Category: Daily Guide Network

Ghana’s Black Queens have landed in Morocco to begin the final stage of their preparations for the 2026 TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).

Eighteen players have already reported to camp as head coach, Kim Lars Björkegren, and his technical staff kick off the team’s build-up to the continental tournament.

The squad arrived in high spirits and will spend the coming days sharpening tactics, improving match fitness and strengthening team chemistry as they prepare for the competition.

The pre-tournament training camp is expected to play a key role in ensuring the Black Queens are fully prepared before their opening fixture. The remaining invited players are scheduled to join the camp in the coming days, allowing the squad to reach full strength ahead of the tournament.

Ghana has been drawn in a challenging Group D alongside Cape Verde, Mali and Cameroon. The Black Queens will be aiming to make a strong impression in the group stage as they seek a successful campaign in Morocco.

With preparations now underway, the technical team will be focused on fine-tuning the squad as the Black Queens look to compete for continental honours at the 2026 WAFCON.

Manchester United have strengthened their midfield by completing the £48 million signing of Brazilian international Andrey Santos from Chelsea, while negotiations for Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans are nearing completion.

The 22-year-old has signed a contract until June 2031, with the club holding the option to extend it by a further year after successfully completing his medical.

United’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, described Santos as a key target, praising his technical ability, leadership qualities and potential to develop further at Old Trafford.

Santos, who was part of Chelsea’s FIFA Club World Cup-winning squad in 2025, made 43 appearances for the Blues last season. The midfielder expressed his excitement about joining United, saying he is eager to work under manager Michael Carrick, whom he believes is the ideal coach to help him reach the next level.

The Brazilian has already begun training with his new teammates and could feature in United’s pre-season opener against Wrexham on July 18.

Meanwhile, the Red Devils are also closing in on Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans. The Aston Villa star is understood to have a release clause in his contract, making negotiations more straightforward, with a deal now believed to be at an advanced stage.

United’s pursuit of Atalanta midfielder Ederson, however, has been abandoned after medical checks reportedly uncovered an injury concern.

The club’s midfield rebuild follows the departure of Casemiro and a knee injury to Manuel Ugarte, leaving Kobbie Mainoo as the only experienced natural central midfielder. Securing Santos and potentially Tielemans would provide a major boost as United prepare for the new season.

Carlos Queiroz is set to remain in charge of the Black Stars after the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the Ministry of Sports and Recreation agreed to retain the experienced Portuguese coach beyond the expiration of his initial four-month contract.

Following consultations between the two institutions after Ghana’s campaign at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, both the GFA and the Sports Ministry settled on Queiroz as the right man to continue leading the Black Stars into a new era.

The veteran tactician is expected to sign a two-year contract, with his primary mandate being to guide Ghana to victory at the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Black Stars have not lifted the continental trophy since 1982, and ending that 45-year wait has become the top priority for the national team.

Queiroz was appointed on a short-term deal ahead of the FIFA World Cup, where he successfully guided Ghana beyond the group stage before the Black Stars were eliminated in the Round of 32.

Despite the exit, his tactical organisation, discipline and professionalism impressed officials, who believe continuity is key to building a competitive national team.

The former Portugal, Iran, Egypt, Colombia, Qatar and South Africa coach is now expected to spearhead Ghana’s preparations for the upcoming AFCON qualifiers and other international assignments as the country begins its quest for continental glory.

Officials believe Queiroz’s vast experience at both World Cup and AFCON level makes him the ideal candidate to lead the Black Stars over the next two years.

His extension is also expected to provide much-needed stability after a period of frequent managerial changes.

An official announcement confirming the contract renewal is expected in the coming days, with both the Ghana Football Association and the Ministry of Sports and Recreation confident that Queiroz can restore Ghana to the summit of African football.

A suspected Nigerian national has allegedly abandoned her newborn baby at Buokrom-Asikafo Amantem in the Kumasi Metropolis of the Ashanti Region.

The incident, according to residents, occurred in the early hours of Monday, July 13, 2026, when the woman, whose identity is yet to be established, allegedly left the baby behind a house and fled the area.

A resident, who spoke to DAILY GUIDE on condition of anonymity, disclosed that the woman appeared to have delivered the baby only a short while before abandoning the infant.

According to him, some residents spotted the woman carrying the baby and noticed signs suggesting she had recently given birth.

‘Some residents saw her with the baby and realised she had just given birth. However, she abandoned the baby behind the house and fled,’ the resident narrated.

