottle, every drop is a testament to our commitment to excellence,’ management stated.

As it marks 25 years, Say Cheers says it is looking to the future with a focus on timeless experiences and continued leadership in Ghana’s premium beverage market.

Dominic Duodu, former husband of media personality, Tima Kumkum, has spoken about finding peace after reports of their marriage falling apart.

In a cryptic Facebook post, Dominic suggested that he has chosen to withdraw from the distractions surrounding his personal life and reconnect with nature.

‘Silence isn’t empty, it’s full of answers. I stepped away from all the noise and peace looked like this today, lost in the green, found in myself. Sometimes nature is the only therapy you need,’ he wrote.

His message comes not long after Tima Kumkum publicly confirmed that their marriage has ended and that their divorce case is currently before the court.

Tima disclosed that she and Dominic had been living separately since April 1, 2025, describing herself as ‘partially single’ while the legal process continues.

According to the media personality, she decided to speak publicly about the separation because their wedding had been widely publicised, with many Ghanaians witnessing the ceremony in July 2023.

She explained that she therefore felt it was only appropriate to also inform the public that the marriage had come to an end.

Dominic Duodu’s latest post, however, does not directly address the divorce or the circumstances surrounding the breakdown of the marriage. Instead, his words focus on silence, nature and personal reflection. But some followers think it was an indirect post about their marriage.

The Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has suggested that the Electoral Commission (EC) should be allocated funds from the national budget to supervise and support internal party elections, to reduce the financial burden on political parties and parliamentary aspirants.

Speaking in an interview on Onua TV Maakye show, he argued that state funding for party primaries would help reduce the high cost associated with internal elections and minimise the influence of money in politics, particularly among individuals seeking to contest parliamentary seats, as well as individuals contesting for party offices.

He said, ‘Doing away with the delegates system is a good thing, but if we want to fight corruption as a country, then in the next budget that will be read, the Electoral Commission should factor internal party elections into their budget and present to the state to fund internal party elections of political parties.’

According to him, state support for party primaries would ensure that the cost of participation is reduced for candidates and individuals who express interest in contesting political positions, adding that political parties had over the years engaged the Electoral Commission on the need for their internal electoral processes to conform to democratic principles as enshrined in their respective party constitutions.

‘A lot of us have had discussions with the Electoral Commission in the past that all the internal party activities should conform to democratic principles as expressed in the constitution of the party. It is because of this that during party elections, the Electoral Commission has to supervise the party’s internal elections,’ he stated.

Mr. Asiedu Nketia described Ghana’s arrangement, where the Electoral Commission supervises internal party elections, as a good democratic practice that is not common in many West African countries, noting that countries such as Nigeria do not allow their electoral management bodies to supervise internal party elections because of differing views on the role of state institutions in party affairs.

‘This is a very democratic process which many West African countries do not agree to such arrangements. This does not happen in countries such as Nigeria, where citizens, I am told at one of my lectures there, that they do not believe internal party elections should be supervised by the Electoral Commission of the country,’ he disclosed.

‘Why should the party continuously provide money to the Electoral Commission to perform their constitutional role? We expect the state to provide a budget for the Electoral Commission to supervise internal party elections of political parties,’ he added.

The NDC Chairman questioned why political parties should continue to provide funds for the Electoral Commission to perform what he described as its constitutional responsibility of ensuring credible electoral processes in the country, given how the increasing cost of organising internal elections had become a challenge for political parties, which largely depend on membership dues and filing fees as their main sources of income.

‘It has increased the amount spent in contesting for any position one wants to contest. Research has even shown that the amount one has to spend in an attempt to go to Parliament, from primaries to the general elections, when compared with what one will gain for all the four years in Parliament, it means the cost is more than the gains,’ the NDC Chairman added.

There is trouble brewing offshore, and Ghana’s cement manufacturers want to make sure the public understands the operational realities driving their latest pricing decision.

Sources close to the sector say manufacturers are preparing to introduce a ‘Clinker Demurrage Surcharge’ of around GHS12 per bag.

The move follows months of escalating, unbudgeted operational losses tied to severe congestion at Tema Port.

