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Those of you who went to Orange Friday and those of us who spent our weekend indoors, Monday has come for all of us.
That’s the good thing about Mondays oo, it humbles everybody😂😂😂😂
As you head back to the grind, here are some stories for you:
National: VRA is basically the friend who always buys lunch but never gets paid back, and now it’s starting to show.
National: Galamsey has been an absolute nightmare, and CHRAJ boss is calling out Addo Dee for not living up to the hype.
Economic: Akufo Addo goes to China: invites Chinese investors to hop on Ghana’s glow-up train, promising mutual prosperity.
National: Be careful when you say, “I’m your ride or die” cos some people take it literally.
Fact of the Day: You know triangles and rectangles. But do you know what a 26-side shape is called?
Crime: Two herbalists start a side hustle that goes bad.
Crime: What happens when your landlord trusts you… and you vanish with their GH¢260K?
National: Dansoman residents threw hands when the Fire Service showed up with no fire tender to put out fire.
Politics: The NDC in Tema West is saying, “Ain’t no way we’re letting the NPP run over us this election.”
Politics: The Catholic Bishops are calling on the EC to play it straight in the 2024 election.
QUICK BYTE
VRA (Volta River Authority) has been supplying all the good stuff—electricity—like your buddy always covering lunch, but now, ECG and VALCO are ghosting them on the payments. And surprise, surprise—it’s creating a massive money problem. VRA’s wallet is so thin, it could slide under a door. IES (Institute for Energy Security) is out here yelling, "Yo, government! Time to handle this!" They’re basically saying before any wild plans to mash up VRA with Bui Power and ECG with NEDCo happen, let’s make sure we don’t leave VRA broke. Want the deets in full? Check out the Deep Dive section.
Edward Worwornyo and his son, Senyo Augustus are herbalists. They thought about was a good idea. and decided to moonlight as teak thieves. But the Hohoe Circuit Court wasn't having it. The duo got slapped with four years in prison after being convicted of trespassing and chopping down someone else’s teak trees. They tried to pull the "This is our land" card, but the real owner had receipts, so the father-son duo is not just behind bars—they also gotta cough up GH¢720 or face even more time. Get the 411 in the Deep Dive section below
Fam, what’s worse than losing in FIFA to your bestie? How about a literal stabbing after a misunderstanding? Yep, that’s the tragic tea coming out of Krachi Nchumuru. Uwombornyi Bado and Alhassan Merasa, besties-turned-enemies, had a major falling out that escalated to a deadly level. Alhassan stabbed his boy in the stomach with a stick—a whole stick, bruh. And Bado didn’t make it, despite a mad dash to the hospital. Read more in the Deep Dive Section.
When President Akufo-Addo said he’d put his presidency on the line to fight this illegal mining issue, Ghanaians thought it was about to be game over for galamsey. So now, the CHRAJ Commissioner, Joseph Whittal, isn’t holding back with beefing President Akufo-Addo over the fight against galamsey, saying the government has seriously fumbled. In fact, the man even backed calls for a state of emergency to deal with the mess! Whittal wasn’t mincing words, especially after hearing about how polluted water has led to all sorts of health disasters—from stillbirths to rising kidney diseases. It's giving “empty promises” energy, and Whittal says Akufo-Addo needs to wake up and act before it’s too late. Read more
Prez Akufo Addo is standing in front of a room full of Chinese business moguls, at the China-Ghana Business Forum in Shenzhen. He’s looking like he's about to drop the biggest mixtape of Ghana's economic plans. But instead, he opens with a fire Chinese proverb, basically saying, “Let’s go the distance together.” He’s laying it down thick, promising that Ghana’s got the vibe, the stability, and the investment-friendly energy China needs to expand its portfolio. He goes on to flex a bit about how Ghana’s been besties with China since 2015, with trade numbers that would make your side hustle look small-time—$9.23 billion in 2023 alone. His big pitch? Come invest in Ghana’s next-level transformation—everything from green energy to agriculture—and watch both nations secure the bag. Read more
FACT OF THE DAY
A 26-sided shape is known as a rhombicuboctahedron.
This is the part where you send us voice notes pronouncing this word.😂😂
People in Kofi Abam, Okotokwa, Kwame Ntiful, and like five other communities in Agona East have been living without electricity for decades. Yep, while we're out here complaining about Wi-Fi speeds, they're lighting candles just to see at night. Kids are squinting over homework by lantern light, and businesses? Totally struggling without power. It's like they're stuck in a real-life throwback Thursday, every day.
What's wild is that some of these places have the electric poles and wires all set up, but still no juice! Want the deets in full? Check out the Deep Dive section.
Meet Gifty Ansu Gyamfi and Stephen Appau, who pulled a Houdini at pro level. Back in 2022, this power couple sweet-talked their landlady, Doris Animah Tando, into handing over a casual GH¢260,000 with the promise of delivering gold. But once they pocketed the cash, Stephen pulled a full-on David Blaine, vanishing without a trace. Fast forward to 2024, and Gifty’s out here telling the police, “Oh, I only got GH¢60,000 of it, blame my hubby for the rest.” Sis really tried to dodge the heat by saying Stephen was the mastermind. Stephen even sent a letter through Gifty, promising to refund the money in three months. Those three months came and went, and guess what? Still no gold, and still no cash.
