Over 1,500 People Missing in Yobe – ICRC

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it is following up on more than 1,500 cases of missing persons in Yobe State, as families continue to live with uncertainty over the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones.

The Head of the ICRC Sub-Delegation in Damaturu, Syed Rashid Hassan, disclosed this on Thursday at an event organised to commemorate the 2026 International Day of the Disappeared in Damaturu.

Hassan said the figure was part of more than 17,000 missing-person cases being followed up by the ICRC in Nigeria, adding that more than half of those reported missing were children at the time of their disappearance.

He said the figures likely represented only a fraction of the total number of people reported missing across the country.

According to him, more than 513,000 people worldwide were registered as missing with the Family Links Network of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement by the end of 2025.

He described missing persons as one of the most devastating and long-lasting consequences of armed conflict and other situations of violence, disasters and migration.

‘The issue of missing people is one of the most devastating and long-lasting consequences of armed conflict and other situations of violence, disasters and migration,’ he said.

Hassan said the consequences of disappearance went beyond the missing individuals, as families were left with emotional, economic, legal, administrative, psychological and psychosocial challenges.

He said the ICRC had adopted a holistic approach to supporting affected families, working with the Nigerian Red Cross Society, government authorities and other stakeholders.

He said the organisation was working to prevent family separation and people going missing, reunite families, clarify the fate and whereabouts of missing persons, protect the dignity of the dead and improve systems for documenting unidentified bodies.

He disclosed that the ICRC launched an accompaniment programme in Damaturu to help families cope with the psychological and psychosocial effects of the disappearance of their loved ones.

‘Today, many families are still living in uncertainty, causing agony and unspeakable suffering,’ Hassan said, adding that more than 50 families had so far been supported through the programme.

The ICRC official called for stronger and sustained efforts to search for missing persons and provide answers to their families.

He also called for stronger national legal and institutional frameworks, including medico-legal systems, mechanisms to determine what happened to missing persons and support systems to address the economic and legal needs of affected families.

Hassan commended the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the Ministry of Justice’s Justice Sector Reform Team, the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education through the Yobe State Universal Basic Education Board (YBSUBEB), as well as community leaders, for supporting efforts to address the plight of missing persons and their families.

He said SEMA had supported the implementation of a national mass-fatality response plan in the state, while the Justice Sector Reform Team was reviewing the coroner’s law.

He also said YBSUBEB had accepted to incorporate key messages on prevention of family separation into activities in primary schools.

Speaking on behalf of families of missing persons, the Chairman of the Families of the Missing, Ali Idris, said families continued to live between hope and uncertainty while waiting for answers about their loved ones.

Idris said the absence of answers affected their emotional wellbeing, livelihoods and family relationships, making it difficult for many to move forward.

He expressed appreciation to the ICRC for supporting families through tracing efforts, family reunification and its accompaniment programme, including mental health and psychosocial support sessions.

He also appreciated traditional, religious and community leaders, as well as government ministries and agencies, for supporting efforts to address the issue.

However, Idris appealed to authorities to open their doors to families of missing persons and provide stronger and more coordinated support.

‘Our needs go beyond finding our missing loved ones. Yes, we need answers. We need continued efforts to search for and clarify the fate and whereabouts of those who are missing.

‘But we also need support for the families who have been left behind,’ he said.

He said families faced emotional distress, economic hardship, legal and administrative challenges and difficulties in accessing documentation following the disappearance of their loved ones.

The International Day of the Disappeared is commemorated annually on August 30 to honour missing persons and stand in solidarity with their families.

Drought pushes Agago families to the brink as 18 die, hundreds admitted

Agago District, located between Pader and Kitgum in northern Uganda, is one of the districts that experienced a dry spell from March to August, destroying harvests and leaving families with nothing to eat.

At Lira-Palwo sub-county and the Agago District headquarters last week, several elderly men and women gathered to receive food relief.

Their teary eyes, pale skin, bony bodies and inability to even sit showed the days some families had endured without a proper meal. Some could not manage to sit and rested on the grass.

The locals had gathered to receive relief aid in form of posho flour, beans and cooking oil from The Salvation Army, a humanitarian organization.

Mr Denish Okot Toolit, a resident of Gemodwong Village, Lapeta Parish, Lira-Palwo Sub-county, also a farmer, said the situation was caused by prolonged drought that destroyed gardens.