The industry estimates these costs have reached a shocking US$45 million to US$50 million this year alone.

The core issue stems from extended waiting times at anchorage. Clinker, the key raw material required for cement production, took around seven days to clear port at the beginning of the year. That wait has since ballooned to 40 days.

To make matters worse, daily vessel demurrage rates have risen to approximately US$27,000 per day. A single vessel sitting idle for 40 days racks up over US$1 million in penalty fees before offloading a single tonne.

The challenge is more than just financial. With clinker taking 35 days to travel from China and another 35 to 40 days waiting at Tema, the supply cycle is stretching toward three months.

That extended lead time creates a structural bottleneck if port congestion persists. So who pays? The industry emphasises that the upcoming GHS12 addition is not a standard price increase.

Instead, it is being structured as a temporary, direct pass-through surcharge, itemised separately on invoices and subject to quarterly review.

If port clearance times normalise, the surcharge can be adjusted downwards or removed completely.

Beyond the GHS12 adjustment, industry stakeholders are appealing for broader inter-agency collaboration to resolve the port bottleneck.

The substantial demurrage fees currently being incurred represent a significant drain on foreign exchange, capital flowing directly to international ship owners lines instead of circulating within the Ghanaian economy.

Manufacturers acknowledge ongoing discussions with key government stakeholders, including the Ministries of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry and Transport, but emphasise that port infrastructure and berthing availability remain severely constrained.

Industry players point to potential relief solutions, such as optimising access to Berths 10 and 11, which could immediately help clear the vessel backlog.

The core message from Ghana’s cement makers is collaborative: addressing port congestion will eliminate the demurrage burden and the need for the surcharge.

Until those port operations are streamlined, however, the industry faces the financial reality of passing on the cost of prolonged offshore delays.

To state that the national security apparatus of a country is critical in the maintenance of the sovereignty of the nation is an understatement.

In the context of Ghana where terrorists are active next-door, the need to be on constant alert cannot be overlooked, more so when most people do not understand or even appreciate this subject.

Some years back, a national security policy document was put together as a blueprint to guide us in managing this important aspect of state management.

Managing the national security of a country is a complex matter. Unfortunately, the subject has over the years been politicised to the disadvantage of the nation’s interest.

The reason for the foregone is not far-fetched, the impression has been erroneously created over the years that the National Security Secretariat is turf for party foot-soldiers who struggled in the trenches to bring political parties to power.

When their parties come to power, these characters whose preference is to work at the National Security Secretariat as operatives, quickly rush to the place for employment.

We have therefore over the years had the National Security Secretariat crammed with party foot-soldiers who relish holding walkie-talkies and announcing their presence wherever the opportunity arises about their occupation. They understand next to nothing about what national security is all about let alone conduct themselves with decorum.

Some of them have terrorised political opponents in some parts of the country, as their godfathers now holding political appointments look on.

They have ended up making enemies for themselves among the population and the security services because some of them try to interfere in the work of these service personnel.

Last weekend, the National Security Secretariat organised a workshop for the media, the objective of which engagement is to partner journalists to advance the cause of the nation’s security.

Whoever advised the National Security Coordinator on the need for the engagement did well. It is for us an important step towards giving a necessary facelift to a critical hub for the coordination of national security.

The national security policy of the country cannot be implemented without an effective coordination of the various security agencies, who should understand what they are about anyway.

The National Security Secretariat should not consider itself as a Gestapo organisation and therefore operating by abduction of persons considered hostile to government. This only give them a bad image they would struggle hard to wean themselves from.

Towns and settlements on our frontiers must be engaged and educated about the importance of national security, especially in the face of terrorist threats across our borders.

Partnership with the media can only be productive when managers of the National Security Secretariat do not allow themselves to be manipulated by politicians who put them there to settle scores. Kudos though for organising the programme.

Central Region pilot targets 18,000+ youth opportunities as nationwide rollout could create over 250,000 – while Ekumfi Fruits and Juices could move from under 20% production to over 80% capacity and take Ghana’s natural fruit juice to the world.

