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Atia, Lariba show class at 2023 Accra Inter-City Homowo Marathon
Koogo Atia staged an improved show to win the men’s top prize in the 21km event of the Accra Inter City Homowo Marathon held on Friday.
Having been beaten to the slot last year, Atia took nothing for granted.
He gave an early indication as he attempted to break away from the pack but his closest competitors, especially Basit Afful and Ishmael Arthur managed to keep him in eye contact.
But the University of Education, Winneba final year student brought maintained his composure, kept the lead and saved some energy as his pursuers attempted to close up.
But when he mattered most on the final stretch, Atia increased the tempo and left behind Afful and Arthur in second and third places respectively, finishing with an impressive time of 1:07.39.
Atia received a GHȻ10,000 cash prize and qualifies to participate in the Soweto Marathon later in the year.
“I am looking forward to the next challenge of competing on the international stage. I have to prepare very well to make Ghana proud,” he said.
Lariba Zakaat grabbed the same amount of money and silverware after dominating the women’s category to emerge winner.
Just like Atia, she was pushed to her limit by first runner up Anaaba Portia and Ramatu Abdulai, second runner up to the tape.
Winners in the 5km, 10km men’s and women’s races as well as wheelchair race were honoured by the organisers.
Addressing participants after the race, Mr. Henri Senyo Penni, the General Manager of Medivents Consult, organisers of the event said he was satisfied with the turnout and commended the runners for turning up in their numbers.
“First of all, I want to congratulate the winners in the various race categories and hope that will be a motivation for those that didn’t win to train harder to be counted among the winners.
Sponsors of this year’s race include Allied Consortiums, HD Plus, G4S, Serene Insurance, mybet.africa.com, Happy FM, Harmony Haven, Aqua Blue Mineral Water, Indomie, and Dannex Aryton.
This year’s Accra Inter-City Homowo Marathon was organised in partnership with the Ga Traditional Council (GTC) and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).
By Spectator Sports Reporter
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GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
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Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