He indicated that the baby was promptly rescued by residents, who have since informed the police and are cooperating with the relevant authorities to trace the mother.

‘We have reported the matter to the police and we are awaiting their response,’ he said.

The police had not officially commented on the incident as of press time.

Meanwhile, the newborn is in the care of residents pending the intervention of the Department of Social Welfare and health officials.

The picture of a military dictatorship represents the Ghanaian political ambience today.

It is scary the extent to which human rights are being abused, leaving the country in a free-fall towards the lowest rung of the democratic and civility chart.

In a country which ascended to an appreciable notch on the democracy scale before the advent of the incumbent government, we are appalled and dismayed that arbitrary arrests and torture as part of interrogation have almost become a cornerstone of the law enforcement milieu.

Those who have been following local politics since the advent of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration in 2025 will attest to the disturbing number of arrests being made by the various state security agencies and still counting.

It is unfathomable why the President will be presiding over this significant abuse of authority characterised by often silly and senseless arrests. These can only be driven by political motives and nothing else.

The arrest on arrival from a trip abroad of the Communications Director of the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dennis Miracles Aboagye, smacks of a grand plan by the ruling NDC to spread fear among the opposition NPP, an obsession which cannot in any way inure to the growth of democracy. It is instructive that the reign of terror as being unfolded has not succeeded in cowing the opposition into submission and will not.

The arrest, unconfirmed reports say, are rooted in alleged procurement anomalies. This is a clear case of politically-motivated agenda. Put forth a trumped-up charge and arrest the target under a spectre of drama, the way dictatorships operate.

To think that this is part of a long list of arrests, none of which has matured into a successful prosecution in a court of competent jurisdiction, only feeds into the suspicion that a tendentious project is what the country is witnessing under the present political administration of President John Mahama.

If any pundit had predicted this milieu under a future President John Mahama before the 2024 polls, the source would have been dismissed as a political imbecile.

Unfortunately, here we are, witnessing such crass abuse of power by the President and his henchmen in a manner which has set the clock of democratic progress backwards several years.

To have come this far after painstaking efforts by motley of agencies and individuals in restoring democracy and the rule of law in the aftermath of the post-independence era dictatorship of Kwame Nkrumah under the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the subsequent bloody juntas of Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), only to witness a resurgence of the bad and traumatic days make our stomachs churn.

The list is long but suffice it to bring to the fore the allegation that a certain Camilla Alhassan was tortured by state security agents while being held is one which demands an independent enquiry.

Failure to do this would make us, as a country, a potential candidate for a dictatorship – poles apart from the rule of law.

Let us earn our deserved place among the comity of the civilised by steering away from this government-sanctioned rule of brutality and incivility where suspects are tortured while in detention.

Those who think that they are exempt from the bloody claws of this brutish regime must rethink their stance, because tomorrow it could be them.

This gradual fading reality of the rule of law and decency call for a united voice from the people of this country; from faith entities to all facets of society, silence cannot be an option.

ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST, Kwame Dadzie, has responded to growing allegations that Ghanaian media fails to support local artistes and creatives when they have projects to promote. The comments follow complaints from some industry players who say their work is overlooked.

In a post on Facebook, Kwame Dadzie created a scenario of how artistes lament: ‘I toured Europe and performed to big audiences, but the Ghanaian media didn’t talk about it. These media people will never talk about the good things we do. I am surprised no blogger or journalist has said anything about this Ghanaian film making it big at an international film festival.’

Kwame Dadzie, in response, said the reality is different. According to him, most journalists in the culture and arts space genuinely want to highlight good news about Ghanaians. ‘The reality is that a lot of Ghanaian journalists in the culture and arts space would want to write or talk about any good thing happening about their own. Most times, we do stories for people in the industry on our own volition,’ he disclosed.

However, he explained that the media has limitations. ‘The media is not omniscient or omnipresent. We are not magicians. We can’t know everything happening in the world. We can only report on what we have seen or discovered,’ he stressed.

Kwame Dadzie noted that the rise of digital platforms has made it even harder for individual projects to stand out, ‘especially in the new media era, where so many things are happening at the same time on the internet; the good thing you are doing is likely to be drowned out because the space is crowded. Everybody is a writer now. Everybody is a blogger. Every social media user is producing content. You will be lost in the crowd if you don’t intentionally project yourself or what you do.’

He added that artistes and creatives must take responsibility for promoting their own work. ‘The long and short of plenty English I am typing is that if you are doing something and you have not intentionally developed a Public Relation (PR) strategy for it, don’t expect it to automatically get media attention. If, by happenstance, you get earned media, thank God for it. But that doesn’t usually happen. Let’s not underrate PR.