“We experienced a prolonged drought where farmers in the first season did not harvest anything from what they had put down. For example, many people eat only once. We are suffering from malnutrition,” Toolit said.

He said the current hunger crisis brings back memories of a similar situation in 1994 when Agago was still part of Pader District.

“This is the second similar scenario of hunger crisis we have experienced. We had the same challenge in 1994 where organisations and government came in with food relief to help the people by then when we were still in Pader District,” he said.

“When the rains disappoint, our only livelihood which is farming is disorganised and there is no way of paying school fees. We are unable to go to the hospital and now people are dying. Just two weeks ago we buried seven people in Lira-Palwo Sub-county,” he added.

Mr John Otto, another resident, blamed the drought on continued tree cutting, cultivation in swamps, use of improved seeds instead of indigenous ones, and low prices of produce.

“People have started cultivating in the swamps because the rains are unpredictable. The government should introduce many irrigation schemes to the farmers if possible in all the 78 parishes,” Otto said.

Mr Wilson Otto, the Agago District LC V Chairman, said the district experienced drought for over four months and seeds dried in the gardens.

“We have lost over 18 people due to malnutrition and we had 351 admissions in health centre IIIs and IVs across the district,” he said.

He said Love One International, another humanitarian organization, is currently taking care of 307 malnourished children from different homes.

“Records in the hospitals also show that mothers were giving birth to children weighing less than 1 kilogram and these are the serious effects of the drought and hunger,” Mr Otto said, adding that organisations and government should come to the rescue of families that have not yet benefited from relief.

He said there are over 4,000 households of older persons who are in urgent need of relief support.

Mr Otto, however, called on locals to embrace farming this second season and said they are devising measures to sustain food production to avoid similar situations.

“As a district, we have learnt a bigger lesson and we want to see that our people grow enough food and have some in stores,” he said.

The Monitor has learnt that the district recently passed a council resolution that at least every family should grow cassava, which is a drought resistant long-term crop.

District officials have also started teaching people to plant coffee and bananas.

Officials also revealed that government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries has a program of extending irrigation schemes to farmers.

Lieutenant Peter Mukisa Rwolekya, the Public Relations Officer for Salvation Army Uganda Territory, urged other religious groups not to concentrate only on spiritual needs.

“As the Salvation Army we do not end at feeding people spiritually on the word of God but we also give them hope by standing with them without discrimination in belief, tribe and colour. We had a call from the district leaders some weeks ago about the hunger troubling locals due to the prolonged dry spell that was experienced in the area and we decided to respond,” Rwolekya said.

Captain Patrick Wanyonyi, the emergency officer in Uganda Territory, said they reached out to 250 households targeting the elderly above 70 years who are at risk.

“We have given each household with an elderly person above 70 years 25 kilograms of maize flour, 10 kilograms of beans and 3 litres of cooking oil and we hope that the items will be able to hold them as we expect other well wishers also come in to rescue the residents of Agago to find what to eat,” Wanyonyi said.

MPs grill Uganda Airlines officials over Shs230b loss

Uganda Airlines officials came under pressure from MPs over persistent losses, rising debt and financial irregularities flagged in the Auditor General’s 2025 report.

The airline’s officials Thursday appeared before the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase), chaired by Kyadondo East MP Muwada Nkunyingi, to respond to queries in the audit report.

According to the report, Uganda Airlines recorded a loss of Shs230.816 billion in the 2024/25 financial year, following losses of Shs231.584 billion in 2023/24 and Shs323.598 billion in 2023.

The Auditor General also reported that the airline’s debt ratio increased from 20.86 percent to 29.92 percent, while accumulated arrears rose by Shs64.012 billion to Shs235.70 billion.

The airline’s operating margin stood at 46.66 percent, while its return on assets was negative 24.49 percent and its current ratio was 0.71, indicating continued financial and liquidity pressure.

MPs also questioned why only Shs200 million had been recognised as the airline’s investment from the Shs1.984 trillion injected by government.

The audit further flagged the lack of timely closure and reconciliation of an A320 wet-lease agreement, an unclassified performance deposit, unbanked cash collections at the airline’s Juba office and unsupported penalties involving aviation fuel suppliers.

It also found that the airline procured aviation fuel from suppliers without contracts and had not adequately planned for the disposal of assets.

MPs raised additional concern over alleged duplication of air tickets, with claims that the same ticket serial number could be issued to different passengers.

Kalungu West MP Joseph Ssewungu asked management to explain how such irregularities could occur and what controls had been introduced to prevent revenue losses.

