22 rich people, chasing one ball

Then there's you screaming with only GHs5 in your pocket!

Author

Chale News
December 04, 2024

So, what’s in the bag today?

  • Sports: “We couldn’t send a boxer to Paris, but we’ve been KO’d by our own inefficiency.”

  • Sports: Watching football? Cheddar says, “You’re wasting your life!"

  • Health: “AIDS fund drier than Harmattan lips – lives at stake!”

  • Economic: Petrol’s new price tag: GH₵14.99. Are we buying fuel or gold?!

  • Sports: Accra hosts the heavy hitters: Para powerlifting that will make you rethink your gym routine!"

  • Fact of the Day: “Everybody it’s me and 9 million other people’s birthday.”

  • Politics: If it’s up to Dr. Tanko-Computer, no ballot box will go unsealed. So, Ashanti EC, you’ve been warned—no funny business allowed!

  • National: Power struggle in parliament is leading us into power struggle aka dumsor.

QUICK BYTE

  • Nana Kwame Bediako, a.k.a. Cheddar, wants you to rethink your weekend rituals of shouting “goal” at a TV screen. According to the Presidential hopeful, your football obsession is just free labor for rich footballers making bank while you lose hours of your life. Want the deets in full? Check out the Deep Dive section.

  • Herbert Mensah has called out Ghana's sporting authorities for what he terms a "tragic fall from grace." Ghana’s recent showings have been, in his words, “money-draining disappointments.” Mensah highlighted the Black Stars' failure to qualify for AFCON 2025. "Football, the so-called 'political sport,' eats up funds like it’s a buffet, yet we have little to show for it," Mensah quipped. "The Olympics? Taxpayers’ money wasted. Commonwealth Games? Same story. It’s unacceptable!" After raising legends like Azumah Nelson, we couldn’t even send a single boxer to the Olympics. Chale… Read more

  • Ghana AIDS Commission is sounding the alarm: the country is about to fumble its 2030 AIDS reduction goals big time if funding doesn’t step up. Over 55% of HIV patients—roughly 83,000 people—are staring down life-threatening risks because of serious funding gaps that have been haunting the Commission for years. Get the 411 in the Deep Dive section below

  • It’s like fuel prices are doing the “electric slide”—two steps back, three steps forward. The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) had us hopeful last month, predicting price drops based on falling international prices and the cedi’s brief glow-up in performance. But as you read this:

  • Petrol: From GH₵14.82 to GH₵14.99.

  • Diesel: From GH₵15.66 to GH₵15.72.

    Read more

FACT OF THE DAY

❝

You share your birthday with at least 9 million other people in the world.

  • Accra was on fire for World Disability Day, but forget the candles and speeches—this year, it was all about serious lifting. Over 50 para-athletes from five regions came together to show us how to break limits—literally. Hosted by the Ghana Para-Powerlifting Association, this competition wasn’t just about who could bench press the most. No, it was about showing the world how far we’ve come, and how far we could go... if only someone helped lift the financial burden off them. Read more

  • In a major power play gone wrong, Ghana's debt restructuring deal with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) is now caught in the parliamentary crossfire. The good news? Three companies, including AKSA, Asogli, and Zenit, are already signed, sealed, and ready to deliver power—literally and financially. But then there’s CenPower and Amandi, the problem children of this whole deal. As Dr. Amin Adam put it, “Until parliament returns and approves those two PPAs, they will remain outstanding.” Read more

  • During the special voting exercise on Monday, Dr. Rashid Tanko-Computer alleges that the Ashanti Regional EC Director tried to block the NDC from sealing ballot boxes. Normally, parties can place their seals on ballot boxes alongside the EC’s, ensuring there’s no funny business with the votes. This sparked a fiery confrontation. Tanko-Computer claimed the EC Director even tried to defend his orders by asking whether the NDC planned to seal 400 boxes—to which Tanko-Computer retorted, “Bring 1 million boxes, I’ll seal 1 million.” Read more

DEEP DIVE

Stop shouting for free

Watching football might be fun, but Cheddar thinks it’s time to stop shouting “Oluwaaaa!” for free and start scoring some real-life goals.

The independent Presidential candidate, known for his unconventional ideas, says all those hours spent watching your favorite teams are a monumental waste of time.

Here’s how he broke it down on GTV’s Presidential Encounters: “Two hours, every match, three matches a week? My friend, you’ve wasted 500 hours in a year! Meanwhile, Kevin De Bruyne is cashing £400k weekly. You? You’re cheering for free. Clap for yourself.”

Not only is he calling for a rethink, but Cheddar also has a master plan: Let’s stop being just fans and start building an industry. He suggested bringing proper coaching and training into schools because, according to him, “We become footballers by vision, not training.” Translation? Ghanaians believe they’re football legends in their heads but don’t have the facilities to back it up.😂😂

Cheddar might have his maths slightly off — Europe’s top ballers aren’t all making half a million per week. But still Robert Lewandowski is pulling in $640k weekly while the average Serie A player is pocketing €44k. Meanwhile, you’re at home arguing over penalty calls on borrowed Wi-Fi. Chale… Read more

The Maths isn’t mathing

Let’s get straight to it. Dr. Kyeremeh Atuahene, the Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, went all out to drop some harsh truths. Ghana has been running on empty when it comes to HIV/AIDS funding, with a whopping $80 million gap annually over the past five years.

And the math isn’t mathing:

  • Out of 151,000 HIV-positive patients in Ghana, only 45% are receiving treatment.

  • The goal? 98% treatment coverage by 2030. But at this rate, we’re moving like a trotro stuck in third gear.

The Commission warns that without increased funding, Ghana could see over 43,000 new infections and lose most of the untreated patients.

Chale, we either invest now or face the consequences later. Read more

NEWS SOURCES

Today’s stories are curated from: