How to Jakpa and Still Collect Salary Back Home

Before we begin, let’s do some small Kokonsa (come closer). Have you heard about Nigeria’s President, Tinubu’s new plane? Chale, after all the protests about hardship two weeks ago, he no send them. He left for France in his newly acquired Airbus A330, the latest addition to the presidential fleet of more than five aircraft. The cherry on top is nobody knows how much the plane costs nor what he is going to do in France.

Anyway, please see today’s headline, okay?

• National: Trafigura's judgment debt drama hits Ghana, but our Attorney General swears he didn’t do this one!

• Economic: 13 OMCs just got their licenses revoked because, apparently, paying debts isn’t their thing!

• Crime: When your headteacher jakpas to California with his salary validation code!

• Entertainment: From Method Acting to Apology Tour—How a Movie Role Turned into a Weed WAHALA for Etty Bedi.

• Fact of the Day: We all have a little bit of gold in us. Literally.

• Politics: When your party says no, but your heart says yes—NPP’s Cynthia Morrison is ready to go solo for Agona West!

• National: PAC targets 18 teachers for ‘backdoor’ salary upgrade.

• National: GUTA's throwing a mini tantrum and asking President Akufo-Addo to hold off on signing the Shippers’ Authority Act.

• National: Cocoa’s on a roll, hitting a one-month high while Ghana’s scaling back its harvest predictions

• Entertainment: Did you hear what Medikal said about pornstars?

QUICK BYTE

• Meet Bismark Agyekum, a headteacher turned payroll master. This dude didn’t just jakpa for greener pastures; he took his validation code with him, using it to swipe some extra cash while chilling in Cali. And to add a sprinkle of drama, he wired the unearned salary to his colleague in Sunyani, who’s now in hot water too. Read more in the Deep Dive Section.

• Ever had a housemate who swears they didn’t leave the door unlocked, but now your house is full of goats? That’s kinda what’s happening with Ghana and this Trafigura mess. Our Attorney General, Godfred Dame, is out here defending his track record like, “Not under my watch!”—even though a U.S. court just served Ghana a fat $111 million bill for a judgment debt from 2021. Dame insists it’s just an old issue coming back to haunt us. But the drama’s real, and now folks are worried we might lose the High Commission building in D.C. if things go south. Want the deets in full? Check out the Deep Dive section.

• The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) just pulled a savage move on 13 Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for ghosting on some serious cash—like, GH₵200 million worth. These companies have been playing a dangerous game, collecting all those levies and margins on petrol sales, but instead of coughing up the dough to the state, they’ve been keeping it like it’s theirs. Now, the NPA is coming for their licenses, and it’s looking messy. Get the 411 in the Deep Dive section below

• Etty Bedi’s journey from the silver screen to public backlash was anything but smooth. After playing a character who smoked weed in the movie Resonance, she made headlines for seemingly endorsing the herb in real life. But Etty says, "Chale, it’s not what you think!" Turns out, she was just too deep in character mode during the premiere. Now, she's on a full apology tour, hoping to clear the air—and she’s hurt though cos it’s one thing to get roasted online by strangers, but when your inner circle jumps on the hate train, that’s a whole other level of betrayal. Read more

• The 2024 parliamentary race in Agona West just got a lot more interesting. Cynthia Morrison, who has served as the MP since 2016 and was once the Minister for Gender, Children, and Social Protection, is going independent after losing the NPP primary. In the April primary, Morrison garnered 152 votes, falling short against Christopher Arthur, who secured the nomination with 240 votes. But instead of bowing out, Morrison is doubling down, declaring that her focus is on Agona West’s development, not party politics. Read more

• The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is cracking down on 18 teachers in Amansie Central who gave themselves unauthorized promotions, pocketing GH¢188,000 in the process. Using fake certificates to boost their salaries, these teachers now find themselves under investigation by the Ghana Education Service (GES). So far, GH¢34,000 has been recovered, with the hunt on to retrieve the remaining GH¢152,000. Read more

• So, word on the street was that Korle-Bu’s sole cancer treatment machine went kaput and left patients stranded. But Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah, the CEO, says that’s pure cap! He set the record straight saying Korle-Bu’s got a whole lineup of cancer-busting machines, and it was just the fanciest one that had a little breakdown. Yeah, the queues got a bit longer, but nobody got left hanging. Read more