President John Dramani Mahama’s proposed feed the Industries policy seeks to connect large-scale agricultural production directly to domestic processing, providing the raw materials needed to raise factory output, create sustainable employment and support Ghana’s 24-Hour Economy.

The programme is expected to begin with a Central Region pilot targeting more than 18,000 youth employment and enterprise opportunities across farming, aggregation, transportation, processing, packaging, logistics and distribution.

A nationwide rollout could create more than 250,000 opportunities while increasing raw-material supplies to agro-processors and raising factory capacity utilization for domestic and export production.

More than 15,000 acres have reportedly been secured in the Central Region for high-value and industrial crops. The pilot is expected to include the Central Citrus Processing Factory at Asebu and the Youth in High-Value Crop Value Chain Programme covering Ekumfi and other parts of the region.

Feed The Factory Before Running It 24 Hours

Feed the Industries seeks to address a major constraint facing Ghana’s agro-processing industry: reliable year-round supplies of raw materials.

Longer factory operating hours under the 24-Hour Economy will require more than additional shifts. Processing plants need adequate inputs, power, transport, storage, financing and markets to sustain increased production.

The more than 15,000 acres identified in the Central Region could provide an initial production base for crops required by processors.

The approach also fits into the wider Feed Ghana Programme, which has selected 22 priority commodity value chains and lists increasing raw-material supplies to agro-industry, value addition and agricultural exports among its objectives.

Under the proposed Value Chain Contracting for Youth model, young people would operate in commercial production clusters linked to established buyers. This would give farmers greater certainty over what to produce and where to sell, while factories gain greater visibility over the quantity and timing of supplies.

Ekumfi: From Under 20% To Over 80% Production

Ekumfi Fruits and Juices provide one of the clearest opportunities to demonstrate the industrial impact of the programme.

The factory has capacity to process about 10 tonnes of pineapple, or roughly 10,000 fruits, every hour. At that rate, one hour of processing requires the equivalent of about four acres of harvested pineapple.

The scale of the raw-material requirement becomes clearer when operating hours are extended. Eight hours at the stated capacity would require about 80 tonnes of fruit, while longer shifts would sharply increase demand from surrounding farms.

Feed the Industries could therefore help move Ekumfi from below 20 percent production capacity to more than 80 percent utilization by expanding commercial pineapple cultivation and organizing growers capable of supplying the required volumes.

Higher utilization would also increase demand for farmers, aggregators, transporters, packaging companies, distributors and other businesses linked to the factory.

The connection with the 24-Hour Economy is direct: Ekumfi cannot move towards round-the-clock production unless pineapple cultivation expands sufficiently to keep its processing lines supplied.

Removing The 20% Excise Duty Barrier

The raw-material intervention is being complemented by the removal of the 20 percent excise-duty burden on locally manufactured natural fruit juices.

The measure could improve the competitive position of domestic processors by reducing the tax burden on finished products while Feed the Industries tackles constraints on the supply side.

For Ekumfi, the combination could be major. More pineapple production would support higher factory utilization, while the tax measure creates additional room to compete with imported beverages and expand distribution.

The policy intervention therefore targets both sides of the production equation: increasing the raw materials entering factories and improving the competitiveness of the products leaving them.

Making Ekumfi Juice Available To Ghana – And The World

Moving Ekumfi above 80 percent capacity would create economic activity well beyond the factory floor.

Previous company figures showed more than 1,000 workers, mostly on its farms, and more than 75 professionals at the factory. The company was operating two shifts at the time and planned to increase this to three as production expanded.

At full capacity, earlier projections indicated the plant could produce about 300 million packs of juice annually for domestic and export markets.

The company has also previously identified export markets in the United States, United Kingdom and Dubai, providing an existing international dimension to its expansion plans.

Higher utilization could therefore increase demand for pineapple cultivation, mechanisation, harvesting, aggregation, transportation, packaging, warehousing and distribution while generating additional export earnings.

The production chain is straightforward:

FARM ? FACTORY ? PROCESSING ? PACKAGING ? DISTRIBUTION ? GHANAIAN CONSUMER ? EXPORT MARKET

The opportunity is to convert more Ghanaian agricultural produce into finished goods before they reach domestic and overseas consumers.

