Accra - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

Africa’s promising sports future evident at the 13th Africa Games in Accra

AFTER three weeks of intense field and track event actions across multiple venues in Accra, the 13th edition of the Africa Games came to a close this past weekend. The pan-African sporting event has, yet again, showcased Africa's rich and diverse sports talent, with more than 35 countries participating across 23 sports disciplines. Egypt led with 107 gold, 47 silver, and 42 bronze medals, totalling 191. Nigeria followed with 121, Algeria 114, South Africa 106, and Tunisia 88. Hosts Ghana achieved a record 68 medals, including 19 golds, their best ever in the African Games. The range of sports, from…

Jan

2024

By MAXWELL AKALAARE ADOMBILA and JORGELINA DO ROSARIO

Ghana official creditors agree on restructuring date, key step to deal – sources

BUSINESS

GHANA'S official creditors have agreed to restructure debts that were extended to the country up until December 2022, two sources told Reuters, with Accra closing in on a key step required to advance its restructuring. A deal between Ghana and its official creditors would pave the way for the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve the disbursement of $600 million under its $3 billion bailout programme. Discussions over the "cut-off date" - the date after which new loans signed with bilateral creditors will not be restructured - had recently emerged as a stumbling block to an…

Dec

2023

By MAXWELL AKALAARE ADOMBILA

Ghana court jails Chinese national over illegal gold mining

NEWS

A Ghanaian court has sentenced a Chinese national to prison for illegal gold mining in the West African nation, her lawyer said, ending a case that started in 2017 and shed light on Chinese involvement in the activity. The court in the capital Accra sentenced Aisha Huang to four and a half years imprisonment and a fine of 48,000 Ghanaian cedis ($4,000) for running an illegal mining operation, Huang's lawyer Hope Agboado told Reuters. Huang, who could not be reached for comment, initially pleaded not guilty but changed her plea to guilty as the trial progressed. Agboado said he had…

Sep

2023

By The African Mirror

Kwame Nkrumah: memorials to the man who led Ghana to independence have been built, erased and revived again

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

KWAME Nkrumah Memorial Park lies at the centre of Ghana’s capital, Accra. Recently renovated, it is dedicated to the memory of Kwame Nkrumah, the leader of Ghana’s independence struggle and its first president. Marking the spot of his final resting place at the park is a massive statue. CAROLA LENTZ, Professor of Anthropology, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz The statue has been continuously contested since its original commission in 1956 and its unveiling at the first anniversary of independence in 1958. As a social anthropologist who has researched and written about Kwame Nkrumah themed monuments, I have explored the contradiction…

Sep

2023

By FRANCIS KOKOROKO

Multi-day protests over economic crisis grip Ghana’s capital

NEWS

HUNDREDS of demonstrators gathered in the Ghanaian capital Accra on Saturday for a third day of anti-government protests linked to economic hardship that have led to dozens of arrests. Protesters, some waving placards of the Ghanaian flag, decried the high cost of living and a lack of jobs as they marched under the watch of riot police. The gold-, oil- and cocoa-producing nation has been battling its worst economic crisis in a generation brought on by spiralling public debt. "The average Ghanaian can't afford three square meals (per day) ... the government doesn't care," said 24-year-old unemployed protester Romeo, who like others…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

Accra: the Ga people’s annual ban on noise restores a spiritual connection with the sea

LIFESTYLE

ACCRA, Ghana’s capital, is a noisy cosmopolitan city of almost three million people. Its active nightlife, commercial markets and factories create a deafening mix of sound trails day and night. These synthetic sounds have practically drowned out the natural everyday sounds of Accra. And the most important of these is the steady drone sound of the sea, now usually subdued to a mere background hush. Author LARYEA AKWETTEH, Assistant lecturer, University of Ghana As the local Ga people say, Ga efee hoo (“Accra has become noisy”). The Ga, who are made up of Ga Mashie, Osu, La, Teshie, Nungua, Tema,…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Ghana mourns player Atsu killed in Turkey earthquake

NEWS

GHANAIANS gathered outside the country's parliament building in Accra for the state funeral of national soccer team winger Christian Atsu, who died during the earthquake in southern Turkey last month. Atsu had gone missing after the February 6 earthquake following the collapse of an apartment building in Hatay. His body was later found under the rubble and flown back to Ghana. He was 31. Mourners silently filed past Atsu's coffin, which arrived draped in Ghana's national flag. Family, fans and beneficiaries of his charitable donations remembered him as a philanthropist. "He's even more than a football player," said Fedna Asare, a family…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Body of Ghana soccer player Atsu arrives home in Accra

NEWS

THE body of Ghana winger Christian Atsu was flown home to Accra evening, the day after he was found dead under a collapsed building in southern Turkey. Atsu had been missing since the February 6 earthquake following the collapse of an apartment building in Hatay. He was 31. FILE PHOTO: Newcastle United's Christian Atsu inside the stadium before the match on February 1, 2020. REUTERS/Scott Heppell Draped in Ghana's national flag, Atsu's coffin was received at the capital's Kotoko International Airport by Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia and a large military honour guard. "We hoped against hope, every day that passed, we…

Nov

2022

By The African Mirror

Ghanaian protesters demand president step down over economic crisis

NEWS

COOPER INVEEN and FRANCIS KOKOROKO MORE than 1,000 protesters marched through Ghana's capital Accra, calling for the resignation of President Nana Akufo-Addo amid an economic crisis that has hammered the cedi currency and seen fuel and food costs spiral to record levels. Filing past police in riot gear, the red-clad crowd waved placards and chanted 'Akufo-Addo must go' and 'IMF no' in reference to the government's ongoing talks with the International Monetary Fund for billions of dollars to prop up the economy. The president last week sought to reassure Ghanaians that the authorities would get the country's finances back on track after consumer inflation…

May

2022

By The African Mirror

When Africans asked for COVID shots, they didn’t get them. Now they don’t want them

COVID-19

EDWARD MCALLISTER and COOPER INVEEN IT"S noisy inside the Mamprobi clinic in Accra as kids clamber over their mothers while they wait to get their measles vaccines. Outside, an area reserved for COVID-19 shots is empty. A health worker leans back in his chair and scrolls on a tablet. One woman, waiting to get her daughter inoculated, is fully aware of the dangers of measles: the high fever, the rash, and the risk to eyesight. But COVID-19? She has never heard of a single case. The perception that COVID-19 doesn't pose a significant threat is common in Ghana's capital and…