Gold Diggers 2.0

Monday again? Yep, we feel that deep sigh from here. One minute you’re vibing, the next the weekend has vanished into the night. But hey, it’s not all bad! We're back with the goods to kick-start your week and keep you happy.

Spoiler alert: it’s way better than “please find attached” and all that jazz. Let’s get it! 😎

• Politics: John Mahama is out here like, “12,000 km of roads? Show me the receipts!”

• National: Ghana's Bank of Gold—or should we say Bank of Galamsey? The BoG’s failure to verify its gold sources has sparked claims it's funding illegal mining on the DL.

• Economic: Bright Simons says, “Ghana’s oil reserves are disappearing faster than jollof at a wedding reception!”

• National: The NDC is teaming up with all the homies to tackle illegal mining.

• Politics: Mahama's telling the EC to get its act together.

• Fact of the Day: Back in the 1990s, con artist Steve Comisar pulled off one of the quirkiest scams by selling "solar-powered clothes dryers" for $49.95.

• Politics: Asiedu Nketia is out here like, "Central Region, why you tossing your royal status like it’s trash? Know your worth!"

• National: "Yo, the police are lowkey not okay—69 officers took their lives in 6 years.

• Economic: After what felt like an eternity of undersubscription, the government’s treasury's back with a bang.

• Politics: Bawumia’s crew jumping ship? Ofosu Ampofo thinks so!

QUICK BYTE

• Okay, so you know how illegal gold mining (aka galamsey) is wrecking our rivers and land, right? Well, guess who’s allegedly caught up in it? The Bank of Ghana (BoG)! According to Ben Boakye, ACEP’s head honcho, the BoG has been buying gold through their Domestic Gold Purchase programme without checking if it’s coming from illegal sources. This has people wondering—are they low-key enabling galamsey? Get the full gist in the Deep Dive section.

• John Mahama is pulling up to every corner of Ghana asking, "Where them roads at?" President Akufo-Addo and the NPP are flexing that they’ve laid down 12,000 kilometers of fresh, smooth roads. But Mahama? He’s not buying it. He’s ready to do an audit like a strict teacher checking homework. And unless all those roads are leading straight to Kyebi (Akufo-Addo’s hometown), Mahama’s questioning where the concrete magic happened. Want the deets in full? Check out the Deep Dive section.

• Turns out aban have been dealing with some serious mental health struggles, and no, this ain’t your regular 9-5 stress. Between 2015 and 2021, 69 police officers ended their lives, and that’s just wild. It’s like, how do you even focus on traffic when you're battling your own demons? According to Dr. Erica Dickson from the 37 Military Hospital, being in the force makes you a magnet for traumatic experiences. It's like the job comes with a one-way ticket to anxiety-town, and no one is talking about it. Get the 411 in the Deep Dive section below

• John Dramani Mahama is out here making sure everyone knows the NDC is not beefing with the EC just for the drama. Nope, he’s calling out the Electoral Commission because a fair election register = peaceful elections. The NDC's like, “We just want this December 7 thing to go down smoothly, without any mess.” So yeah, they’re hitting the streets on the 17th, and guess what? It’s not just the NDC peeps—they’re calling all Ghanaians to roll up and demand that the EC does its job right. Read more

• So, Bright Simons just dropped a truth bomb: Ghana’s oil is running out, and it’s happening faster than your phone battery when you forget the charger at home. The whole country has been banking on this oil business, but the reality? We’ve got about five good years left unless something changes fast. Let’s rewind to 2019 when the Finance Ministry was flexing that by 2024, we'd be drowning in oil. Jubilee Field was supposed to be our crown jewel, but these days it’s more like the faded tiara you find at the bottom of the dress-up box. Other projects, like Tweneboa and Danta, which were supposed to keep the oil flowing, are basically stuck in limbo, reclassified or delayed. We were supposed to be pumping 500k barrels a day by now, but guess what? We’re barely scraping 132k. The way things are looking, the oil industry might be on life support, and the doctors are MIA. Read more

• So, the NDC is basically saying, "Let's all chill and fix this galamsey thing together." They're roping in everyone from chiefs to environmentalists to figure out how to stop illegal mining from wrecking the vibes in our forests and rivers. The goal? Make sure your future kids don’t ask why all the water tastes like mud. Sounds simple, right? But, knowing Ghana politics, it’s about as easy as explaining a meme to your parents. If we’re being real eh, do you think this group chat will actually make things happen or is it just going to end up like one of those forgotten WhatsApp groups where the plans never happen? Read more

• Asiedu Nketiah aka General Mosquito is putting the Central Region on blast! He’s reminding them that they’ve been rolling with NDC from day one and have been key players in shaping the party’s leadership. It’s like being royals and then just… trading your throne for a plastic chair. What he actually said was, Central Region’s political decisions is like swapping your guts out for junk (sheesh)! He took them down memory lane, reminding them that it was their region that championed K.N. Ankrah as the first NDC flagbearer. Fast forward to Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, a son of Central Region, who took the presidential crown, proving that the region wasn’t just picking flagbearers—they were making presidents! And let’s not forget Amissah Arthur, another Central Region champ, who served as Vice Prez, followed by Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman, now gunning for the same seat. Read more

• After eight weeks of meh T-Bill auctions, the government finally flipped the script! Last Friday, they raised GHS 5.52 billion, overshooting their GHS 5.4 billion target by GHS 128 million. Why the sudden demand? Rising yields, especially for the 364-day bill, which shot up to 28.07%. Everyone’s buzzing over the short-term 91-day bill, pulling in the lion's share of bids—GHS 4.68 billion! Read more