Central Citrus: Another Industrial Test

The Central Citrus Processing Factory at Asebu provides another test of the model.

The factory has been reported to have capacity to process more than 15 tonnes of oranges per hour. Together with Ekumfi’s 10-tonne-per-hour pineapple capacity, the two plants represent more than 25 tonnes of headline fruit-processing capacity every hour when operating at their stated rates.

Sustaining those volumes requires more than factory machinery. It requires organized production involving growers, aggregators, transporters and other suppliers capable of delivering fruit consistently.

The Ekumfi and Asebu clusters could therefore demonstrate whether agricultural contracting can translate directly into higher industrial capacity utilization and longer operating hours.

18,000 Youth Opportunities From The Central Region

The Central Region pilot is projected to facilitate more than 18,000 direct and indirect youth employment and enterprise opportunities.

The opportunities extend beyond direct farming and factory employment.

Increasing agricultural output would require nursery operators, irrigation technicians, tractor operators, agronomists, extension officers, harvesting teams, aggregators and transporters.

Higher processing volumes would create further activity in packaging, warehousing, distribution, marketing and exports.

Ekumfi’s earlier employment numbers already illustrate how processing can extend jobs beyond the factory itself, with more than 1,000 workers reported across its operations, most of them on farms.

The employment potential of Feed the Industries will therefore depend heavily on how much additional production can be generated around the factories.

From 18,000 To Over 250,000 Nationwide

The larger opportunity lies in extending the Central Region model to other agricultural and industrial areas.

A nationwide rollout of Feed the Industries and the Youth in High-Value Crop Value Chain Programme is projected to facilitate more than 250,000 employment and enterprise opportunities.

The wider Feed Ghana Programme already covers 22 priority commodity value chains, providing a broader agricultural base for linking production to domestic processing.

Pineapple, citrus, avocado, coconut, mango, papaya, banana, passion fruit, ginger and oil palm are among crops with potential to support larger processing industries serving Ghanaian and export markets.

The national opportunity therefore goes beyond producing more crops. It lies in processing a greater share of Ghana’s agricultural output locally before it leaves the farm gate.

Building A National Value-Addition Chain

The scale of Ekumfi illustrates the difference between primary agricultural production and value addition.

At full capacity, the factory was projected to produce about 300 million packs of juice annually. That means pineapple leaving farms can pass through processing, packaging, branding, transportation and retail before reaching consumers.

Each stage creates additional economic activity that would otherwise be lost if agricultural commodities were sold mainly in their primary form.

The same principle applies to citrus, coconut, mango, oil palm and other crops targeted for commercial expansion.

Feed the Industries could therefore develop beyond an agricultural programme into an industrial supply strategy linking farms directly to manufacturing.

Import Substitution And Exports

Greater agro-processing could also strengthen Ghana’s external sector through import substitution and exports.

Increasing domestic production of fruit juices, processed foods, oils and other products could replace part of the country’s imports where Ghanaian manufacturers can compete on price and quality.

Exports provide the second opportunity. Ekumfi has already identified overseas markets, including the US, UK and Dubai, while its production facilities were designed to serve both local and export demand.

The foreign-exchange effect works in both directions: producing competitive substitutes locally reduces demand for foreign currency to finance imports, while additional exports generate new inflows.

Higher agricultural production alone will therefore not capture the full opportunity. More of the output must reach Ghanaian factories and leave them as higher-value products.

The Real-Sector Multiplier

The Central Region model brings together more than 15,000 acres earmarked for production, an 18,000-plus youth opportunity target and two major fruit-processing facilities with combined headline capacity exceeding 25 tonnes per hour.

This creates links across agriculture, manufacturing, transport, finance, packaging, distribution and exports.

Farmers supply processors, factories add value, logistics companies move inputs and finished goods, while financial institutions provide working capital and investment financing across the chain.

The national potential of more than 250,000 opportunities will ultimately be tied to the number of commercially viable production chains that can be established around factories and markets.