Committee chairperson Mr Nkunyingi also questioned the airline’s dependence on passenger revenue.

‘How do you safeguard these revenues if it is from, because if 87 percent is from passenger, and we have now a revelation that at one point is at risk?’ he asked.

Uganda Airlines Chief Finance Officer Allan Joel Kyeyune attributed the losses to the impact of Covid-19, the cost of opening new routes and limited revenue streams.

He said the airline had planned to launch routes to Cape Town, Accra, Jeddah and Asmara but was unable to open them as scheduled, affecting projected revenues.

Mr Kyeyune said newly launched airline routes generally take four to five years to mature and become sustainably profitable, while Uganda Airlines continues to incur costs as it expands its network.

He said passenger revenue accounts for 87 percent of the airline’s income, cargo 11 percent, with the remainder coming from sources such as charters and excess baggage.

‘There is no airline in the world that will be profitable relying on only two revenue streams majorly, which is passenger and cargo,’ he said.

On unbanked cash collections, Mr Kyeyune acknowledged that the issue had been identified during the audit but said the airline had since worked with Ecobank to install systems allowing customers to make payments directly to the bank and receive receipts.

He said the airline was also increasingly using electronic payment platforms as it expands its international operations.

Uganda Airlines Chief Executive Officer Girma Wake told MPs that management was working on a recovery and expansion strategy, although he cautioned that profitability would not be achieved immediately.

He said the strategy includes restoring grounded aircraft, strengthening regional connectivity and positioning Entebbe as an aviation hub.

Mr Wake said the airline has ordered four Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and four Boeing 787-9 aircraft, with deliveries expected from 2032 and 2033 respectively.

He added that Uganda Airlines plans to dry-lease smaller aircraft to expand regional operations and open additional routes, including Accra and Rwanda, to feed passengers into its long-haul network.

The airline was established as part of government’s efforts to rebuild Uganda’s national carrier and strengthen Entebbe’s position as a regional aviation hub.

Witch doctors jailed for life, 35 years over Kiboga child killings

Two witch doctors have been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment and 35 years in jail respectively for the ritualistic killings of three children in separate cases in Kiboga District.

Kiboga High Court Judge Jamson Karemani on August 27 convicted Sulaiman Sentongo and Madina Nakyeyune after finding sufficient evidence linking them to the killings of the children, whose bodies were found mutilated and missing several organs.

In the first case, two children, Nantongo Sylvia, two, and Nakasumba Esther, five, disappeared on April 3, 2024, after leaving their mother in a garden at about 1pm.

Despite searches and public announcements, the children could not be traced.

The following morning, schoolchildren discovered human remains along the Busunju-Kiboga Highway and alerted local authorities, who notified police.

Investigators visited the scene with a trained police dog, which led them to Sentongo’s shrine.

When Sentongo saw police officers and residents approaching his home, he fled from Kiboga. A search of his shrine led to the recovery of several items associated with witchcraft practices.

The trained dog later helped investigators locate the victims’ heads, which had been concealed in a kiln near a church.

Other body parts were recovered near a stream, while intestines were reportedly found hanging from a tree.

According to the prosecution evidence, the children’s bodies were missing several organs, including the hearts, lungs, livers, uteruses and genitals.

Sentongo was later tracked to Kampala by Crime Intelligence and the Flying Squad and arrested.

His sister, Namuleme, was also arrested after allegedly sending him money to facilitate his escape to Kampala.

While Sentongo was charged with human sacrifice, his sister faced a charge of being an accessory after the fact.

During the trial, prosecutors tendered Know Your Customer records, mobile money records, call data records and a DNA analysis report as evidence.

The prosecution was led by Chief State Attorney David Baxter Bakibinga and Senior State Attorney Stephen Ariong.

Justice Karemani, having considered the evidence and concurred with the assessors’ opinion, convicted Sentongo and sentenced him to life imprisonment, the severest punishment in criminal justice.

However, the judge acquitted Namuleme after finding that the prosecution had not proved the charge against her beyond reasonable doubt.

Second case

In a separate case, 11-year-old Olive Namaganda disappeared on June 10, 2024, after leaving home for Kiboga Town to sell maize.

Two days later, her remains were discovered in Kirurumba Village.

The victim’s torso was missing, including the heart, liver, kidneys, uterus and genitals.

