Ansasesem Sikasem: Ghana’s Economy Threatened......

USD 1.7 Billion Investment into Ghana’ Economy Threatened
Dated: April 2014

The management of Royal Africa Holdings, Ghana, owners of Palm Grove City, a USD 1.7 billion city project in pram pram and several other projects in Ghana, are concerned about the activities of some unscrupulous Ghanaians which have the potential of undermining the investment opportunities and benefits associated with Royal Africa Holdings interests in Ghana.

It is becoming a trend where some Ghanaians who through one way or the other have been fortunate to meet the chairman of Royal African Holdings, HRH Prince Ebrahim try to defraud him of various sums of money running into thousands of dollars. HRH Prince Ebrahim is a kind hearted man and doesn’t hesitate to offer business opportunities to individuals he comes into contact with.

There is enough evidence to support this claim where HRH Prince Ebrahim has identify indigenous artisans operating on a very small scale and invited them to his office for joint venture process to be initiated for capital injection  into their operation. This kind gesture of HRH has become a regular feature at Royal Africa House.

One Mr Boafo, who claims to be the father in law of black star footballer Dominic Adiyah has dupe the chairman of our company, Royal Africa Holdings, His Royal Highness Prince Ebrahim by presenting himself as the manager of a property near trassaco owned by Dominic Adiyah.

In agreement, HRH Prince Ebrahim paid Mr boafo an initial deposit for a contract to be prepared for the leasing of the property. For over three months Mr Ben Boafo has been given flimsy excuses to HRH Prince Ebrahim for his failure to provide a contract and hand over the keys to the property.

For over three months, each and every day was a promise and fail episode on the part of Mr. Boafo
At a point, it was agreed between the parties that Mr Boafo returns the money but he later communicated that the money has been sent to Ghanaian footballer Dominic Adiyah at his base overseas. There were moments of recorded phone conversations where Mr. Boafo mentioning Dominic has promised to send the money at a certain date but the date comes only for him to give another excuse.

After running out of luck, Mr Boafo reported to the adabraka police that he had been threatened by HRH Prince Ebrahim, which was later established by the police to be absolutely false. After statements were taken it was clear that Mr Boafo had not been honest in his dealings with HRH Prince Ebrahim. Inspector Ben, CID Ghana Police confirm their frustration with Mr Boafo unreliability and dishonesty where on several occasions has assured to police of refunding the money but always fails to honor his promise.

Negotiations calling for full repayment of said sum of money was brokered by Staff Officer Eric and Present was Inspector Ben of CID at Accra Central Police Station (Adabraka), as well as Mr Baofo and HRH Prince Ebrahim present that monies will be return within 4 weeks. It has been 3 months now nothing has been done. Despite various promises on dates, payment is simply not coming. The police all along acknowledge the wrongs of Mr Baofo and his inconsistent failures; however fell short to bring him to books.

The question that begs everyone is, why didn’t Ghana Police Arrest and Charge Mr Baofo? Is he above the Law? Is someone protecting him? The failure of the Adabraka Police to arrest Mr Boafo for defrauding and also deceit of public office is something of concern to us, tantamount to blatant miscarriage of Justice. Mr Boafo has made complete mockery of the Ghana’s Legal System and Law enforcement; thus put himself above the law.

Therefore the indispensable duty of the police should be to ensure that justice is done and be seen to be done. We see no reason why Mr Boafo shouldn’t have been arrested, charged and brought to books forthwith. Henceforth, we the management and staff of Royal Africa Holdings in Accra which constitute 100 percent Ghanaians are becoming increasingly worried about this unfortunate situation which is frustrating our investors.

For us at Royal Africa Holdings it is not the issue of amount of money involved but principle. If the Legal system is protecting petty criminals on petty sums of money, what happens when millions are dishonestly taken from our investors? The law must not harbour or protect criminals who prey on innocent investors especially one that is investing USD 1.7 billion into Ghana’s economy.

If the laws of the land cannot protect and safeguard investor’s funds then clearly the quest of the government to achieve economic development is farfetched. We are very Concern about Police inaction; example must be set from the bottom up.