Feed the Industries could turn Ghana’s agricultural potential into industrial growth by getting more farms to supply factories, raising production and taking more Ghanaian products to domestic and global markets. That is where the 24-Hour Economy can begin to deliver real-sector transformation.

The government is set to enforce the ‘polluter pays’ principle as part of measures to address the nation’s worsening waste management challenges, Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, has announced.

Under the proposed approach, households, property owners, businesses, factories and other establishments that generate waste will be required to pay their fair share of the cost of collecting, transporting and treating the waste.

Mr. Ayariga said the government could no longer continue to rely on public resources to subsidise waste generated by individuals and businesses, particularly in major cities.

He said the situation required a fundamental overhaul of the country’s waste management system, beginning with waste separation at the household level and extending to collection, transportation, transfer stations, treatment and composting.

The Minister made the remarks after an early-morning inspection of waste management facilities in Accra with officials of his ministry and prospective development partners.

Some of the facilities visited are the Lavender Hill Faecal Treatment Plant at Korle-Bu, Achimota Waste Transfer site, Kpone Landfill Decommissioning project site, and the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant at Adjen Kotoku.

According to him, the inspection had exposed significant gaps in the existing system for collecting and managing waste from homes and other sources.

‘We must put in place a system for separating it right from the homes,’ he said, adding that households must also be provided with appropriate receptacles to facilitate the collection and transportation of waste.

Mr. Ayariga said transfer stations must be brought closer to communities, while treatment and composting facilities should also be located closer to major urban centres to reduce the distances travelled by waste trucks.

He explained that the long distances currently travelled by waste collection vehicles significantly increased the cost of waste management through fuel consumption, vehicle wear and tear and other operational expenses.

He, therefore, expressed confidence that a more efficient system could reduce the cost of waste management for households by as much as 50 percent.

The Minister also warned property owners and businesses against expecting the government to bear the entire cost of managing the waste generated by their activities.

He said the physical presence of factories, businesses and other establishments in urban areas attracted workers and residents, thereby contributing to the generation of waste in those communities.

‘If you are living in Accra, pay for your waste in Accra. If you have a factory here and the factory is generating waste, the factory owner and the profit that you are making, it will be unfair for you not to be held accountable for the waste that is generated,’ he stated.

Mr. Ayariga further argued that the Common Fund should not be used to finance waste generated by residents and businesses in Accra at the expense of other parts of the country.

He said residents were expected to pay their basic rates and property owners their property rates, while other applicable levies should also be collected by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

‘If we collected the basic rates that everybody is supposed to pay, the property rates that everybody is supposed to pay, the market rates and all the rates that everybody is supposed to pay to the city authorities, I am very confident that problems like this will not be beyond our capacity,’ he said.

The Minister, however, acknowledged that the responsibility could not rest solely on citizens.

He said assemblies must make it easier for residents to pay the required rates and, in turn, must account for the resources collected by investing them in essential services.

He listed waste management, street lighting, roads, greening, security and other basic amenities among the services that residents should expect from their assemblies.

Mr. Ayariga also pledged that government would be accountable, efficient and transparent in the management of resources collected from residents.

He said the government was exploring financing opportunities with development partners and other prospective partners to mobilise resources for investment across the entire waste management chain.

The Minister disclosed that the government was also examining the potential for generating gas from waste sites for possible commercial use.

He said technical assessments would be required to determine the quantity of gas available, how long it could be extracted and whether the potential returns would justify the investment.

Mr. Ayariga described the current state of some waste facilities as a threat to public health, and said the government was determined to address the problem.

He said the challenges observed in Accra were representative of problems confronting other major cities across the country, including Kumasi and Takoradi.

‘This will serve as the basis for planning and taking investment,’ he said.

The Minister also announced plans for a broader campaign against poor sanitation and what he described as indiscipline in the management of waste.

He said his tenure would not be driven by a desire for popularity but by a determination to enforce the rules governing sanitation and local government.

‘I am not engaged in a popularity contest. I don’t want to be popular. If I get popular, I want to be popular for making sure that everybody is uncomfortable doing the wrong things,’ he said.

Mr. Ayariga appealed to residents, businesses, local government authorities, development partners and the media to support the government’s efforts to reform waste management.

