Let your village people rest!

E be you wey carry hangover then drug abuse like World Cup.

Author

Chale News
November 12, 2024

your

Chale, how’s your day going this fine Tuesday?

In today’s stories:

  • National: Chale, Ghana go shake on December 7 as over 18.7 million registered voters prepare to cast their ballots!

  • Health: If you think things are tight, kidney patients for Ghana dey trade apartments and cash in the millions for a new kidney—sake of dialysis crisis.

  • Economic: Chale, Cedi sef dey feel the December pressure oo—one dollar now GH¢17, but at least, we dey see some small small wins.

  • Health: GMA worried as alcohol & drug abuse rock health sector.

  • Fact of the Day: What’s the longest word in English?

  • Politics: Akua Donkor’s replacement as GFP’s flagbearer just got benched by the EC over ‘technical difficulties’.

  • National: NMC begs journalists to play peacemaker, not instigator.

  • National: Despite the GHA strike, the Roads Ministry says, “No stress, the projects are still on track!”

  • National: Debt? Nah, let’s fix what we’ve got first – Assibey-Yeboah tells Bawumia & Mahama.

QUICK BYTE

  • Apparently, some of our healthcare folks dey chill hard – and not just on the weekends. Dr. Frank Serebour, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) Prez, raise alarm at their annual meeting, talking about how alcohol and drug abuse in the health sector dey increase waa! Wey the effects? You fit see a nurse on duty at 9 a.m., but by 12 noon, like she go do you “Vanishing Act,” dey expect pay for eight hours. Serious issue be sey these things dey mess with patient care—make you imagine doc wey ein head no clear looking after you. Ei, ebe serious o. Dr. Serebour talk sey some people, when they fall victim to these unprofessional acts, blame witches and wizards, but not everything be from the village people. Read more

  • Big news from the Electoral Commission (EC)! They’ve confirmed that a whopping 18,774,159 Ghanaians are expected to hit the polling stations on December 7 for the 2024 elections. Get ready for some serious queue action! Want the deets in full? Check out the Deep Dive section.

  • So apparently, things dey choke for the kidney patients in Ghana. How bad? Chale, bad enough that people dey trade two-bedroom apartments or shell out like ¢4 million cedis to get a new kidney. Yes, you read that right! The President of the Renal Patients Association, Baffour Kojo Ahenkorah, spill am like beans, revealing that desperation reach peak levels. Thankfully, Vice Prez Bawumia drop some hope: from December, government go start free dialysis sessions under NHIS. Get the 411 in the Deep Dive section below

  • If you’re checking your wallet and side-eyeing the cedi, you’re not alone. The Bank of Ghana dey give am some small boost, so the local unit start the week with a little shine, selling at GH¢16.33 on the interbank, and GH¢17 at retail. Small 0.2% gain be something o! But as December dey approach, cedi go see pressure—everyone wan dollars for Christmas imports. So, let’s see if our cedi go keep up or fold under the holiday hustle! Read more in the Deep Dive Section.

  • Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) thought they’d bounce back after the passing of their iconic leader Akua Donkor, but chale, life no be football match. They pulled out a new player—Philip Appiah Kubi aka Roman Fada—to sub in as flagbearer, but the Electoral Commission (EC) say “not today.” Turns out, some ‘small small’ errors in Kubi’s forms weren’t so small after all, and the EC’s Chair, Jean Mensa, threw a red card on his nomination. Apparently, EC was nice o—they even give GFP time to “clean up small” and fix things. But no matter how they sweep, some dirt just no dey move. Sake of this, GFP’s 2024 dreams might just be chilling for a minute. Read more

FACT OF THE DAY

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With 45 letters, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the longest word in the English language.

  • The National Media Commission (NMC) just hit pause on the regular “breaking news” vibes and asked journalists to pull a Gandhi on Bawku’s ongoing beef. NMC Chair Yaw Boadu Ayeboafo basically said, “Media fam, let’s keep it peaceful,” stressing that how they report Bawku’s chieftaincy drama could either calm the waters or turn up the heat. And, tbh, his point? It makes sense – an issue anywhere in Ghana affects us all. You no fit sit in Accra and be like, “That’s their problem,” ‘cause it might hit close to home sooner than you think. Read more

