Faith-based and traditional healing centers in Ghana continue to hold people with real or perceived mental health conditions – psychosocial disabilities – in chains in inhumane conditions despite a 2017 ban on such treatment, Human Rights Watch said today. “People with psychosocial disabilities are still chained like animals,” said Shantha Rau Barriga, disability rights director at Human Rights Watch. “If the government wants ...
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Technology & innovation will help speed up removal of land sector corruption in Africa –afDB
The African Development Bank is committed to working with its partners to improve governance in land administration as part of efforts to boost agriculture production. African countries must act faster to purge corruption in the land sector by harnessing technology and innovation, African Development Bank Senior Vice President Charles Boamah urged on Monday. Boamah, who was speaking to policymakers and stakeholders ...
Read More »India Turning a Blind Eye to Smuggled Gold
IMPACT’s new report reveals India to be one of the largest gold smuggling hubs in the world. As a result, gold that is tied to conflict, human rights abuses, and corruption in Africa and South America is entering legal international markets through India. In its latest report, A Golden Web: How India Became One of the World’s Largest Gold Smuggling Hubs , ...
Read More »Local government reforms and chieftaincy – Legal Affairs, National House of Chiefs
The National House of Chiefs supports the current policy of Government to effect constitutional amendments to ensure that chief executives of District, Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies would be elected not appointed officials. However, the current focus is on holding a referendum to amend Article 55(3) of the Constitution to permit the introduction of partisan politics into local government. While in ...
Read More »It’s only blacks who can help themselves – Barbados Prime Minister
The Prime Minister (PM) of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, has told African nations to build strong economic ties with black nations outside Africa and people of African descent for their mutual benefit and eliminate the mentality that white mind is superior to the black mind. She said it was the most insidious insult for black people to see themselves as ...
Read More »Nigerian scammer ‘pulls off $1m heist’ from prison
A convicted internet fraudster has been placed under investigation in Nigeria for allegedly masterminding a “mega scam” from a maximum-security prison worth at least $1m (£773,000). Anti-corruption officials said Hope Olusegun Aroke used a “network of accomplices” for the fraud. He was arrested in 2012 and has been serving a 24-year sentence at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison. But a ...
Read More »IDEG calls for ‘Yes’ Vote on December 17
The Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, insists that a “Yes” vote in the upcoming national referendum will enhance Ghana’s democracy. He has, therefore, called on all stakeholders, particularly the political parties and institutions that are against the “Yes” vote, to reconsider their position and see the overall benefits of supporting the referendum. Speaking ...
Read More »You can’t jail persons who stand as sureties – CJ issues new practice directives
The Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has issued new practice directives to judges and magistrates in trial courts across the country to be used in determining bail conditions and consequential orders. Per the directive which took effect from November 1, 2019, persons standing surety for accused persons will bear the cost of transportation to inspect their place of residence. It said ...
Read More »UN leads bid for cheaper insulin, expanding access for diabetics worldwide
Overly expensive insulin could be a thing of the past – and life-changing news – for millions of diabetics under a plan launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday to diversify production globally, just ahead of World Diabetes Day. Announcing the initiative in Geneva, the UN agency said that it had already had informal expressions of interest from pharmaceutical ...
Read More »‘We failed to reach Europe – now our families disown us’
Most of the West African migrants who fail to reach Europe eventually return to their own countries, but it can be a bitter homecoming. In Sierra Leone, returnees are often rejected by relatives and friends. They’re seen as failures, and many stole from their families to pay for their journey. Some readers will find this story disturbing Fatmata breaks into ...
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