Italian police on Tuesday struck what they claimed was a historic blow against the Neapolitan Mafia, as the slaughter of Ghanaians and other Africans, widely reported two weeks ago, was traced to the Mafiosi in Naples.  In a series of raids, they arrested more than 100 suspected gangsters, confiscated gang property valued at more than £100m ($150m), and seized three high-ranking mobsters believed to have been closely involved

A story of how a Ghanaian in Italy claimed to have been beaten mercilessly by a branch of the Italian Police force in the city Parma is taking up the front pages of Italy’s national and local newspapers. The ‘La Repubblica’, ‘Corriere della Sera’, ‘Gazzetta di Parma’ among others have all extensively covered the story of how Emmanuel Bonsu Foster, a 22-year-old Ghanaian student in Italy, suspected to be a ‘drug pusher’ was arrested by six officers

Although he was not included in the line-up of speakers at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto launch on Saturday, former President Jerry John Rawlings interrupted the programme by engaging in an extempore speech and ordering a number of retired Generals at the function to march onto the dais to be introduced. As the ageing Generals rather hesitatingly made their way to the dais to be introduced by their one-time Commander-In-Chief,

President J.A. Kufuor has criticised the partnership agreements between African, Caribbean and Pacific countries and the European Union, saying the agreements have the potential to undermine regional integration efforts and split the ranks of ACP countries. What was even more disturbing, he said, was that World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements which could have given fairer trading systems to ACP member countries continued to be frustrated

NANA ADDO Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that all those who are preaching and praying for doom to befall Ghana in this year’s elections would bury their heads in shame. He was confident that the 2008 elections would pass the test and succeed just like the previous ones which have been held since the inception of multiparty democracy in 1992. The presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) made this statement at a fund raising banquet held

Every monetary system holds some gold reserves in the form of gold bars/bullions to support and stabilize its paper currency and the overall stability of its economy. The article by City & Business Guide in rejoinder to Mr. K. S. Garbrah’s article misses the point entirely and muddles the waters, because while Mr. Garbrah’s article was talking about gold that has already been mined and in the form of gold bars/bullions held at the Ghana Central Bank

The second Ghana-Nigeria summit of trade and industry of the two biggest economies in West Africa opens at the Accra International Conference Centre today.It is expected to feature top dignitaries from Ghana and Nigeria, with the presidents of the two countries scheduled to deliver messages. The theme of the summit is “Promoting Trade and Investment in the West Africa Sub-region,” and Ghana’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador George Kumi,

UNLIKE the United States (U.S.) which has approved the injection of $700 billion into its economy to cushion the impact of the on-going global financial crisis, Europe's leaders have ruled out a joint bail-out fund for their economies. However, they have agreed to embark on other measures to support financial institutions. These decisions were taken as French President Nicholas Sarkozy hosted the meeting of the leaders of Britain,

TO have its N2.64 trillion Amended Appropriation Bill passed, the Presidency has stepped up lobby of the National Assembly, even as it was learnt that the 2009 Appropriation will arrive the Dome within the next 21 days. The developments came as the Action Congress (AC) flayed the Federal Government over the unspent N400 billion, saying it is an indication of failure of governance.

MOVEMENT for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) leader, Henry Okah, has filed a notice of appeal against the Federal High Court, Jos ruling that he had a case to answer in a 62-count treason charge preferred against him by the government. Outside the legal turf, various groups and individuals continued to proffer ways out of the Niger Delta crisis. They include Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio,

Secretary of the Northern Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Elder Saidu Dogo has advocated death sentence for corrupt leaders as the only way to checkmate corruption in the country. Dogo also said that if the family of such leaders are found to have benefited from the act, they should be sent to jail for 15 years as well as have their property confiscated.The scribe who said this in an exclusive interview with Saturday Champion on the 48th Independence

Delta State Police Command, Asaba, has again recorded another major breakthrough when its men apprehended a man of God who thought his long-conceived ambition to join the millionaire pastors had been achieved. The man of God, Chuks Amechie who is the founder and general overseer of a new-generation church headquarters at Asaba, allegedly sold a house belonging to his landlord for N13 million. The house was said to be located