  • Road projects aren’t stopping anytime soon, fam! While the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) workers are on strike, the Roads Ministry’s PRO Ahmed Nasir Yartey assured us that road projects will keep rolling. No potholes in their plan, apparently—most road work is handled by independent contractors and supervised by outside consultants, so the projects don’t really miss a beat. Mr. Yartey says they've got it all covered, and even though they understand why the workers are striking, it won’t slow the Ministry’s game. Read more

  • Mark Assibey-Yeboah, the man with the economic plan (at least for the NPP), just dropped some truth bombs for Bawumia and Mahama. He’s like “Listen, no more adding to our debt pile in the first term. We’ve got enough on our plate already. don’t dig the hole deeper.” Just focus on finishing stalled projects—like the Agenda 111 project—and clearing those bills. Read more

DEEP DIVE

From biometric voters to special voters, everybody dey inside!

It’s official, folks! The EC says over 18.7 million people are on the voter list for the upcoming December elections. Deputy Chairman of Operations, Samuel Tettey, dropped the details on Monday, explaining that this huge number includes special voters, regular biometric voters, and even a few thousand without biometric data.

Here’s the breakdown: 18,640,811 people have biometric records, 131,478 are special voters, and 1,870 don’t have biometric data. It’s a major jump from 2020, with about 1.7 million more registered voters this time around.

If you’re part of that 18.7 million, go and blow the dust off your voter ID, and get ready to make your voice heard. December 7 is around the corner, and it’s going to be “bumper to bumper”! at the polling stations. Read more

Kidneys for Sale?

Baffour Kojo Ahenkorah, who for 10 years now, dey hustle like no one’s business just to stay alive, give the lowdown on what kidney patients dey go through in Ghana. Imagine this: every month, folks like him dey find thousand-thousand cedis for dialysis. And still, he say, “If I fit get one whole bulk money, I go just go for transplant make my life easy!” But where the bulk money dey?

You won’t believe this part—people now dey barter kidneys for apartments! Yes, apartment! One two-bedroom estate turn currency oo. So, let’s say you hold a kidney and you dey find somewhere to crash, that might just be your ticket to a two-bed crib. Mr. Ahenkorah say, folks dey charge around ¢3 to ¢4 million cedis for one kidney if e pass all the health checks.

The wild thing be say, even if you manage buy kidney for ¢4 million, the journey no end there. To actually do the transplant, you go fork out another $25,000—dollars oo! So, for plenty of these kidney patients, life be a mix of dialysis sessions, Erythropoietin injections, BP meds, and more. And while they spend on this survival adventure, their family expenses just dey look them for corner. One man ask, “How make I do all these things, plus still pay school fees for my kiddies?”

But we hear sey from December, Dr. Bawumia dey promise free dialysis for everybody under NHIS. That sound like better news, but Ghanaians wey dey deal with the crisis no dey shout “Hosanna” just yet. After years of hustling for life, many patients dey ask, “Hope this no be another political talk?” For now, all eyes set on December, as people pray make the free dialysis matter no be like aponkye nkakra without the aponkye. Read more

Cedi Fights Back: Small Wins,

Herh, this cedi deɛ, e fight like Rocky in the final round! After the Bank of Ghana throw in some serious dollars last week, wey be around US$214.04 million, the cedi manage get some small stability. Right now, on the interbank market, one dollar dey go for GH¢16.33, and retail market dey clock GH¢17. At least we get some small wins. Last week sef, BOG pull some smart moves—foreign exchange auctions wey e be the biggest this year so far, all for help make the cedi see top.

But no be like cedi dey shine all-round; against all major currencies, the cedi chop some small blows. Week-on-week, e lose 0.44% to dollar, 0.12% to pound, and 0.41% against euro. So, we dey get small stability here, small loss there. If cedi be boxer, then right now, he dey dodge and weave, no knockouts yet.

And as December dey approach, we all know the hustle dey intensify! Companies dey prep for the Christmas rush, and demand for dollars dey go higher, with prices for everything wey fit cross the border on the rise. Add inflation into the mix, and you know e go hot for town. Even with BOG’s intervention, folks dey worry if the cedi go fit stand the Christmas market rush or go start dey slide small-small.

So far, wey we reach November, the cedi lose about 28% to the US dollar this year—charley, that be some tough numbers. The December pressure fit just bring more wahala, but fingers crossed make the Bank of Ghana no lose focus. Read mor

NEWS SOURCES

Today’s stories are curated from: