Star Forum

The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) says it will embark on an exercise to arrest riders who carry more than the required passengers on their motorbikes. The exercise, which will begin in the Greater Accra Region, will also affect motor riders who do not use helmets. The Greater Accra Regional Manager of the NRSC, Mrs Catherine Hamilton, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in an interview at Big Ada in the Greater Accra Region during a sensitisation campaign to educate drivers and riders on road traffic regulations. Mrs Hamilton said the commission, in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service, would soon clampdown on commercial motorcycles, more popularly called okada, and other riders of motorbikes to get them to conform to road traffic regulations. As part of the campaign, the commission visited lorry stations and market centres to sensitise commercial vehicle drivers, passengers and other aspects of the public on road safety regulations. The commission gave out road...

Chief mastermind of the three kidnapped Takoradi girls, Samuel Udoetuk-Wills insists that the victims are still alive and are in the Nigeria where they were taken to.  He told police interrogators that the human parts found in a septic tank at his former residence could not be those of the three girls who almost a year now have gone missing and their whereabouts unknown.  According to MyNewsGh.com sources at the Western Regional Police Command, Samuel Udoetuk-Wills claims he is not aware of how those human parts founds their way into the septic tank reiterating on his earlier position they girls are alive and are in Nigeria.  “He insists the girls are alive and not dead. He told the interrogators that the girls are in Nigeria and not in Ghana with claims he does not know how those human parts found their way into the drain”, our source disclosed.  Ruth Quayson, Priscilla Blessing Bentum and Priscilla Koranchie are believed to have been kidnapped between August 2018...

The Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Andrew Egyapa Mercer has denied being a shareholder of the Power Distribution Services (PDS), despite being a director of one of the local companies that owned shares in PDS. According to him, he was only engaged as a lawyer to register one of the companies, TG Energy Solutions Ghana Limited, in 2014. “I do not have any interest or whatsoever in PDS. I am not a shareholder [of PDS], neither am I a director of PDS. In 2014, when I was practising as a lawyer, some persons that I know requested that I incorporate a company for them. The name of the company was given to me by the said persons and of course, they gave me the name of one individual that they intend to be the director and ask that I be the other director or secretary of the company- an activity that many lawyers do in the course of their work. So I proceeded to incorporate the company. I obtained the certificate of incorporation on the 24th of June 2014 and that was the extent to which ...

Exclusive documents secured by Joy News reveal that Power Distribution Services (PDS) paid the required $12.2 million premium to secure guarantee to finalise the takeover the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).  However, the documents again reveal that the money never got to the reinsurers in Qatar.  In the letter dated February 21, 2019, Cal Bank writes to the Millenium Development Authority (MiDA) notifying them of receipt of an amount of $8 million as a deposit for the payment of the charges for the issuance of the demand guarantees for a total value of $350 million.  Then in May, the final instalment of $4.25 million was also paid from the PDS account at Cal Bank.  Government has suspended the PDS concession agreement because of suspicion that the guarantees were fake. Joy News understands that once Cal Bank received the payment from PDS it worked with Donewell Insurance to finance the deal.  Donewell Insurance also engaged Jordanian based broker Jo Austr...

Energy expert Kojo Opoku says the blame for the failure of due diligence to be done over the concession agreement between government and Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Limited must be laid at the doorstep of the Minister of Finance and not any other.  He says it took a Qatari company to alert government of the fraudulent documents tendered in by PDS to win the bid.  No due diligence was done, he stressed on 3FM‘s Hot Edition on Wednesday.  Government in a statement on Tuesday suspended the whole agreement after it said further due diligence was conducted.  Fundamental and material breaches were detected with the demand guarantees that enabled PDS to manage the assets of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).  Already, Energy Minister John Peter-Amewu has confirmed the suspension of the official behind the “fraudulent documents”. Official behind PDS’ ‘fraudulent documents’ suspended – Energy Minister confirms  But speaking on the issue on Hot Ed...

Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison, has been appointed as one of the Co-Chairs of the Regional Consultative Group for Swiss Based, Financial Stability Board.  Joy Business is learning that he was appointed on July 1 2019. The Governor is expected to work with Governor of the Reserve Bank of South Africa, Lesetja Kganyaga to jointly Chair the Regional Consultative Group of the Financial Stability Board Standing Committee on Supervisory and Regulatory Cooperation.  The team of the Co-Chairs who are predominately Central Bank governors in some selected countries around the world that have invited to the board. Dr Addison would be responsible for the Sub-Saharan Region, together with Lesetja Kganyaga.  What is the Financial Stability Board?   The board made up Central Bank Governors drawn from the G20 country as well some countries that have been invited to join the grouping. The Swiss-based Financial Stability Board FSB is aimed at promoting the reform o...