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has said former Head of State and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) candidate in the April 21, 2007 presidential election, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), has a weak case before the court in respect of the election. The legal challenge over President Yar’Adua’s victory in the election mounted by Buhari and his Action Congress (AC) counterpart and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar

October 1, 2008, Nigeria’s 48th independence, was not only marked with pomp and ceremony in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. It was also celebrated with the solemn determination of the FCT administration to honour the nation’s forgotten heroes, some of whom were hitherto seen as “dissidents”. But President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and his deputy, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, turned down their own honours.

WHILE Vice President Goodluck Jonathan saw reason to offer profuse thanks to God over the nation at its 48th independence anniversary yesterday, many of the governors' reflections on the occasion were tinged with lamentations over the slow rate of national development. Speaking in Abuja at the Central Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) during an intercessory session for the country, Jonathan noted that the continued prayers of the church,

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday said President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua can not stop former Delta State Governor, James Ibori and other ex-governors from being prosecuted. The commission which reacted to allegations that the President has allegedly stopped or delayed the prosecution of the former governors for corruption, pointed out that it was too late for such move. Spokesperson for the EFCC, Femi Babafemi,

FORMER Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday offered insight into why he may not withdraw his suit against the election of President Umaru Yar'Adua. Buhari, who was the presidential flag-bearer of the All Nigeria People Party (ANPP) during the 2003 and 2007 polls, has taken his case to the Supreme Court. According to Buhari, a decision to withdraw the case will not be only that of the ANPP but that of the not less than seven political parties

We are not aware of any such report. The report is not due for submission to the President until December and when it is ready, it will be handed over to the President who set up the committee." This was the way a source in the Presidency yesterday dismissed the story news that the Electoral Reform Committee (ERC), led by former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Muhammadu Uwais, had submitted a draft report to President Umaru Yar’Adua,

Thousands of mourners poured into Agogo township yesterday to observe the one-week celebration of the death of Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and MP for Asante Akim North. So huge was the crowd that it was as if the remains of the former minister was lying in state. In attendance were President John Agyekum Kufuor, the Speaker of Parliament,Mr Ebenezer Begyina Sekyi-Hughes, Ministers of State,

Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir arrived in Accra on Wednesday to join other leaders and heads of governments attending the 6th biennial summit of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. President al-Bashir, who is outgoing President of the ACP summit, is scheduled to speak at the opening on Thursday. The Sudanese leader was indicted mid-July this year by the international criminal court

Although January 7, 2001 would forever be remembered as the day Jerry John Rawlings peacefully handed power over to John Agyekum Kuffour, it would best be observed as the day that Ghana attained a new rank in her endeavors in democratic dispensation amongst her African peers. Courtesy of JJ Rawlings and the National “Democratic” Congress, Ghana was quickly crowned as the Model State of Africa and was not only envied,

It is quite palpable that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and their cocaine leader Akuffo-Addo, on the eve of the general elections, has adopted a policy of dodging pertinent questions and instead diverting public attention to some distorted matters of the past, which has no relevance to any of the pressing issues of today. A glance through “a copy of the minutes of a meeting by some top officials of the party, which has been intercepted and has now become

THE AMANSIE West Youth Association is angry over the nature of the road network in the district, and has blamed the President, His Excellency Mr. J. A. Kufuor, for the total neglect of the district.  The youth said, during a visit to the district in 2002, the President promised that the main road from Antoakrom to Kumpese Junction would be reconstructed, before the end of his tenure of office, but to date nothing had been done

Two policemen were put before an Accra circuit court yesterday, charged with robbing a Malian of a truck-load of bicycles and motor spare parts valued at GH¢120,000. The case could not, however, be heard because, according to the presiding judge, Mahamadu Iddrisu, it was not properly assigned to his court. He explained that the case docket only bore the initials of the Deputy Judicial Secretary and not his signature, and asked that the case be sent back for the proper thing to be done.