Meanwhile, the management has called for an extra-ordinary meeting at Royal Africa Holdings office in Accra slated for Monday 28th April 2014 to conclude appropriate measures in fully addressing aforementioned teething matter.
SIGNED:
Corporate Affairs Office
Royal Africa Holdings

Source: http://nowghana.com/usd-1-7-billion-investment-ghana-economy-threatened/

Paulina says: You couldn't make this up -even if you wanted to....... Its incredible the goings on in our 'better Ghana' -no?

Health: Tackling Malaria

This World Malaria Day, control programmes across the world are reflecting on how far they have come. Photograph: Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images

 

 

 

How one Ghanaian town sprayed away 74% of malaria cases in two years

The impact of malaria on productivity led one mining company to implement a comprehensive anti-malaria programme, now used in 22 districts. Sue George reports on the Obuasi model

 

Dated: Friday 25 April 2014

 

 

In the Obuasi area of Ghana, private sector investment in tackling malaria has led to substantial business and community benefits, with drastic reductions in malaria prevalence.

Obuasi is the site of a large gold mine owned by the company AngloGold Ashanti. In 2004, the company saw that its workforce were suffering high levels of malaria, meaning that many of them were off sick at any one time. This was clearly having an impact on its business.

AngloGold Ashanti set out to tackle this with a comprehensive programme that encompassed malaria prevention and treatment and featured indoor residual spraying as a major form of prevention. It is a comprehensive method of malaria control that the company now refers to as the Obuasi model.

"We had a goal of achieving a 50% reduction [in malaria prevalence] within two years," says Sylvester Segbaya, programme director for AngloGold Ashanti malaria control. "Within two years, we actually had a 74% reduction."

While the Edwin Cade hospital in Obuasi saw 6,711 cases of malaria in 2005, the figure was down to 973 by 2009. In late 2013, it was just 238.

The World Health Organisation recommends indoor spraying with residual insecticide (IRS) as a significant method of preventing malaria. It is "… a powerful way to rapidly reduce malaria transmission. Its full potential is realised when at least 80% of houses in targeted areas are sprayed," it says.

This was the case in Obuasi, where the spraying of mines, surrounding buildings, homes and then entire districts have meant that there are simply fewer mosquitoes that can spread malaria. This is benefiting all parts of the community, not just miners. People are spending less on malaria treatment, children are more likely to be healthy and attending school and under-5s are less likely to die of the disease.

Such a large programme could not be carried out by a private company alone. Partnerships with the public sector were key from the start. The programme was set up in collaboration with Ghana's ministry of health, which made regular reports to the National Malaria Control Programme.

This worked so well that in 2011 the Global Fund granted $130m (£77m) to the company to carry out this work in partnership with government and public sector bodies. The idea was to spread this work to other parts of Ghana. As of April 2014, 22 districts of Ghana have been treated. This will increase to 40 districts by the end of 2015 and will concentrate on the north of Ghana, where the malaria burden is greatest.

The work also involves training local people to carry out the residual spraying and to get involvement from all areas of the community. Though IRS has been criticised by some for exposing people to insecticide, Segbaya says that health issues are always taken into consideration. Rooms used by people with asthma or allergies are not sprayed and there is the added advantage that other pests, such as cockroaches and bed bugs, are destroyed.

So why despite this success has indoor residual spraying been so little used in comparison to the mass distribution of bed nets? Because it has to be carried out comprehensively in a particular area in order to be effective, and this can be both technically demanding and comparatively expensive.

"With bed nets, all you do is distribute them," says Segbaya. "With indoor residual spraying you have to hire people, train them in managing the pump, mixing insecticide, handling people's property, all of which require more skill."

Another factor is the cost – a net to protect one or two people costs £2-3. "Currently it costs around $400,000 (£238,000) to spray one district, which is maybe $10-15 (£6-9) per person. This is almost three times the cost of providing bed nets."

These figures may not be immediately attractive to donors, and cannot be borne by the public sector alone. However, the private sector may be better able to support these costs, especially when measuring them against increased productivity.

Trevor Keel is head of technology at the World Gold Council, the market development organisation for the gold mining industry. Many of its members – large gold mines – operate some kind of community health programme to support their workforce and the surrounding communities.

"Our interest initially stemmed from the fact that gold is used in the rapid diagnostic tests that are now the most common way of diagnosing malaria," says Keel. So protecting the miners and their communities from malaria seemed logical. "This is a great example of what the private sector should be doing," he adds.

