Politics

The Government of Ghana is putting in more efforts to ensure that the Black Stars of Ghana make it to the World Cup in Russia and also win the 2017 Cup of Nations in Gabon, Minister of Youth and Sports Nii Lantey Vanderpuye has said.

Ghana will play Uganda on Friday October 7 at the Tamale Sports Stadium in a bid to qualify for a fourth straight World Cup. The team will feature in the Cup of Nations in Gabon in 2017.

Oct 4 Two of Nigeria's 10 presidential jets have been put up for sale as part of a drive to cut costs, a spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari said on Tuesday.

Buhari, a 73-year-old former military ruler who took office last year, has vowed to crack down on corruption and mismanagement of public funds that has seen a rich elite benefit from the OPEC member's oil wealth while most Nigerians live on less than $2 per day.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is warning of a full-blown financial crisis for Ghana if aggressive measures are not taken to check government’s rising debts.

The Fund gave the warning in its staff report sent to its Executive Board requesting it pass Ghana’s performance under the third review of the program.

According to the IMF staff, their fears are based on some tight financing conditions facing government as a result of challenges with revenue mobilization, a development that could result in some overruns in the coming weeks, as the election season approaches.

Country exceeds annual allocation for local government workers

Overspending on wages to weigh on cedi, inflation: Databank

Ghana’s currency retreated on Monday after government data showed the West African nation is overshooting key budget targets as it approaches elections in December.

Ghana is the third largest trade partner for Germany, which is an active global partner. The German Ambassador Designate to Ghana, Mr Christoph Retzlaff, who disclosed this, said development cooperation was one of the most important areas of German-Ghana relations.

The Ambassador was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Daily Graphic prior to the celebration of the German Unity Day, which falls today. The day is being celebrated on the theme: "Building Bridges".

The Ambassador said the relations between the two countries were strong in various areas.

A new bill passed through the US Congress is creating a storm - with President Barack Obama and the CIA warning of its dire consequences.

In passing the law that allows legal action against Saudi Arabia over the 9/11 attacks, Congress over-ruled a veto by Mr Obama for the first time in his presidency.

So why is it so controversial, and what are its wider implications?

What is the bill?

A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the Kwesimintim constituency in the Western Region, only known as Lucas was on Tuesday morning arrested during the ongoing constituency primary for allegedly bribing delegates.

The accused who is aligned to Joseph Mensah one of the candidates had positioned himself at an obscure place behind the polling centre, was caught in the act dolling out envelopes containing money to some of the delegates.

The world has lost a giant, Israel has lost an icon and I have lost a personal hero.

Throughout my life and diplomatic career Shimon Peres was a role model. He was the face of our country for decades and shone his face upon the world.

Anyone tasked with representing the State of Israel and the Jewish People, if they take that responsibility seriously, emulates Peres – as a diplomat, leader and human being. Never meet your heroes, they say, but I am grateful to have had a career in which I met and got to know mine. . .

President John Dramani Mahama has expressed his frustration at the delay in the passage of the Freedom to Information Bill.
Although he spoke positively about freedoms Ghanaians were currently enjoying, he said the passage of the Freedom to Information Bill was crucial as it would give legal backing to the people's quest to seek information.

"I believe that it is something that we should complete and make available so that people can have a legal basis for demanding information if there is reluctance to give information," he said.

ACCRA, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Ghana's economic growth slowed to 2.5 percent in the second quarter compared with a year earlier, provisional official data showed on Wednesday, due mainly to a temporary halt in oil production.

Ghana saw sustained GDP growth of above 8 percent until 2013, helped by exports of gold, cocoa and oil, but then slumped because of lower global commodity prices and a fiscal crisis that forced it to secure an aid deal with the International Monetary Fund that began last year.