Happy Farmers’ Day!

Here’s your holiday tea, sip carefully. Pull up a chair, this week’s got stories.

• Agriculture: Imagine planting maize but it’s your bank manager that harvests it.

• Regional: When overtaking turns into overtaken by events.

• National: This Christmas, shine your eyes, not every promo is your destiny helper. Signed, FDA.

• Economic: BoG just brought back the 14-day bill, and honestly, it’s giving “I’m not your ex, I’m quick to respond.”

• Crime: Agradaa’s 15-year sentence appeal finally entered the chat at the Amasaman High Court.

• Fact of the Day: Learn about the askew effect “askew” has on google.

• National: The National Best Farmer for 2025 is a whole 82-year-old man, Opanyin Abraham Kwaku Adusei. Man collected his award in Ho like “age is just a number but yield per acre is the real flex.

• National: PURC just said electricity and water tariffs are going up in January so basically, 2026 is entering with ‘Happy New Year, now pay up.

QUICK BYTE

• Mahama hit Farmers’ Day like your neighbour who has finally decided to address the nonsense your landlord is doing. Man basically looked at all the farmers, sighed like a tired father, and said, “Ei, so you people are farming for the banks anaa?” And the whole place went quiet because… well…You should’ve seen the farmers nodding like church members catching revelation. Get the full deets in the Deep Dive section.

• The Bank of Ghana has resurrected the 14-day bill. Interest rates are falling like Christmas discounts, and BoG is basically saying, “We need faster tools before things get out of hand.” So boom, short-term bill is back. Dr. Richmond Atuahene, banking consultant and unofficial market hype man, says this 14-day move is the central bank’s new speedometer. Instead of slow, long-term instruments, they now have something quick-quick to soak up excess liquidity before it starts misbehaving. Read more

• The FDA says December heat and rush has brought out some interesting products o expired goods with fresh stickers, labels doing camouflage. Their message is simple: inspect everything before you buy, especially food and medicine. Because some of these products on the market, if you see where they’re displayed, you’ll weak. Some sit inside direct sun like they’re training for a solar panel job. If you’re buying food, drinks, medicine or anything humans are supposed to put inside their body, shine your eyes like you’re reading someone’s WhatsApp status for clues. If the packaging looks like it went to war, leave it. And please, if your spirit says “Hmm,” don’t buy. Christmas is for enjoyment, not for try your luck. Read more

• So yesterday morning, drivers were minding their business, chasing their destinies, when a Hiace driver suddenly decided he was Max Verstappen. That’s how the trouble started. The car lost control, crossed the line like a drunk WhatsApp voice note, and collided straight-on with a Honda Pilot coming from the other side. The way the two cars jammed eh… you could tell it wasn’t a small knock-and-go. The whole road just froze like “Herh, what’s this?” Get the 411 in the Deep Dive section below

• So Agradaa’s 15-year sentence appeal finally entered the chat at the Amasaman High Court, and the judge said, “Everybody get your homework in on time.” Her lawyers have two weeks to submit their written arguments, and the prosecution gets one whole month to clap back. The court will regroup on January 21, 2025, to see where the vibe is and maybe schedule judgment. But the drama dier, it wouldn’t be an Agradaa story without small chaos. Mid-hearing, prosecution says the Pen drive containing key evidence didn’t make it into the record of appeal. Oh, la la… anyway, they paused everything, went hunting through the court docket, found the files, handed them over, and the matter continued like nothing happened. Read more

• See, if my grandpa ever told me he was going to be Ghana’s National Best Farmer, I’d probably just laugh, pour him malt, and mind my business. But Opanyin Adusei? Man said “hold my cutlass” and went to collect the ultimate farming crown at 82. The way he walked across that stage eh, it’s giving legend. It’s giving “you had to be there.” It's giving “your fave could never.” Meanwhile, President Mahama was on stage giving strong TED Talk energy, basically dragging those who think farming is only for people wearing village brown slippers and carrying raffia baskets. Read more

• If your light bill already makes you pray in tongues, brace yourself. PURC just dropped the kind of update that will make you stare at your prepaid meter like it insulted your mother. From January 1, 2026, electricity is going up by 9.86%. And water? OmGhana! That one is jumping by 15.92%. It’s like they looked at the economy, looked at us, and said, “You people are too comfortable. Let’s spice things up small.” According to them, it’s because of investments, inflation, dollar rate, gas cost, and all the usual Ghanaian adulthood headaches. And apparently, this isn’t even a one-off. The plan is to keep reviewing things every quarter. So every three months, PURC will basically be peeping like, “How far? Should we add small or chill?” Read more

DEEP DIVE

Mahama Reads Farmers’ Day Allegations: ‘Banks Are Harvesting More Than Farmers’.

Imagine Kwame waking up at 4 a.m. to chase stubborn goats out of his cassava, sweating like someone who has confessed under a hot bulb. Then when it’s time to chop profit, the bank just appears like, “Good afternoon, kindly remember your loan plus interest plus the interest on the interest.” At this point the only thing growing fast on the farm is the loan balance. Even the crops sef are confused.

Mahama said the loan rates are giving heartbreak. Farmers dey borrow money like they’re in a toxic relationship. Small money you take for fertilizer, the interest will follow you like a jealous ex. No wonder young people look at farming and say, “Not my portion, Lord.” Chale, how?

So Mahama said he wants single-digit loans so farmers can actually farm for themselves and not for some building in town with AC that smells like seriousness. He even promised more irrigation, more machines, more everything. Basically, he wants to turn farming into a soft-life hustle not that current one where you farm one plot and lose three kilos. If this thing works, farmers will be flexing differently. Read more

Nobody is giving you gold medal for reaching Accra five minutes earlier.

Driver and one lady passenger were trapped inside, and the car was mangled like an umbrella during a storm. The team worked like Avengers, cut them out, rushed them to the hospital… but chale, they didn’t make it. Sad something. Meanwhile, 13 other people had already been carried to the hospital by bystanders. After clearing the debris and calming the road, the Fire Service dropped the usual but necessary PSA: “My people, stop the dangerous overtaking.” Because honestly, every December, it’s like some drivers leave their common sense at home and tell the road, “Do me what you want.” Sometimes, just relax and follow the queue. The road will still be there. Your life too, it must be. Stay alive, chale. Read more

CHECK OUT WHAT’S TRENDING

• Shatta Wale saw Stonebwoy missing on Spotify’s 2025 Export list and said, ‘Perfect time to release small missile.’

• Agradaa apologises to Empress Gifty

• Six ‘University of Ghana’ centres out here playing ‘fake it till you make it’ but GTEC just called them out.

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. Channel1news