AngloGold Ashanti – which also operates in Mali, Tanzania and Guinea – is now starting similar programmes in its other mines.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/apr/25/ghana-anglogold-malaria-reduction?CMP=twt_gu

Paulina says: Some good news......

Gold is the new Gold

Title: Ghana Gold Output Seen Falling 500,000 Ounces on Halts
Dated: Apr 28, 2014

Gold production in Ghana, the continent’s second-largest producer after South Africa, may fall 500,000 ounces this year as declining prices prompted some mines to suspend operations, the Minerals Commission said.

Output for 2014 is estimated at 3.1 million ounces, from an initial target of 3.6 million, Daniel Krampah, the commission’s assistant manager of financial analysis, said today by phone in the capital, Accra.

“We will definitely record lower volumes this year,” said Krampah. “Some companies have placed their mines under care and maintenance.”

Ghana’s gold production climbed to a record 4.3 million ounces in 2012 from 3.6 million ounces the previous year after prices reached a record in September 2011. Bullion slumped 28 percent in 2013 as some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value amid a rally in equities and muted inflation.
The mine suspensions mean “we will be losing about 500,000 ounces of gold annually,” said Krampah.

Ghana produced 107.9 metric tons of gold in 2013, making it the eighth-biggest producer, according to data from Thomson Reuters GFMS. Bloomberg competes with Thomson Reuters in selling financial and legal information and trading systems.


Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-28/ghana-gold-output-seen-falling-500-000-ounces-on-halts.html

Paulina says: I would normally read the likes of the above and shake -but not today... People will always want gold -and the market will reflect this in dues time. Up and down, up and down -just like a swing......no shaking.

Lifestyle: Marriott set to open soon in Takoradi

Title: Marriott expands to Nigeria and Ghana
Dated: Mar 25, 2014

Marriott Intl., through its subsidiary U.S. based Protea has recently confirmed expansion plans in Nigeria focus on Port Harcourt in the oil-rich Niger Delta, the nation’s capital Abuja and the southeastern state of Enugu.

One of the hotels will be rated 5 star and branded Marriott Abuja and the second one three star Courtyard by Marriott (Port Harcour).

With the Ghana oilfields also creating demand for business travel, Protea will open a 130-room hotel in Takoradi in the country’s western region later this year.

Source: http://www.cpp-luxury.com/marriott-expands-to-nigeria-and-ghana/

"I think that when there is nothing to prove, there is nothing to prove. It is a mind blowing sort of freedom. It is a freedom that's not for wimps... The only thing is ---you look around you and you wonder, where has everybody gone." Paulina Opoku-Gyimah

 

The Spirit: Waiting for 'Miracles' in the Wilderness........

 

Keep Calm A New Thing is Coming..........

Take your eyes off your situation and keep your eyes on God and watch Him turn your situation around. There are many of you who are in a weary, dry, tough, struggling, and hopeless place. You've allowed the circumstances of your trial that God promised He will bring out of overtake you. Your faith has decreased because of the wait. Your mind has come to the conclusion that God is not a man of His word. You trusted God when He gave you the promise but because He didn't act immediately the spirit of doubt entered your mind.

 

There are many of you who are fed up, frustrated, stressed, overwhelmed, tired, and want to throw in the towel. I'm here to tell you to stay in the course. Don't give up! Don't waver but trust His word and know that He'll come through for you. Stop depending on your resources and look to the source, Jesus Christ. When God sees you have all the answers He'll turn His ear from you until you fully surrender to Him. You have to trust God without a shadow of doubt when what you prayed for doesn't come to past you'll know, He's still faithful because He has something better in store for you. God is turning your situation around. You cannot see because your mind is focusing on your circumstances and not looking into the spirit. God's word does not come back void.

 

When He promises you something He doesn't give you the full details because He's testing your patience. He wants to test how you will respond during the wait. Will you still pray? Will you still give thanks? Will you still worship? Will still praise Him? Will you still be faithful? Time may be moving slow in your eyes but understand He's preparing you, equipping you, molding you, and shaping you. When He finally give you what He promised you'll appreciate the promise more than Him immediately giving it to you. When He delivers you from a stronghold or situation you'll recall how long you had to endure the suffering to know you're not going back to your past.

Credit: http://instagram.com/instagodministries
 

Complex Magazine celebrates Vic Mensa....