He said while residents must be prepared to pay for the services they consume, assemblies and government agencies must also be prepared to account for the resources entrusted to them.

‘When we start exacting our pound of flesh from every resident of this city, a lot of people will complain. We need you to support us. But at the same time, if we also take the resources and we don’t invest it in the neighbourhoods and in the welfare of the people, we demand that you also hold us accountable for not doing the right thing,’ he said.

Founder and Party Leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), The Gambia, Prince Ebrahim Sanyang, has declared war on poverty, insisting that ‘poverty is not the destiny of the Gambian people.’

Speaking to a packed audience at the official launch of EFF Gambia at Jama Hall on Saturday, August 22, 2026, Sanyang said his political movement was born out of years of listening to the cries of ordinary Gambians – mothers struggling to feed their families, youth without jobs, and communities crushed by the rising cost of living.

‘No family should go hungry because basic commodities have risen beyond its reach,’ he declared. To tackle the cost of living crisis head-on, the EFF leader outlined an ambitious food security plan.

He pledged to establish Freedom Stores across the country to provide affordable and subsidized essential commodities, and a National Food Buffer Stock Company to stabilize prices and prevent artificial scarcity.

For agriculture, he promised a sector-wide revolution through the ‘1 Village, 1 Cooperative’ initiative, the revival of produce marketing boards, and increased access to modern machinery, irrigation systems, and financing for farmers.

He further announced plans to establish a National Fishing Company aimed at making fish – a staple protein – affordable for every Gambian household while creating thousands of jobs for youth along the coastal communities.

‘We have come with credible solutions and to restore politics to its highest purpose: the honest and courageous service of the people,’ Sanyang said.

Sanyang stressed that the ultimate test of development is not GDP figures, but whether a mother can feed her children and whether every child has a fair chance at education.

He therefore outlined what he described as ten solemn, non-negotiable promises to the Gambian people:

Food Security: Establish Freedom Stores, a National Food Buffer Stock Company and a National Fishing Company, while reviving the ‘1 Village, 1 Cooperative’ initiative.

Jobs and Economy: Adopt zero unemployment as a national mission, introduce ‘1 Ward, 1 Industry’ and a 24-hour economy, and provide enterprise grants for young people and women.

Education and Health: Progressively provide free quality education and free primary, maternal and emergency healthcare, alongside the ‘1 Village, 1 Clinic’ and ‘1 Community, 1 Ambulance’ initiatives.

Family Relief and Dignity: Provide monthly relief packages for low-income households and a D1,500 monthly stipend for all citizens aged 60 and above.

Infrastructure: Ensure every household has affordable access to water, electricity and internet, and launch a ‘1 Village, 1 Borehole’ initiative to bring clean water within reach of every community.

Public Safety: Establish ‘1 Community, 1 Police Station’ and ‘1 District, 1 Fire Service’ to keep every neighborhood safe, while defending the nation’s sovereignty and borders.

Women, Youth and Families: Recognize women and young people as equal partners in nation-building, and invest in youth leadership, sports, and skills training so families across the country can thrive together.

The Gambia in Africa and the World: Maintain the Republic’s independence in foreign affairs while building friendly ties with all nations, deepen cooperation across Africa, promote trade and investment abroad, and stand up for Gambians living in the diaspora.

Honest Government and Strong Institutions: Fight corruption at every level, manage public funds transparently, strengthen the courts and oversight bodies, and make sure every Dalasi collected from the people serves the public good.

World-Class Infrastructure and Sustainable Communities: Develop major long-term projects such as a national railway, a new international airport, a national airline and a shipping line, alongside affordable housing and industrial parks, and build safe, well-planned communities in cities and villages alike.

‘No Gambian who works honestly should remain trapped in poverty. This is not charity from political leaders but the rightful return of the people’s resources to the people,’ he declared.

Other social commitments under the EFF’s family relief and dignity agenda include a national living wage, improved conditions for civil servants, affordable housing schemes, and dedicated support for persons with disabilities.