‘It is easier for your work to get media coverage when you present it to a journalist or blogger than to wait for them to find out about it. If they don’t find out, your work possibly dies out,’ he added.

Lawyer for former Chief Executive Officer of National Food Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO), Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, has petitioned the Attorney General (AG) and the Executive Director of Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), to release some £6,700 and GHS2,750 confiscated from him during his arrest at the Accra International Airport.

He was arrested at the airport in the late hours of July 4 when he attempted to travel to the United Kingdom for a medical reason.

Mr. Aludiba was released unconditionally from the custody of EOCO on the night of July 8, where he had spent four days and five nights following his arrest.

His release followed persistent pressure mounted by his lawyer, Godfred Yeboah Dame, who criticised the arrest and described it as a deliberate attempt to thwart the permission granted to his client by a High Court, to travel to London for medical appointment.

Confiscated Items

Mr. Dame, in a letter addressed to the Attorney General and the Executive Director of EOCO, pointed out that Mr. Aludiba at the time of his arrest had in his possession personal effects, two mobile phones and a total of £6,700 and GHS2,750 which he had borrowed for his travel expenses and medical treatment in the United Kingdom.

The letter noted that Mr. Aludiba’s personal items were not returned to him upon his release on July 8, although he was directed to appear before EOCO on July 9, 2026, for the collection of his belongings.

‘To his utter dismay, when our client reported at EOCO, he was only given an empty purse, a watch and boarding pass. When he inquired about the remainder of his items, the investigating officer, Frank Cromwell, responded that he had no authorisation to release the money and the two mobile phones seized from him at the airport,’ the letter further pointed out.

‘We note, with serious concern, that EOCO continues to unlawfully retain the properties belonging to our client,’ it stated.

It also indicated that the money borrowed by Mr. Aludiba for his trip was intended solely for his travel and medical treatment.

‘This money was not taken out of any account of his allegedly frozen, and its continued retention is legally baseless and is causing significant distress and financial hardship to our client. Furthermore, our client’s two mobile phones, which were seized during his arrest, have also not been returned.’

Breach of Privacy

Meanwhile, the legal team has accused EOCO of breaching Mr. Aludiba’s privacy, alleging that the Office unlawfully accessed the data on his phones without any judicial authorisation.

‘Specifically, the access occurred on July 6, 2026 at 7:39 p.m. and again on July 7, 2026 at 9:33 a.m., during which time our client was in your custody and his phones were in your possession. This constitutes an unlawful interference with personal properties and a grave invasion of his right to privacy guaranteed under Article 18(2) of the Constitution, 1992,’ it disclosed.

The letter also raised concerns about EOCO retaining Mr. Aludiba’s passport, contrary to the order of the High Court dated June 29, 2026, granting him permission to travel to the UK for medical treatment.

‘The passport was released by the Court to enable him travel out of the jurisdiction, and he was ordered to return it directly to the Registrar of the High Court. In accordance with Article 21(4) of the Constitution, the seizure of a citizen’s passport without the authorisation of a court order is unwarranted,’ it added.

Mr. Dame is, therefore, demanding ‘the immediate release of the two mobile phones and the money seized’ from his client, together with all other items unlawfully held by EOCO.

He also demanded a full account of any data accessed from his client’s phones, adding that ‘We hope we will not be compelled to resort to unnecessary litigation.’

The Volta Regional Police Command, in collaboration with officers from the National Headquarters of the Drug Law Enforcement Unit (DLEU), has destroyed 11 large cannabis farms in the Peki-Dzake enclave as part of intensified efforts to combat the cultivation and trafficking of illicit drugs in the region.

The operation, carried out on Thursday, July 9, 2026, followed intelligence reports indicating that cannabis was being cultivated in remote locations within the enclave.

A total of 60 police personnel drawn from various units of the Volta Regional Police Command participated in the exercise. The team comprised officers from the Drug Law Enforcement Unit, Police Intelligence Directorate (PID), Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Unit, Regional Defence Force (RDF), Highway Patrol Unit and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

The operation was led by the Volta Regional Crime Officer, Chief Superintendent Mick Omari Boakye, and the Regional Director of the Drug Law Enforcement Unit, DSP Richard Dotsey Gablah. They were supported by the Regional Director of the Police Intelligence Directorate, Superintendent Alexander Adade Yeboah, the Regional Operations Commander, DSP Augustine Awuah, and other senior officers of the command.