• So, GUTA’s not vibing with the Ghana Shippers’ Authority Act, so they’re like, “Hold up, President Akufo-Addo! Before you sign this into law, let’s fix some major glitches.” The Act was meant to clean up shipping fees and make Ghana a trade boss, but GUTA says it came out a bit rushed and missed key input from the folks who know trade inside out. Plus, they got the final draft only after Parliament had already given it the thumbs-up. And now, the old-school Advanced Shipment Information System is making a comeback, which they’ve been against from day one. Read more

• Cocoa’s living its best life right now, jumping to a one-month high as Ghana adjusts its harvest forecast. Despite the Ghana Cocoa Board dialing down expectations, cocoa futures are still looking sweeter than ever at $7,697 per metric ton. Read more

DEEP DIVE

Who Let the Judgement Debt Out?

Alright, let’s break this down, shall we? Imagine you’re vibing in your corner, and then out of nowhere, someone slides a bill under your door for something you “apparently” forgot to handle years ago. That’s Ghana right now, and the bill? A cool $111 million, courtesy of Trafigura. Our Attorney General, Mr. Godfred Dame, is out here trying to calm the crowd, saying it’s just an “enforcement order” from an old judgment, not a new mess he’s got to clean up.

But not everyone’s buying it. Former Power Minister Dr. Kwabena Donkor is coming in hot. He’s accusing Dame of dropping the ball, asking how in the world we got slapped with this debt in the first place. It’s like Ghana had a chance to settle things with Trafigura after an arbitration ruling, but somewhere along the line, someone hit snooze on the alarm. Now, the U.S. court’s knocking on our door, and Ghana’s assets are on the line.

Dame, though, is standing firm, flexing his no-arbitration-losses record since he took office. He’s basically telling everyone, “I’ve been killing it on the international arbitration scene; don’t pin this one on me.” But Dr. Donkor isn’t letting up, questioning why the Attorney General didn’t jump on the chance to settle this before it got out of hand. It’s the ultimate he-said-she-said, with the stakes higher than ever.

Now, here’s where things get spicy. If this debt doesn’t get paid, Ghana might have to kiss some of its prized assets goodbye—like that High Commission building in D.C. Yeah, it’s that serious. The moral of the story? Handle your business before it handles you—or you might just end up losing more than you bargained for. Read more

13 OMCs Get Benched Over GH₵200M Debt Drama!

You’re running a business, raking in the cash, and instead of paying your bills, you decide to go MIA. That’s basically what’s going down with these 13 Oil Marketing Companies. The NPA just revoked their licenses because they’ve been sitting on a whopping GH₵200 million that should’ve gone to state institutions like the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company. These OMCs have been collecting levies and margins from all the fuel we’ve been buying, but instead of handing over the cash, they’ve been playing hide-and-seek with it. Classic, right?

Now, here’s where it gets even juicier. Riverson Oppong, the Chief Exec of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies, isn’t here for the drama. He’s out here saying, “NPA, y’all better go after these directors, expose them, and kick them out of the game!” And honestly, who can blame him? Some of these directors are running other OMCs while their original companies are swimming in debt.

So, what’s next? The NPA has got the names of these directors and might just make them public, which would be a big oof moment for the industry. They’re also looking into new ways to keep this kind of thing from happening again.

At the end of the day, it’s all about cleaning up the industry and making sure everyone plays by the rules. And if that means putting a few bad apples on blast, so be it. Read more

How to Jakpa and still collect Salary Back Home

Bismark Agyekum, who was supposed to be a headteacher and a payroll validator, decided that teaching wasn’t enough. So, he jakpa’d to California, but not before grabbing his payroll validation code like it was his golden ticket. Fast forward, and dude is chilling in Cali while still pulling in a cool GH¢26k back in Ghana. How? He transferred the funds straight into a colleague’s account in Sunyani, like some kind of long-distance money heist.

Now, Comfort Appiah, the teacher who received the funds, is under serious scrutiny. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is not amused and has directed that she be prosecuted.

During the same PAC session, COCOBOD’s Deputy CEO of Finance, Ray Ankrah, dropped some serious financial drama of his own. He revealed that out of GH¢1.8 million in unpaid funds, only GH¢200,000 has been recovered. Oh, and by the way, GH¢1.6 million of COCOBOD’s investments are currently stuck with Zenith Bank, all thanks to the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme. This week dier, money issues have been someway oo. Read more

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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