Ban NAWEC To Fix Power Crisis

In one of his most hard-hitting pronouncements, Prince Sanyang vowed that if elected, his government will ban the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) in its current form. He said NAWEC has failed Gambians and become a symbol of inefficiency, erratic supply, and crippling bills that have stalled businesses and disrupted daily life. ‘When we come to power, NAWEC will be banned,’ he stated emphatically.

He promised to replace it with a sustainable, modern electricity plan that will ensure stable and affordable power for households and industries. Sanyang pledged that every commitment made by the EFF will be properly accounted for, phased and monitored, adding that his government will only borrow to finance productive development that creates wealth and jobs for Gambians.

Commuters across the country are expected to pay more for public transport from this week, with the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) preparing to announce a new fare structure following the latest increase in petroleum prices.

According to the union, the adjustment has become necessary to enable commercial transport operators to cope with escalating operating costs, including fuel, vehicle spare parts, lubricants and taxes.

Deputy Spokesperson of the GPRTU, Samuel Amoah, said the union’s leadership was assessing the latest fuel price changes before determining the extent of the increase.

He indicated that the new fares would be announced by the end of the week, bringing an end to uncertainty over the union’s earlier proposal for a substantial adjustment.

‘The leadership will also meet to take their decision, whether we are still going by the 30%, if it will come down to 20% or whatever,’ Mr. Amoah told Joy News yesterday.

‘I strongly believe by the close of this week, by the end of this week, something will come out for our drivers and then our passengers to also comply with,’ he added.

The GPRTU had proposed a 30 percent increase in transport fares at a meeting in August this year but put the decision on hold after the government announced a GHS2 reduction in the price of diesel.

According to Mr. Amoah, the union suspended its planned adjustment on the understanding that the reduction in fuel prices would ease the financial pressure on transport operators.

However, he said the anticipated reduction did not materialise during the middle pricing window of August, while the cost of running commercial vehicles remained high.

The latest increase in petroleum prices has consequently renewed pressure on the union to adjust fares, he intimated.

Mr. Amoah said maintaining the existing fares had become increasingly difficult for drivers, who were already dealing with higher costs across several areas of their operations.

‘Going forward, there is nothing we can do than to come out officially by increasing the fares for our drivers to also continue doing their business,’ he said.

He stressed that fuel prices were only one component of the cost pressures confronting commercial transport operators.

According to him, the prices of spare parts and lubricants have also increased significantly, while taxes and other charges continue to add to the cost of operating commercial vehicles.

Mr. Amoah said the leadership would first complete its assessment of the latest petroleum price changes before settling on the new fares.

ASANTE CULTURE took over Bowie State University in Maryland as the 6th Akwasidae USA Festival was held over the weekend with rich colour, heavy drumming and a majestic display of Bonwire Kente.

The highlight of the celebration was the grand entrance of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, guardian of the Golden Stool.

His entry, accompanied by heavy drumming and a royal procession, sent the press and bloggers into a frenzy as cameras captured the moment. The festival attracted a massive crowd of Nananom, royals, dignitaries, and members of the Ghanaian diaspora who thronged the campus to pay homage to the Asantehene as well as celebrate Asante heritage, tradition and unity on American soil.

The grounds of Bowie State University came alive with what many described as a vibrant tapestry of culture. A magnificent display of authentic Bonwire Kente by Dr. Osei Kwame Despite, members of the East Legon Executive Club, and Ghanaians from across the diaspora dominated the occasion.

The celebration was further elevated by a captivating performance from the Symphony of Soul Band of Bowie State University, which delivered a blend of Ghanaian music and foreign dance, placing Asante culture at the centre of the international scene.

Traditionally observed every sixth Sunday in Kumasi, Akwasidae is a sacred Akan ceremony that pays homage to ancestors, royalty, and the Golden Stool – the symbol of the soul and unity of the Asante Kingdom.

This year’s US edition was graced by the Governor of Maryland and the leadership of Bowie State University, underscoring its significance beyond culture. Organisers say Akwasidae USA has become a powerful symbol of African heritage in the United States and a bridge between Africa and its diaspora, helping to pass down history, tradition, and identity to new generations deeply rooted in Ghana.