Image by Simon Jones

Title: Who Is Vic Mensa?
Dated: Feb 6, 2014

Timing, they say, is everything. When it's on an artist's side, he can ride that wave effortlessly upward; when it isn't, he's thrust to the sidelines, marginalized instantaneously. It makes or breaks careers. You could fill 200 iPhones with the music of rappers who couldn't deliver on their promise, no matter how substantial their talents. All because of timing.

At least, that's what they say.
 

Maybe it's time to rethink the old cliches. Hip-hop fans have always focused on measuring success. It's no surprise; after all, you're talking about an art form where something was created from nothing, unheard voices alchemized experience into therapeutic autobiography, speculative fantasy, and floor-filling entertainment. This is why the gold chains make sense; the fruits of this invisible labor have to be substantial, or it may as well never have happened. There's an irrational, contradictory logic to this arrangement. On the one hand, if an MC records great art in a forest, does it make a sound? And on the other: whose fault is it that the rapper's art is in a forest in the first place?

Vic Mensa visited Complex the morning after headlining a workout of a show at the Knitting Factory last November. It was one of those lineups that only makes sense in New York, where three rising artists with substantially different fanbases—in this case, Deniro Ferrar, Ty Dolla $ign, and Vic Mensa—perform for the benefit of the media. Vic was supporting Innanetape, his celebrated 2013 solo record, his first since the break-up of acclaimed hip-hop band Kids These Days. In Kids These Days, he was the rapper and frontman.

Innanetape was produced primarily by Cam Osteen from Justice League, Peter Cottontale (best known for his work with Chance The Rapper), and Vic himself. The tape suggests Vic has a strong sense for songcraft, with smooth neo-soul hooks and beats rooted in an '80s funk/R&B tradition. It's shot through with experimental flavors (like the drum'n'bass-style groove on "Lovely Day") and features guests like L.A. experimental jazz-fusion bassist Thundercat and Neptunes-affiliated pop eccentric Kenna.

Despite some adventurous choices, Innanetape is musically tasteful, even serene—cuts like "Hollywood LA" and "Orange Soda" are relaxed and comfortable moments of family barbecue-friendly positivity. But Vic's live performance, at least at the Knitting Factory that night, had a serrated edge, amplified by stage dives, rock guitars, and a mosh pit. Going back to the tape after seeing him perform, the restlessness under the surface became more apparent; a barbed, nervous energy surfaced in his lyrics. On "Orange Soda": "Know when you want it, but just can't have it?/Especially as an artist, don't that shit make you mad/Just breathe... breathe... breathe, it's all in your head/Know these labels wanna sign me for an arm and a leg."

 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLp7M5SMBkQ)

There's an elephant in the room here, and that elephant is Chance The Rapper, Vic's good friend and a recent Justin Bieber collaborator who has been propelled from Chicago's vibrant music scene to the top of the major labels' most-wanted list. For national listeners, unfamiliar with Chicago's deep bench, there's a perception that he did so in a lane that is a little too similar to Vic's own; as if there can be only one conflicted, thoughtful, skilled-yet-streetsmart backpacker.

Sure: Vic's a kid from the South Side who came up on rock music and hip-hop, and whose parents had high expectations—his father has a PhD in economics, and his mother is a physical therapist in the Chicago Public Schools. And like Chance, Vic gripped perfectionism, becoming one of Chicago's most lyrically creative teenage rappers, even as he bucked his parents' prescribed route in favor of an independent path.

Vic created this path, even before Chance The Rapper released a song. Before Chief Keef was signed by Interscope, Vic was 16 with a solo mixtape and being sought out by the major labels.

As a member of Kids These Days, he played Lollapalooza a year before Keef and two before Chance. But while Chicago was having its biggest moment since the arrival of Kanye West a decade earlier, Vic was caught up in the turmoil surrounding Kids These Days, the hip-hop band to whom he'd thrown his loyalty and several years of his life. While they spent a year gearing up to breakthrough within the proper industry channels, they felt the strain of internal tensions about the band's direction. While numerous Chicago hip-hop stars capitalized on the buzz, one of its most talented, most promising voices was on the sidelines, his group in stasis. But his story isn't anything like Chance The Rapper's—even though, to a national audience, he still has to prove it.