IT WAS all tears and grief on Monday night when President John Agyekum Kufuor arrived at the Cantonments residence of his late Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu. Even before the arrival of the President, no words of consolation and the sacred belief that death is the inevitable end to man, could assuage the sorrow of a visibly traumatized wife of the late Minister and family members as they wept uncontrollably

Residents of Awoshie Been-To in the Ga South District of the Greater Accra Region, in the early hours of yesterday, September, 29, were greeted with shock and disbelief following the gruesome murder of a young boy, possibly for ritual purposes. The boy, who is suspected to be about nine years old and appears to be mentally deranged, was believed to have been killed by some unknown assailants, after which the genitals and other parts of his body were removed.

Even though the exact time of the murder was not yet known, residents suspected that the body must have been dumped there around 4.am. Deep cuts under his thighs and abdomen indicated that sharp objects might have been used by the assailants. According to Charles Attah, a driver, he saw the boy roaming naked in the Awoshie Baah Yard area the previous day, in the company of another boy of his age. “He was wearing only a cardigan

I don’t remember the last time a conference of the Ghana Bar Association generated so much excitement... and so much controversy. These events usually come and go without many of us taking much notice. They open with long, winding speeches and end with often meaningless communiqués, which are often no more useful than the ‘Rose’ in my loo (which I refuse to use on my most delicate parts because it’s as hard as sandpaper).

THE NEW Patriotic Party (NPP) has announced the suspension of all political activities in the country as a mark of respect and love for the late Finance Minister, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu. Speaking to journalists yesterday, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, National Campaign Director for Nana Akufo-Addo, said  the suspension would last for 24 hours, adding that the party’s office would also remain closed with NPP flags raised at half mast.

A first-year student of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi was on Sunday discovered dead in his bed at his hall of residence at the university. Dauda Mohammed Muniru, a first-year History and Political Science student, was found dead in Room 303 of Unity Hall, Block B, about 10.00 a.m. on Sunday. He was said to have retired to bed on Saturday before his three other roommates

Two teachers of the Afua Kobi Ampem Girls Senior High School in Kumasi, Messrs Owusu-Ansah and Abdallah Nasrullah, are in police grips for their alleged involvement in examination malpractice during this year’s May/June West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Mr Owusu-Ansah was picked from his hideout when his name was mentioned by one of the students of the school.

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, has given reasons for the perceived slow pace of his government, saying that from inception the administration resolved not to resort to quick-fix methods and short-cuts in approaching fundamental problems which require methodical and sustainable solutions. He also took a swipe at critics of his government over low performance of the economy declaring that "our economy is on a strong footing with an average growth rate of about 6.9 per cent,

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo who left the country for Libya on Monday on the invitation of the Libyan President, Muammar Gaddafi, returned yesterday and wished Nigeria goodluck on its 48th independent anniversary. Obasanjo who arrived the tarmac of the Presidential Lounge of the Murtala Mohammed Airport , Lagos aboard a Boeing 707 aircraft with registration TZ-TAC, described Libya as "fine" and his trip to the North African country "fine."

Despite the financial turmoil in the United States and some parts of Europe, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has assured Nigerians that the country’s economy is on a strong footing. He also said his administration has sanitised the financial and budgetary processes and realised over N400 billion from unspent capital releases to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).   In his 48th independence anniversary broadcast to the nation this morning, Yar’Adua said the economy

IT was a mixed bag of promises and anxiety as Nigeria marks 48 years of independence today. While President Musa Yar'Adua and others like Senate President, David Mark, raised hopes and assured of a steady march to greatness, for other leaders and organisations, it was lamentations for dashed hopes and visions of the founding fathers. Yar'Adua, in a national broadcast this morning, has asked Nigerians to renew their faith in the country

FOLLOWING the contamination of powdered infant formula in China, which has led to the death of at least four children and the hospitalisation of about 13,000, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) yesterday warned countries of the world on the possible spread of the contaminated products. It also published a preliminary guidance to help national authorities decide the possible health impacts of melamine levels in food.