Police visited the scene with a trained dog, Hippy, which tracked the scent of the suspect to the shrine of witch doctor Madina Nakyeyune.

Several items associated with witchcraft practices were recovered from Nakyeyune’s shrine.

Among the items recovered near the victim’s remains was a piece of cloth containing Namaganda’s DNA, according to the prosecution evidence.

Nakyeyune was subsequently arrested and charged with human sacrifice.

During the trial, prosecutors relied on a DNA analysis report, among other evidence. The dog handler also testified about Hippy’s training and experience, telling court that the dog had contributed to more than 300 successful arrests and convictions over six years.

Justice Karemani, after evaluating the evidence and agreeing with the assessors’ opinion, convicted Nakyeyune and sentenced her to 35 years’ imprisonment.

The ODPP said the convictions demonstrate the commitment of prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to holding perpetrators of serious crimes accountable.

First National Bank Launches Investment Gift Cards

First National Bank Ghana has launched a new financial product, the Investment Gift Card, that redefines traditional gifting by turning presents into long-term investments.

The innovative offering is designed to help families and loved ones build a stronger financial future while celebrating special moments and milestones.

Available in denominations of GHS2,000, GHS5,000, GHS10,000 and flexible values, the cards give recipients an opportunity to begin their wealth creation journey, develop sound money management habits and benefit from long-term investing.

The Bank said at a time when many gifts offer only temporary satisfaction, the Investment Gift Cards provide an enduring foundation for financial security and prosperity.

Head of Retail Banking at First National Bank Ghana, Akweley Laryea, said the innovation reflects the Bank’s commitment to helping Ghanaians build generational wealth and cultivate healthy financial habits from an early age.

‘While traditional gifts may provide immediate joy and satisfaction, gifting a loved one an investment offers a long-lasting and potentially rewarding opportunity. It is a gift that can grow over time and become a meaningful asset in the future.

‘Unlike conventional gifts that depreciate or lose relevance, investments have the potential to appreciate and create lasting value. Through the cards, recipients gain exposure to saving, investing and long-term financial planning, offering lessons beyond the initial gift,’ she said.

Mrs. Laryea outlined six key benefits of the product. First is promoting financial education. Gifting an investment introduces recipients to the fundamentals of investing, financial planning and wealth creation, providing a practical way to learn about managing money and making informed decisions.

Second is building wealth over time. She noted that wealth creation requires patience and consistency, and investments can grow to support future aspirations and life goals.

Third is encouraging ownership and responsibility. Receiving an investment encourages recipients to think about important decisions, such as whether to spend or reinvest returns, nurturing accountability and deeper understanding of personal finance.

Fourth is leveraging compound growth. One of the greatest advantages of investing early is allowing returns to accumulate over time, creating significant long-term value.

Fifth is creating legacy. Investment assets can be passed on to future generations, making them an effective tool for long-term planning and legacy building.

Sixth is instilling positive financial habits. The cards encourage a long-term mindset, discipline, patience and appreciation for investing.

Mrs. Laryea said the product is particularly relevant for parents and guardians seeking meaningful ways to prepare children for financial success.

‘One of the greatest gifts we can give our children and loved ones is financial preparedness. By introducing them to investing early, we equip them with knowledge, confidence, and habits that can positively shape their future. This is more than a gift; it is an investment in their potential and well-being,’ she added.

The First National Bank Investment Gift Cards will be available for purchase at all First National Bank branches nationwide from September 1.

We Oppose Proposed VALCO Transfer To Private Investor – ICU Insists

The Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU-Ghana) has maintained its opposition to the proposed transfer of the Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO) to private ownership, calling for an immediate halt to ongoing negotiations.

The Union’s stance follows the inauguration of a negotiating team by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources on August 21, 2026, mandated to negotiate definitive terms with a prospective strategic investor for the retooling and expansion of VALCO.

In a statement dated August 27, 2026, and signed by its General Secretary, Morgan Ayawine, the ICU said while it is not opposed to modernisation, its concern is the method, particularly the intention to cede a substantial portion of state equity to a private investor.

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has assured Ghanaians that the transaction would not amount to ‘outright privatisation.’

However, the ICU said the assurance appears inconsistent with information previously presented to the Union about a proposed transfer of 70 percent equity.

‘In our considered view, ceding a controlling interest in a wholly State-owned company to a private investor would, in substance, result in a significant transfer of ownership and control, irrespective of whether the arrangement is described as a strategic investment,’ the statement said.