• So, ECG had a brief moment of compliance with the Cash Waterfall Mechanism, but it’s back to its old tricks! They were supposed to pay a cool GHS 606 million to various Independent Power Producers and WAPCo for May, but only managed to cough up GHS 258 million. After a two-month delay, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission dropped the validation reports for May through July 2024, and guess what? ECG’s payments are still a hot mess. They have a whopping GHS 513 million shortfall in June alone. Meanwhile, Karpower, Cenit, and Asogli are all like, “We didn’t get anything!” Read more

• Let’s say you’re in a football match, and instead of focusing on winning the big game, half your team is already securing contracts for next season elsewhere. That’s the vibe Ofosu Ampofo is getting from Vice President Bawumia’s camp. The former NDC chairman is saying that folks close to Bawumia are gunning for parliamentary seats because they see the writing on the wall: Bawumia's chances in 2024? Slim. Ampofo pointed out that top names like Bawumia’s sister, his spokesperson Dr. Gideon Boako, and his economic affairs advisor are all switching lanes from working directly under the VP to chasing MP spots. Read more

DEEP DIVE

BoG got a secret hand in Ghana's Galamsey Scandal?

Ghana’s central bank strutting around like the coolest kid in class with 65.4 tons of gold in hand, claiming they’re saving the cedi. But, Ben Boakye of ACEP just exposed them for potentially buying gold mined illegally. Yep, that means some of the gold they proudly flaunt could be tainted by galamsey, the same thing that's turning our rivers into chocolate milk (and not in the tasty way).

Now, let’s break it down. The BoG has been gobbling up gold to boost our foreign reserves. Sounds like a smart move, right? But the problem is—they haven’t been asking where all that shiny stuff comes from.

Mr. Boakye isn’t pulling punches. He’s basically saying, “Yo, BoG, if you're not tracking the source, you’re part of the problem.” And if we’re being real, he’s right. It’s one thing for small-scale miners to turn a blind eye, but when the Bank of Ghana is playing along, that’s a whole new level of shady.

The real tragedy here is that while our bigwigs are busy buying gold like it’s Black Friday, the environment is paying the price. We’ve got mercury-laced rivers, ghost towns, and acres of land that look like they've been hit by a bomb—and all because we’re letting galamsey slide right under the radar. So, is it just greed, or are we watching a masterclass in how not to care about the future? Either way, someone needs to hit pause on this disaster flick before it’s too late. Read more

“12,000 KM Roads, But Where Are They?"

The government’s boasting about 12,000 kilometers of new roads. If you're side-eyeing that claim, you're not alone. Mahama is right there with you, wondering if these roads are real or if they’re hiding in Akufo-Addo’s backyard like some secret garden. The man’s basically saying, “I haven’t seen these roads, and clearly, neither have most Ghanaians. Time to pull out the magnifying glass.”

The former Prez is gearing up to audit those roads if he gets back in power. He’s got Ghanaians thinking, “Are these roads playing hide and seek or what?” Seriously, though, if the NPP’s building roads faster than we can count, shouldn’t we be slipping and sliding on brand-new tarmac by now? But nope—our tires are still suffering, and Mahama’s got jokes about where the roads might actually be.

At a rally in Bortianor, Mahama was like, “Look, I’ve been around this block, and I haven’t seen these 12,000 kilometers. Unless Kyebi is now some kind of road utopia, something’s off.” And let’s be real, it’s the shade for us. Mahama’s out here subtly (okay, not-so-subtly) implying the roads might be chilling in Akufo-Addo’s hometown, living their best lives while the rest of us are stuck in pothole purgatory.

But Mahama’s not just throwing shade for fun. The man wants receipts—an audit, to be exact. He’s like that friend who swears they’ll find out if you really went to the gym or just posted an old workout pic for the ‘gram. If he’s back in power, Mahama says he’ll track every cedi that was supposed to go into paving those 12,000 kilometers. Because accountability? Yeah, it’s time to make that a thing again. Read more

The Police are not okay oo

You ever tried to be the "tough one" in the group while everything’s falling apart? Yeah, now imagine doing that every day, but instead of handling just your drama, you're dealing with literal life-and-death situations. That's the reality for Ghana's police officers. Picture this: you clock in, do your job, then boom—an accident, a fire, or worse, someone’s life just… gone. But you’re expected to be the hero, right? The one who keeps it together. Yeah, except that whole “bottling it up” thing? It’s not a vibe. Dr. Erica Dickson didn’t mince words—this is exactly why so many officers are struggling and, tragically, some are even taking their own lives.

After going through this for years, and instead of asking, "Hey, how you doing?" the system's like, “Suck it up!” The stats are telling—69 suicides in six years, and that’s just the police. 69 lives lost to a job that’s supposed to be about protecting others, but who's protecting them? It’s like we’ve got this "tough cop" narrative on loop, but newsflash—tough guys cry too, and they need space to do it.

Now, let’s talk about how nobody saw this coming. It’s kinda like buying a flashy new car but forgetting to check the engine. Sure, the physical side of police work gets all the attention (can they run fast? Do they look intimidating in uniform?), but where’s the mental health check? According to Dr. John-Deigo Kosoe, the recruitment process is all about muscles and speed, but mental health? Ghosted. We’re out here training bodyguards when what we really need is to focus on mental and physical strength. No wonder some of these officers crack—just too much pressure and no outlet.

So, how do we fix this? For starters, we need to stop acting like mental health is some weird, taboo thing. Major General R.K. Ewusie from the GAF is calling for real conversations around mental health in the police force—like, let’s make it normal to talk about stress. Read more

CHECK OUT WHAT’S TRENDING

• Chief wants three senior police officers investigated.

NEWS SOURCES

Today’s stories are curated from:

1. www.myjoyonline.com

2. www.ghanaweb.com

3. www.citinewsroom.com

4. www.norvanreports.com

5. www.channel1new.com