Hot!

Pathetic stories of women who underwent Female Genital Mutilation

Many women in the north are victims of FGM

Ms Aisha Yakubu, 20, from Pusiga in the Upper East Region of Ghana is among 125 million young women in the world who have permanent scars on their bodies to show after surviving female genital mutilation.

According to Aisha, she was circumcised when she was nine years old although she was told by her mother in advance it would happen to her.

“The circumcision was performed in an elderly woman’s house which few girls of my age were gathered in a form of ceremony,” she said.

The activity looked like an annual festival, where some elderly women were dancing and singing traditional songs. Then, one by one, they began to perform the circumcision.

“The pain was unbearable after several days where I have to remain indoor to be given some herbal medications to heal the wound as well as to relieve me of the pains,” she added.

Female Genital Mutilation, popularly known as Female Circumcision is the partial or complete removal of external female genitalia.

**● A lot of women have suffered in silence**

Today, female circumcision is illegal, but the procedure continues to be conducted secretly in some rural communities in Northern Ghana.

Another victim, Charity (not real name), was only nine years old when she also underwent female genital mutilation (FGM) in a village near Pusiga.

● The campaign against FGM has been intesified lately

According to her, she went into the process willingly believing that was her initiation into adulthood.

Narrating her story to The Spectator, she said she bled for a long time, and this scared other girls ready to undergo FGM then.

Victoria Yakubu, a Community Health Nurse who lives in Tamale, also shared her story of stigmatisation when her friends heard she was a victim of FGM.

“I felt very lonely and unwanted when the people around me knew I had no feeling when making love, it psychologically affected me. But as time went on, I mustered courage to feel who I am,” she added.

Now as a mother of two and an advocate against FGM, she urged the youth, community elders, traditional, religious leaders and parents to make sure innocent girls are not cut mercilessly because of traditional belief.

Mr. Francis Azienko from Pusiga said, “the circumcision is considered part of a cultural tradition performed to preserve young girls’ virginity and prevent pre and extra marital sex, early pregnancy as well as sexual transmitted diseases.

“Though the practice brought pain and scars to the innocent girls, I believe it also helped them to remain faithful,” he said.

Mr, Azienko said, though the procedure had been banned, it was carried out secretly in some communities in the Upper East Region.

From Geoffrey Buta, Pusiga.

Hot!

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.

Hot!

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