The Union stressed that its opposition pre-dates the negotiating team.

It said its National Executive Council formally resolved against the 70 percent equity transfer on July 31, 2026, after organising a peaceful demonstration in Tema on July 27 and petitioning President John Dramani Mahama to keep VALCO as a strategic national asset under full state ownership.

The ICU also raised questions about the investor-selection process. It said the Minister had told workers no investor had been selected, yet the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) inaugurated an investor-selection committee in November 2025 and announced on January 8, 2026, that investors had been secured.

It further cited a letter dated July 30, 2026, from Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad, understood to be the principal technical partner of the Arch Holdings consortium, indicating its only submission before the January announcement was a Letter of Intent dated September 29, 2025.

Press Metal and Vitol reportedly did not visit VALCO until April 2026.

‘A Letter of Intent, by itself, does not necessarily constitute a completed technical assessment, a binding financial commitment or evidence of operational capacity,’ the ICU said.

The Union added that Press Metal has subsequently withdrawn, raising questions about the current composition, technical capacity and financial credibility of the prospective investor.

It called for full disclosure and independent scrutiny of the process and said modernisation does not require loss of state control.

The ICU proposed alternative measures including reliable and competitively priced power, competent management, state-backed recapitalisation, debt financing and governance reforms.

It urged President Mahama to direct the Minister to halt the process pending a comprehensive review and a formal response to its petition.

‘VALCO is a strategic national asset. Its future must be determined by what best serves Ghana’s national interest,’ the statement said.

Ho Assembly Supports 76 PWDs

The Ho Municipal Assembly has supported 76 persons with disabilities (PWDs) with financial assistance and capital items under the 37th disbursement of the Persons with Disability Common Fund.

The beneficiaries received support in four key areas: income-generating activities, education, healthcare and organisational development, aimed at improving their livelihoods and promoting social inclusion.

Some beneficiaries received capital items, including freezers, fufu-pounding machines, sewing machines, poly tanks and laptops, while others were given cash to establish or expand their businesses.

Chairman of the Municipal Common Fund Management Committee, Mr. Alexander Korsi Akpo, urged beneficiaries to put the items and financial assistance to their intended use to ensure that the intervention achieved its objective of promoting economic independence among PWDs.

He cautioned beneficiaries against selling or abandoning the items, stressing that the support was intended to create opportunities for them to become self-reliant rather than encourage dependency. He also urged PWDs to desist from street begging and take advantage of opportunities provided through the Common Fund and other social protection programmes.

Mr. Akpo expressed appreciation to the government for increasing the allocation to PWDs from three per cent to five per cent of the District Assemblies Common Fund. However, he said the five per cent allocation remained inadequate to meet the growing needs of PWDs and appealed for additional support from private institutions, civil society organisations, philanthropists and development partners.

He called for a shift from small-scale interventions towards capital-intensive and sustainable projects capable of creating employment and generating long-term income for PWDs and their organisations. He cited ventures such as poultry farming and the revival of the former chalk factory as potential initiatives that could create jobs and improve the economic well-being of PWDs.

The Ho Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Stephen Adom, said the increase in the PWD allocation from three per cent to five per cent formed part of government’s efforts to improve the livelihoods of PWDs and promote social inclusion. He urged beneficiaries to use the items productively and cautioned them against selling them.

Mr. Adom disclosed that the Assembly had established a monitoring committee to follow up on beneficiaries and ensure that the funds and items provided were used for their intended purposes. He said the mechanism would enable the Assembly to assess the impact of the intervention and ensure that future support reached persons who needed it most, while government continued to support the education of children with disabilities.

North American Division SDA President Visits SEGUM

President of the North American Division (NAD) of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church, Pastor G. Alexander Bryant, has paid working visits to the South East Ghana Union Mission (SEGUM), to strengthen relationship between the two.

The South East Ghana Union Mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church welcomed Pastor G. Alexander Bryant to its Head Office at Tema Community 12, describing his visit as a historic milestone in the relationship between the two church entities.

A statement issued by the Communication Department of the South East Ghana Union Mission of the church said Pastor Bryant arrived in Ghana for his first official visit to the country, accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Desiree Bryant, and a delegation comprising Elder Calvin Bernard Preston and Mrs. Wynona W. Preston.

It said the delegation was warmly received at the SEGUM Head Office by leaders of the South East Ghana Union Mission and the South West Ghana Union Conference.