When Vic first arrived at Complex, he seemed tired and withdrawn—likely because of the previous night's late performance. As he spoke with Complex, while his friend fell asleep face down on the table beside him, he opened up considerably; he had a lot to get off his chest. An hour and a half later, when he left, it seemed like a weight had lifted. Open and honest about the internal turmoil that led to the break-up of Kids These Days, his frustrations, and his confident personal and musical philosophies, the conversation felt as much like a therapy session as an interview.

If timing is everything, though, Vic might have some hurdles in front of him. He is a prodigal talent; give him a space to create, and he'll fill every inch of that canvas, and do it with more color and more creativity and a stronger sense for an emotional truth than anyone around him. He's used to being the best in the room. But what happens if he's in the wrong room at the wrong time?
As Vic left Complex, the reality of an uphill climb was still ahead. But if anyone can find his way out of that forest, it's Vic Mensa.

What was your life like as a kid?My neighborhood is mad diverse and also divided. It’s called Hyde Park. On one hand, you have the University of Chicago. That’s a community in and of itself. And on the other side you have Hyde Park, which I separate. People classify Hyde Park based on the side they’re looking at.

My dad used to work at University of Chicago and I was born over there. Hyde Park—I grew up around a lot of different races and a lot of different types of people. My first friend was a Jewish kid, I went to a Jewish pre-school, but it wasn’t all Jewish kids. It’s just like that in Hyde Park. Now, I live in a cul-de-sac of townhouses that’s one block away from gigantic houses, four or five blocks from Barack Obama’s house. And it’s also a block away from section 8 [affordable housing], and four or five blocks away to what would be the equivalent of the projects. So that’s how Hyde Park is and I’m somewhere in the middle of it all.

What expectations did your parents have of you growing up?All parents have expectations. My dad especially, he’s from Ghana—super educated man. So education has always been huge to him. I never was too much into school, but I didn’t have problems getting good grades. School was easy for me. I always did well, but I always got in trouble, and as I got older the trouble just multiplied.

From the first time I got suspended in sixth grade, I just kept getting suspended, at least once a year until I graduated high school. It’s easy to cheat in school. And it’s also not hard to do the shit you have to do.

My parents wanted me to go to college and a lot of things that didn’t happen, but at the same time as those things were falling to the wayside, music was steadily rising. And it was something they could see and recognize. So they were understanding in some ways, but less understanding in others. They weren’t ever super rigid, like "We’re going to kick you out the house if you don’t go to college."

What are your earliest memories of music?I was heavily into rock and roll. That and African drums. I remember my father used to play African music all the time. The Beatles are probably some of my earliest memories from my mother, and Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis.

Backstreet Boys in first grade, I remember Backstreet Boys and N'SYNC and Spice Girls and shit like that. I wasn't really into the Spice Girls, but I was definitely into the Backstreet Boys. When I was in grammar school, up until like 5th grade, I didn’t really vibe with hip-hop. I just didn’t understand why niggas was so mad.

I think some of the first rap I liked before I started liking rap was Eminem, just because there was an African kid I knew that was older than me who knew my sister, who told me Eminem was cool. When you’re a little kid and someone tells you something’s cool, you just go with it.

I was really into Guns N' Roses and AC/DC and all of that classic hair-rock shit. And then I found out about Nirvana, and I was a gigantic fan of Nirvana around 5th grade. I found out about hip-hop through skateboard movies, because I had been skating since I was like 10. I really started fucking with rap off this Zoo York VHS tape. KRS-ONE, “Step Into A World,” that was the first rap song I remember finding myself, and being like, "I fuck with this heavily." And then I got put onto 106 & Park by my homie, so at the same time watching that—when Westside Connection and Destiny’s Child were on TV.

But I really got into hip-hop through skateboarding and breakdancing and graffiti. Me and my man Nico [Segal]—he plays the trumpet—we used to go to the hip-hop shop in his neighborhood. It was called The Bassment, and we would buy paint markers to write on shit. They sold spray paint under the table too. We would go there and get Run-DMC albums and fuckin' old shit like Grandmaster Flash and breakbeat records, and we’d set up linoleum in his basement. He would DJ and I would breakdance, or he would DJ and I would spit.


Do visit: http://www.complex.com/music/2014/02/who-is-vic-mensa  to read the interview in its entirety....



For more info about Vic Mensa visit: https://www.facebook.com/VicMensa1