News
Ho convicts appeal for outright clemency as COVID-19 hits prisons
Inmates at the Ho Central Prison have been agitating for an outright pardon from the government after three prisoners and six officers tested positive for COVID-19 sometime in July and earlier this month.
They insisted that their crimes did not warrant the death sentence and that they have served substantial time for their offences.
This prompted a medical team from the Ghana Prisons Headquarters in Accra to carry out a training programme recently for the inmates as well as the officers on ‘COVID-19 Risk Communication’ to allay their fears.
When contacted on Wednesday, however, DDP Andrews Dzokoto, Deputy Director of Prisons in-charge of the Volta Region said that the COVID-19 cases had all been treated and that there was currently no case of the virus at the prison.
He said that the initial cases which were recorded among two convicts were mind-boggling because they were not leaving the prison for any hard labour outside.
The third prisoner often went outside to work at the auto-mechanic base of the prison, DDP Dzokoto told The Spectator.
With regards to the officers, he said that some of them tested positive for the virus upon their return from leave.
According to him, some of the officers who tested positive for the virus were asymptomatic.
Now, officers who returned to work after their leave were quarantined and monitored for two weeks before they were allowed into the prison yard again, DDP Dzokoto said.
He disclosed that as soon as the cases were detected, the prison medical team linked up with the Volta Regional COVID-19 treatment centre, near Ho and another centre at Hohoe and their collaborative efforts yielded rapid and positive results.
DDP Dzokoto said that there were now 381 inmates at the Ho Central Prison, adding that, “We are still not admitting new convicts here.”
He told The Spectator that new convicts were now sent to the Kete Krachi Prison in the Oti Region.
From Alberto Mario Noretti, Ho
News
Gender and Education Ministry hold joint press conference on launch of Free Sanitary Pads for girls
A joint press conference was held today, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, at the conference room of the Ministry of Education by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) and the Ministry of Education (MoE), ahead of the official launch of the Free Sanitary Pad Initiative scheduled for Thursday, April 25, 2025, at the Salvation Army Cluster of Schools in Accra.
The press conference aimed to brief media organizations and the general public about President John Dramani Mahama’s commitment to ensuring access to free sanitary pads for adolescent girls in schools across the country.
In her brief remarks, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, stated that the initiative seeks to promote menstrual health and hygiene among adolescent girls.
She emphasized that this intervention is expected to significantly reduce absenteeism, improve retention, and enhance academic performance.
The Minister further noted that approximately two million girls in both Junior and Senior High Schools are expected to benefit from the initiative.
She therefore called on the media to support in widely disseminating information about the launch and the broader benefits of the Initiative.
News
Government, GoldFields,reach agreement on Damang Mine
The Government of Ghana and Goldfields Ghana Limited have reached an amicable agreement on a transitional plan for the Damang Mine.
The operational modalities of the transition involve issuing a new 12-month mining lease to Goldfields’ subsidiary, Abosso Goldfields Limited, pending parliamentary ratification in
May 2025.
Under the new arrangement, Goldfields will resume open-pit mining during the transition period, safeguarding jobs and conducting feasibility studies to establish Damang’s reserves and mine life.
At the same time, the processing of existing stockpiles will continue under the supervision of a joint management team composed of representatives from the Government of Ghana
and Goldfields. The two parties will work in good faith to secure a successful transition and eventual transfer of a viable mine to Ghanaian ownership.
Both parties have agreed to advance discussions in good faith on the renewal of the lease for the Tarkwa mine, due in 2027, and pledged to work together to enhance Ghana’s
potential in the mining sector as a favourable investment destination,