‘The visit is expected to further strengthen the longstanding fraternal relationship between the South East Ghana Union Mission and the North American Division, while creating opportunities for greater collaboration in advancing the mission and ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church,’ it stated.

The statement said during the delegation’s one-week stay in Ghana, Pastor Bryant and his team were expected to visit various parts of the country, tour camp meeting sites, fellowship with church members and engage church administrators in high-level discussions.

It said the visit was also anticipated to provide an opportunity for the NAD leadership to interact directly with members and leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ghana and gain deeper insight into the church’s work and activities in the country.

SEGUM called on Seventh-day Adventist Church members across Ghana to extend a warm welcome to the delegation and support them with prayers, adding that members had particularly been encouraged to pray for Pastor Bryant, his family and the entire delegation for a successful visit to Ghana.

Fight Galamsey With All Govt Agencies – Zanetor

The Minister-designate for Environment, Science and Technology, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has called for stronger coordination among government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to tackle illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, and its devastating effects on the environment and human life.

She said the fight against illegal mining could not be left to a single ministry or institution, describing it as an ‘all-of-government and all-of-society imperative.’

Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings made the call when she appeared before Parliament’s Appointments Committee for her vetting yesterday.

She said effective coordination among the various institutions involved in the fight was necessary to avoid duplication of efforts and ensure that interventions produced meaningful results.

‘The fight against illegal mining and the subsequent damage it does to the environment and human life are an all-of-government and all-of-society imperative,’ she said.

Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings said if approved by Parliament, one of her first actions would be to engage ministers whose portfolios were directly connected to the fight against illegal mining.

She specifically mentioned the Ministries of Lands and Natural Resources and Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, saying their collaboration would be critical because illegal mining activities largely occurred within the local governance system.

‘I would want to sit with the relevant ministers of the various ministries that have an interest in the fight, which would range from the Lands as well as the Local Government, to ensure that we are all on the same page, to avoid the silo effect,’ she said.

According to her, bringing the relevant ministries and agencies together would establish a common approach to the problem and ensure that each institution understood its role in addressing the menace.

She also identified the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) as a key institution in the fight and said she would work closely with it to obtain a comprehensive briefing on the current situation and the interventions already being implemented.

Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings further advocated regular reporting on measures being taken against illegal mining.

She said such reporting would improve transparency and allow the government to assess whether its interventions were achieving the desired results.

The Minister-designate stressed that the environmental damage caused by illegal mining had implications beyond the mining areas, particularly where activities affected natural resources and human health.

She therefore called for a coordinated national response involving government institutions and wider society.

Her position comes amid continuing efforts by the government and other stakeholders to address illegal mining and its effects on Ghana’s water bodies, forests and communities.

Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings said the responsibility for tackling the problem should be shared among institutions whose mandates had a bearing on mining, local governance and environmental protection.

She said closer collaboration among the agencies would help eliminate gaps in enforcement and ensure that interventions were implemented in a coordinated manner.

She also indicated that consultation with the relevant institutions would be an important first step in determining the most effective approach to the problem if she received parliamentary approval.

Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings said the government needed to move away from isolated interventions and adopt a unified strategy that brought together all institutions with a stake in protecting the environment and the wellbeing of Ghanaians.

Hearts Of Oak Legends Reject $100,000 Claim

Former Hearts of Oak players Yaw Amankwah Mireku and Dan Quaye have strongly denied claims that members of the club’s 2000 CAF Champions League-winning squad received $100,000 each.

Former Hearts CEO Harry Zakour, speaking on Sporty FM, claimed the club received $3 million after winning the competition and used part of the money to reward the players. According to Zakour, each of the 18 players received $100,000.

Mireku, however, dismissed the claim as false, insisting he received only $180 after the historic triumph.

He challenged Zakour to provide evidence of the alleged payment and said he was prepared to take the matter to court.

‘None of the players was awarded $100,000 for winning the CAF African Champions League. I only received $180,’ Mireku said.

Quaye also disputed Zakour’s account, saying he remembers receiving approximately $2,000 rather than $100,000.

‘It is never true that we were paid that amount. I was never given the said amount,’ Quaye stated.

Hearts of Oak made history in 2000 by defeating Tunisia’s Esperance in the CAF Champions League final, becoming the first Ghanaian club to win the competition in its modern format.

The Phobians followed that success by defeating Zamalek in the 2001 CAF Super Cup before adding another continental title with victory in the 2005 CAF Confederation Cup.