Following a briefing, the police team proceeded to the identified locations within the enclave and successfully located and destroyed the 11 cannabis farms. The cannabis plants, which were at an advanced stage of growth, were cut down and completely burnt in a controlled operation to prevent the fire from spreading to adjoining bushes.

According to the Volta Regional Police Public Affairs Officer, Chief Inspector Francis Gomado, no arrests were made during the operation as some individuals found on one of the farms reportedly detected the approach of the security team due to the difficult terrain and fled before officers could apprehend them.

Chief Inspector Gomado described the scale of cultivation discovered as a clear indication that illegal drug farming remains a serious challenge in parts of the region. He, however, assured the public that the police would continue to intensify intelligence gathering and operations aimed at tracking down those behind the cultivation and trafficking of narcotic substances.

He further appealed to residents to volunteer credible information to support law enforcement efforts, assuring them that all reports would be treated with strict confidentiality.

The Volta Regional Police Command reaffirmed its commitment to combating the cultivation, trafficking and abuse of narcotic substances as well as maintaining the safety and security of communities across the region.

The latest operation underscores the Ghana Police Service’s resolve to intensify the fight against drug-related activities and dismantle illegal narcotics networks operating within the Volta Region.

Media personality, Kwame Afrifa Mensah, popularly known as ‘Okatakyie’, and one Osman Awuni, have been hospitalised following violent clashes that nearly marred the Effigya Sekyere East New Patriotic Party (NPP) Constituency polls on Sunday, July 12, 2026.

The police has disclosed that while voting was in progress, Okatakyie led about 30 muscularly built men to the SDA Church polling station in Wiamoase to disrupt the elections, claiming that there was an injunction against the elections, even though the police and Electoral Commission (EC) claimed they were not served.

According to the police, the ensuing violent clashes between the macho men and police led to the arrest of Okatakyie and six other people, who are perceived to be his supporters, a security action which eventually helped to restore law and order for the voting process to continue.

However, Okatakyie and Osman, whilst in lawful police custody, suddenly complained that they were not feeling well and needed medical attention. The police therefore rushed them to the Mampong Government Hospital, where they were admitted for immediate treatment under police guard.

Assistant Superintendent Emmanuel Agbodzi, Head of Public Affairs Unit, Ashanti North Police Command, in a statement, reiterated that the police and the Electoral Commission, who supervised the polls, were not aware of Okatakyie’s claims that there was injunction against the election.

‘Preliminary investigations indicate that suspect Kwame Afrifa Mensah claimed that some of his supporters had been side-lined in the electoral process and that he had obtained an interlocutory injunction to halt the elections. However, neither the Electoral Commission nor the police received any court order or injunction directing that the elections be suspended.

‘Following the intervention of the police, calm was restored and voting resumed under adequate security. The election ended peacefully at about 4:00 p.m., after which the Electoral Commission duly declared the results,’ Assistant Superintendent Agbodzi said, adding that investigations into the case were still ongoing, with the necessary arrangements underway to haul Okatakyie and the six other people who were arrested at the polling station to court.

Chairman Odeneho Kwaku Appiah, widely known as COKA, an aspiring Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has pledged to construct an additional multi-purpose office complex for the party in the Ashanti Region if elected.

According to him, he will cut the sod for the construction of the multi-purpose facility within his first 100 days in office, in addition to ensuring that work begins on the regional party office. He also assured party members that he would complete whatever aspects of the existing office project remain unfinished to ensure the region has a fully functional party headquarters.

COKA made the pledge when he appeared on Lawson TV/FM’s Ghana Se Sen programme hosted by Kwame Tanko on Monday, July 13.

He explained that the Ashanti Regional branch of the NPP deserves modern office facilities that would serve both administrative and other party activities, stressing that the additional multi-purpose complex would enhance the operations of the party in the region.

Responding to a question on whether the incumbent Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, had failed by not constructing a regional office during his tenure, COKA declined to criticise him.

Rather, he commended Chairman Wontumi for his contributions to the growth and electoral fortunes of the party in the Ashanti Region, insisting that he harbours no ill feelings towards him.

Drawing inspiration from the Bible, COKA cited the story of King David, who desired to build a temple for God but was unable to do so, with the task eventually being completed by his son, King Solomon.

He said, in the same vein, although Chairman Wontumi may not have built the party office, he could be the one to bring that vision to fruition if elected.

COKA further pledged to unite the rank and file of the NPP in the Ashanti Region and work tirelessly to help the party recapture political power from the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2028 general election.