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Restoration by day, deforestation by night.

Sir, your PR machine is faulty!

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Chale News
November 22, 2024

TGIF! Now it’s time to make those weekend plans! 😉😉

Let’s start with some stories, shall we?

  • National: Akufo-Addo’s tree-planting claims got dragged harder than a toddler throwing a tantrum in the middle of Makola Market.

  • Crime: Detective Baba thought he was in a WWE audition—turns out, he just went viral for all the wrong reasons.

  • National: When your land turns into Jenga: GBC vs. Sylvester Tetteh in the demolition drama of the year!

  • Health: KNUST’s Prof. Reginald Annan, bags global cancer research award, putting Africa on the scientific map!

  • Fact of the Day: As weird as it sounds, cat pee glows in the dark.

  • Crime: Labourer goes full ‘cutlass chronicles’ on businessman, lands 5 years in the big house.

  • Health: KATH’s renal unit has hustled hard. But Dialysis machines don’t multiply on command, and renal patients are lining up faster than the crowd at fufu joints on a Sunday.

  • Politics: In Sarpong’s polls, Bawumia is ahead with 49.1%, Mahama’s on his heels at 45.8%—this race is tighter than your fave jeans after Christmas!

  • Politics: Over 100 bags of faulty ballot papers? The EC had no time for drama—straight to the flames!

QUICK BYTE

  • President Akufo-Addo pulled up at COP 29 with a big flex about restoring 721,000 hectares of forest since 2017, but Ghana’s Coalition Against Galamsey hit him with a giant “cap.” They’re like, “Sir, while you were busy planting, illegal miners were busy uprooting everything else.” The Coalition isn’t buying his reforestation receipts and accused the government of planting trees in public and destroying forests in private. It’s giving “rebrand gone wrong.” Want the deets in full? Check out the Deep Dive section.

  • You’re chilling at home, and someone decides to play demolition derby with your house. That’s basically GBC’s mood right now. The state broadcaster is accusing Deputy Information Minister Sylvester Tetteh of pulling a “Construction Thanos” on their bungalows in Weija—without permission. GBC even had to call in the police to stop the bulldozers. Sylvester, though? Crickets. No word from him yet, but social media is already serving the tea, piping hot. Get the 411 in the Deep Dive section below

  • Detective Corporal Baba Amando Ibrahim has been interdicted after a video showed him channeling his inner action hero by assaulting a civilian. The internet? Not impressed. Neither was the Ghana Police Service, who swiftly hit him with a suspension for “misconduct.” The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) is on clean-up duty, calling the victim’s family to apologize and promising a no-nonsense investigation. X? Still roasting Ghana Police with memes. Read more

  • Let’s give Prof. Reginald Annan from KNUST his flowers—roses, hibiscus, everything! He just became the first African researcher based in Africa to snag a World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) Award. Big deal? Huge! He’s diving into how health factors like high blood sugar, extra body fat, and gut bacteria play into breast cancer risk among Ghanaian women. With breast cancer wreaking havoc in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially the aggressive triple-negative type, Prof. Annan’s work is the hero moment we need. Read more

  • Bruh, this story feels like something out of a drama series. A 24-year-old labourer, Benjamin Fiagbodze, just got slapped with 5 years in jail for attacking a businessman, Laryea Larkwei, with a cutlass at Tse Addo. Dude admitted in court that his actual mission wasn’t to injure but to end Larkwei. Wild. Apparently, Fiagbodze was living on-site at Larkwei's uncompleted building, and after grinding pepper for the man, he went psycho with a cutlass. Thankfully, Larkwei survived with head injuries. Read more

FACT OF THE DAY

❝

Cat pee glows if you shine black light on it.

  • You know that awkward moment when everyone wants to come to your party, but your chairs aren’t enough? That’s KATH’s renal unit right now. With the government’s free dialysis care scheme shaking things up, the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital is like, “Cool, but where are the extra machines?” While they’ve already boosted their dialysis sessions from 80 to 300 per month, the growing demand is stretching their resources thin. CEO Prof. Addai-Mensah says they need all hands on deck—public support, partnerships, the whole works. Read more

  • Ghana’s 2024 elections? It’s giving “clash of the titans.” According to a poll by Prof. Smart Sarpong, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is clocking 49.1%, while John Mahama trails slightly at 45.8%. But it’s not all party-popping for Bawumia. Mahama still reigns supreme in voter-rich regions like Greater Accra and Volta. As for the Independents, Nana Kwame Bediako pulled a modest 2.2%, and Alan Kyerematen scored 1.2%. Buckle up—it’s going to be a wild December 7! Read more

  • The Electoral Commission (EC) has destroyed over 100 bags of ballot papers meant for Ahafo and Volta Regions due to errors in serialisation. This came after political parties and stakeholders observed the process to ensure transparency. Read more

DEEP DIVE

You’re sure about what you’re saying

Ghana’s president pulls up to COP 29, looking like the class prefect of climate action, and proudly tells everyone he’s restored 721,000 hectares of forest. Cue applause, right? But back home, the Ghana Coalition Against Galamsey is side-eyeing the announcement so hard it might fall over. “Restored what?!” they asked, pulling out stats like a friend who caught you lying about your GPA. Turns out, while forests were supposedly being "restored," galamsey miners were out here treating Ghana’s reserves like a buffet.

The Coalition wasn’t shy about the receipts: 35 forest reserves impacted, 350,000 hectares compromised, and over 21,000 cocoa farmlands wiped out in just a year. They even dragged Regulation L.I. 2462, which opened protected forests to mining, dubbing it the “destroy-all-you-can buffet” for miners. Talk about irony—restoration by day, deforestation by night.

And it gets juicier. They’re calling out Nana Addo like a Twitter clapback: “Sir, your legacy is on the line. Do you wanna be remembered as the guy who let Ghana’s rivers turn into DDT soup and forests into Legon parking lots?” It’s giving heavy “dad-we’re-disappointed” energy. They want answers and not the type that come in a PR brochure.

The Coalition wrapped it up with a mic drop: fix it, or you’ll go down as the leader who let galamsey sink Ghana’s natural heritage. The president might have the speeches, but the Coalition? They have the screenshots, and they’re not afraid to use them. Read more

Demolition Exercise

It’s a regular Thursday, and GBC is minding its business when, boom, someone decides their land needs a glow-up. Enter Sylvester Tetteh, Deputy Information Minister and MP for Bortianor Ngleshie Amanfro, allegedly overseeing the demolition of GBC staff bungalows at Weija. And no, he didn’t send a “May I?” email first.

GBC wasn’t having it. They called the police faster than you’d call your mom when the power goes out during FIFA finals. The cops showed up to stop what GBC called “illegal demolition.”

GBC didn’t keep it hush-hush either. They hit social media with a statement, probably written with some major side-eye energy, detailing how they stopped the “continued illegal demolition.” It’s the corporate version of subtweeting, and we’re here for the drama.

Meanwhile, Sylvester hasn’t clapped back yet. Maybe he’s drafting a “not me” tweet, or maybe he’s ignoring the situation like we ignore emails on a Friday afternoon. Either way, the tea is steeping, and Ghanaians are waiting to see who’s got the final word—or the last brick standing. Read more

NEWS SOURCES

Today’s stories are curated from: