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Kurt Okraku inspires Black Starlets ahead of Nigeria clash today
President Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku, on Monday, met the National Under-17 team, the Black Starlets, to inspire them ahead of their 3rd place playoff with Nigeria on Tuesday.
The Black Starlets will take on their counterparts, the Golden Eaglets, in a fierce battle to determine who finishes 3rd in the WAFU Zone B Under-17 Championship.
Ghana, after a promising start in the competition at the group stage, fell to Burkina Faso in the semi-finals.
The loss to Burkina Faso, coupled with the announcement by Coach Laryea Kingston of his resignation moments after the defeat to Burkina Faso, naturally took a toll on the young Starlets players.
Deputy Head Coach of the side, Nana Kweku Agyemang, was immediately tasked to lead the technical team to play the 3rd place playoff game with Nigeria.
After the team’s final training session on Monday in preparation for the game, President Simeon-Okraku called on the team to lift themselves for the game.
“Let’s never depart from how we have been taught to play. Let us stay together,” he said.
“There are lots of talents in this team. Let no one deceive you that you are not talents. I am the leader of football in this country, and I have trust in this team. And per the arrangements the FA has put in place, when you finish playing at Under-17 level, you will move to Under-18 to continue with your progressive development,” he added.
He then charged the team to be focused on the next opponent and go for the bronze medal of the competition.
He charged them, “Let’s be focused on our next opponents, Nigeria. They are beatable. Just don’t panic when things are difficult. Just be relaxed and keep playing to your strengths and the best of your abilities: You will get there.”
The Black Starlets will take on the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria at the University of Ghana Stadium at 16:00GMT on Tuesday to determine who goes home with the bronze medal.
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Traders, ‘Okada’ riders take over Circle pavement
• Korle-Bu CEO with staff of Nivaansh MediQas
Activities of traders and drug addicts are contributing to make the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange (Circle) area very uncomfortable and unsafe for commuters.
Day in and out, pedestrians are ‘ejected’ from the pavement created for their safety as traders preferred to sell their wares on that space.
That hinders the free movement of the pedestrians.
The small space left for the pedestrians are also shared with ‘Okada’ riders.
As if these woes are not enough for a commuter on a single day, they also have to navigate carefully to avoid clashes with drug addicts and the mentally challenged.
These people have turned the pavements into their places of abode, covering every inch of space with their wares.
Our photographer, Lizzy Okai, captures some of the unfriendly scenes the authorities must try and deal with to restore sanity to the area.
By Lizzy Okai
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NDC outlines demands before committing to Peace Pact
The National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has set forth specific conditions that the party insists must be met before considering signing the Peace Pact advocated by the National Peace Council in anticipation of the December 7 elections.
Mr. Nketia expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of past Peace Pacts, highlighting that they had not achieved their intended outcomes, particularly referencing the 2020 elections, during which eight NDC members were allegedly killed by national security operatives without accountability.
During an August 20 meeting with the National Peace Council at the NDC headquarters, Mr. Nketia detailed the certain conditions for the NDC’s participation in the Peace Pact.
The NDC is demanding that the recommendations from the investigation into the violence during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election be fully implemented.
They also want those responsible for election-related violence in the last election to be prosecuted, stressing the importance of justice and prevention.
The party is calling for accountability regarding irregularities in the printing of ballot papers and insists that visible measures be taken to prevent such issues from happening again.
They are also pushing for a thorough investigation into the missing IT equipment from the Electoral Commission’s (EC) warehouse, expressing concerns about the integrity of the EC’s systems and the potential bias of its staff.
Furthermore, the NDC is urging the President to publicly commit to respecting the results of the 2024 elections. Lastly, the party insists that the Peace Pact should be signed by key figures, including the Inspector General of Police, the Chief Justice, the Attorney-General, and the National Security Coordinator, before they will consider signing it themselves.
Source: Citinewsroom.com