Now, the court’s had enough of this “hide and seek” game. They’ve issued a bench warrant. Even the court date on September 4th came and went, and the couple didn’t show up, making that bench warrant hotter than ever. Read more
Your house is on fire, and the Fire Service finally arrives… without the one thing they actually need—a fire tender! In Dansoman, this wasn’t some movie scene; it was fili fili. The residents had no time for explanations. With their property being eaten up by flames, they took matters (and a couple of officers) into their own hands—literally! Slaps were flying like it was the world’s worst WWE match, and the firefighters were on the receiving end of the heat, even though they were supposed to be the ones cooling things down. Back in 2023, Fire Service officers faced a similar situation at Circle, where they got pelted with stones by an angry mob. The service was so fed up, they threatened to blacklist entire communities who attacked their personnel. Read more
So, the political heat is turning up in Tema West, and the NDC isn’t backing down! Vice Chairman Peter Cudjo has thrown a serious warning at the NPP, basically saying, “Mess with us again, and we won’t be sleeping.” Why, you ask? Apparently, the NPP has been out here demolishing NDC signboards and tearing down posters like it’s some sort of political Olympics. And the NDC has had it! Read more
DEEP DIVE
When Your Friends Owe You Big Time and Won’t Pay Up
VRA’s been dishing out the electricity vibes like it’s free pizza night, but the others? They’re giving major “I’ll pay you next week” energy. Now, VRA’s wallet is as empty as a Monday night bar, and IES is waving their hands frantically like, “Fix it! Fix it, fast!”
It’s like this whole thing is turning into the group chat where everyone’s ignoring the “hey, who owes what?” message. Except here, instead of splitting a dinner bill, we’re talking about millions of cedis. And VRA? They’re about to start sending passive-aggressive “reminder” texts. IES is telling the government to step in before things get even more awkward.
Now, while all this “who owes who” drama is heating up, there's talk about merging VRA with Bui Power and combining ECG with NEDCo. It’s giving serious “let’s all move in together to save on rent” vibes. But the Staff Groups at VRA? They’re not having it. They’re over here saying, “This is not what we signed up for!” Merging companies might sound like a good deal on paper, but they’re worried it’ll just turn into a big mess, leaving VRA even more broke than before.
And, seriously, can you blame them? Imagine being the main plug and being told you might have to split your bedroom with two other roommates who aren’t even paying rent. VRA’s squad is stressing that if this whole situation isn’t handled with care, we could be looking at a full-on national electricity crisis. Read more
Alhassan took “ride or die” too serious
You know that one friend who always says, “We’re in this together, ride or die”? Well, apparently, the ride turned way too real in Krachi Nchumuru, and the “die” part, unfortunately, wasn’t metaphorical. Uwombornyi Bado and Alhassan Merasa were supposedly close, but next thing we know, word spreads that two bros who were tighter than a pair of skinny jeans just went WWE on each other. Alhassan played “mortal combat” with his bestie, jabbing him with a stick in the stomach. Ouch!
No one knows. Maybe Bado didn’t share his last plantain chips, or Alhassan owed him some cash. We’ll never know until Alhassan talks, but whatever it was, things got ugly fast. By the time Bado was rushed to the clinic, it was already game over. RIP, bro.
The Assembly member, John Mpoebi Nteleye, confirmed the news like, “Yeah, this really happened, guys,” and the whole community is shooketh (like was it that deep?) I mean, this isn’t something you expect between besties. Talk about a friendship breakup no one saw coming! Meanwhile, the police have scooped up Alhassan who’s probably thinking about what went wrong—seriously, what happened? Read more
A father and son stole some teak trees…
Our guy, the complainant, visited his teak and palm plantation in Gbi-Wegbe and realized that some of his trees were MIA. Little did he know, a father-son duo, who are herbalists, had decided they wanted to add "wood thieves" to their CV.
Two days after the first discovery, the complainant pulled up again and caught Senyo Augustus, the son, casually sawing away at more trees like it was just another day in the forest. Big mistake, bro. The carpenter called the police, and Augustus quickly threw his dad, Edward Worwornyo, under the bus, claiming he was just following orders. Nice try, but that didn’t stop the police from arresting both of them.
Now Edward, the dad, tried to claim that the land was his. But the actual owner wasn’t playing around—he came through with a court judgment that made it crystal clear the land (and those precious trees) were his. Meanwhile, the father and son didn’t have a shred of paperwork to back up their claims, but they still went ahead and transported the stolen trees.
So, after a full trial, the court said, “Yeah, no.” Edward and Senyo got sentenced to four years behind bars. And to make things worse, they’ve been ordered to pay GH¢720 as compensation or risk adding two more years to their sentence. Read more
There’s no light here
It's 2024, but in parts of Agona East, it might as well be the Stone Age. Residents of Kofi Abam, Okotokwa, Kwame Ntiful, and a handful of other communities are out here making do without electricity. Kids trying to study are basically competing with the sun, and once it sets, it's game over.
Businesses are taking major Ls because, surprise, it's kinda hard to run things without power. Fridges? Nope. Charging your phone? Only if you hike over to the next town. Safety's a whole other issue—streets are pitch black, making late-night walks feel like a horror movie scene. And while they're out here struggling, neighboring communities are binging shows and scrolling through social media without a care.
Some of these villages have all the electrical gear—poles, wires, the whole setup—but they're still not connected to the grid! Assembly members are shaking their heads, saying the government's promises are emptier than a juice box after lunch.
Local MP Queenstar Mame Pokuah Sawyerr is fed up. She's managed to get 48 communities connected, but says the current government's been sabotaging her efforts for these last few spots. Her appeals to the Ministry of Energy? Left on seen. It's like she's DMing someone who just won't text back, and meanwhile, the people she's fighting for are still stuck in the dark—literally. Read more
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NEWS SOURCES
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