Highway Africa Conference Underway

By: Bismarck Nii Ogbamey Tetteh
THIS YEAR’S Highway Africa Conference 2009, a training programme for media personnel who will cover the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, began yesterday at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa, on the theme: “Reporting Africa – 2010, Development and Democracy.”
The programme, sponsored jointly by MTN Africa, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), several partners as well as development agencies, is being attended by media personnel from all parts of the continent.
The three day event, an annual one, opened at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth, and was graced by personalities such as Dr. Saleem Badat, Vice Chancellor of Rhodes University, that country’s Minister of Communications, representatives from SABC; Telkom and Mathatha Tsedu, a seasoned anchor.
The conference is aimed at both celebrating and interrogating journalists and the media for their role in sports, their identity and also how these promote the African agenda.
Although the main focus of the conference would be on sports there will be key sessions on development and democracy and how African media has reported on crisis.

Read More

Editor Attends Highway Africa Confab

By Bismarck Nii Ogbamey Tetteh
DAILY GUIDE’s Editor, Fortune Alimi is in South Africa for this year’s Highway Africa Conference in Grahamstown, courtesy of MTN, the leading telecommunication company.
The Highway Africa Conference is a training programme for media personnel across the continent and beyond. This year’s event under the theme: “Reporting Africa – 2010, Development and Democracy,” will focus on the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

“The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be African football’s crowning glory for the incredible contribution this continent’s footballers have made to the global game. We as South Africans are honoured to be hosting Africa’s first FIFA World Cup on behalf of the entire continent. And it’s critical for us at the 2010 Organising Committee that we involve and engage our fellow Africans in the World Cup process. Highway Africa gives us a wonderful opportunity to interact with hundreds of African journalists from over 40 countries and we thank MTN for helping to arrange this great platform for us to update the continent on our progress,” says Danny Jordaan, CEO of 2010bOrganising Committee.




Over 400 journalists from more than 43 countries in Africa are attending the three-day conference organized by Rhodes University’s School of Journalism and Media Studies and supported by sponsors such as MTN Africa, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) among others.
The three day event opened yesterday with a reception at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth, and was graced by personalities such as Dr. Saleem Badat, Vice Chancellor of Rhodes University, that country’s Minister of Communications, representatives from SABC and Telkom.

MTN has chosen the 48 000-capacity Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium as the venue to host the reception in order to give the journalists a glimpse of what South Africa has to offer during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. MTN is the first and only African global sponsor of the FIFA World Cup which will be hosted in Africa for the first time in 2010.

The conference is aimed at both celebrating and interrogating journalists and the media for their role in sports, their identity and also how these promote the African agenda.
Although the main focus of the conference would be on sports there will be key sessions on development and democracy and how African media has reported on crisis. It ends on Tuesday.

Read More

I killed Michael

ANOTHER DAY IS gone am still all alone, how could this be that you are not here with me. This is the song I heard my Sara, my 24 year old wife sing when I woke up. She was a dog lover and her favorite dog was dead.
Three months ago, on my wife’s birthday, I bought her a very cutie, brown bull dog. She was so happy because her last puppy died of food poison and for a month I was treated like a King that was when I realized how much my wife loved animals especially dogs and how much she appreciated me. She named in Michael, after her favorite musician.
One Sunday morning, I decided to pick a stroll with Michael, I let it loose because I didn’t like to see animals in chains especially dogs. We walked from my house to the main junction which is about 0.5 kilometers. On our way back, in an attempt to kill a scorpion, it sting Michael. Fortunately for Michael I was close so I killed the scorpion and rushed Michael to a vertinary shop. On my way to the vetinary shop, one thing kept rolling in my mind “what will I tell Sara if Michael died”. The doctor treated it and I brought it home. I told my wife nothing about what happened, that incidence was really close so I decided to stay away from the dog for a while.
A week after the scorpion sting, I was home alone, reading on my roof top then I realized the house was empty and too quiet so I went down to turn on some music and went out I see if the sound was too loud. Michael was dull and it was laying still, this was because it was in chains so I let it loose, gave it a ball and let it in then went back up to continue with my reading. Michael came upstairs with the ball making waves that it wanted to play fetch; I took the ball, throw it downstairs and kept reading. It came back with the ball again but this time when I took the ball I threw it over the roof because I was reading, my bad. Michael just followed the ball and jumped off the roof and went straight down to hit the paved floor, little Michael was dead, I tried to revive it but it was to but it didn’t work so I put it back in chains and left I as if I didn’t know what had happened.
Sara got so heartbroken when she saw the dead dog and mourned it for a week. I couldn’t confess because I thought I will make it worse. She kept singing Michael Jackson’s “You are not alone” whenever she was reminded about the dog. I decided to confess but I wanted to do it in a grand style.
One Sunday after church I went to town and got a similar bull dog just like Michael, came back and gave it to my wife. I saw a big smile on her face then I went down on my knees and asked her if she would ever forgive me if I told her I knew how Michael died. She gave me a kiss and answered yes. I narrated the whole incidence to her and ended saying “ I killed Michael your dog”. She just looked at me and said “I love you dear and yes you are forgiven”.

Read More

Youth Movement Petitions CHRAJ Over BECE

By: Bismarck Nii Ogbamey Tetteh
THE GHANA Youth Movement (GYM), on behalf of parents and youth of this country has petitioned CHRAJ to compel the Ministry of Education and W.A.E.C. to allow student who failed to re-sit.
Following a press conference held by GYM on Monday concerning the three year educational system and the 50 percent of pupils who failed the BECE exams, the leadership of GYM has sent a petition to CHRAJ concerning the pupils who failed and have not been given the opportunity to re-write.
The GYM labeled what was happening as an abuse of the rights of these children who are mostly minors and an administrative injustice on the part of the Ministry of Education and W.A.E.C. and added that record has revealed that out of 24 percent of student who qualify to the universities in Ghana, 11 percent of them are those who have written their exams twice.
Continuing, they said “ In our judicial law system, even a criminal or and armed robber, who has shot and killed, and have been convicted by competent court of law, even have the right of an appeal, and not this innocent once, who do not take decision for themselves, to be denied access of a better future.”
The Ghana Youth Movement (GYM) appealed to CHRAJ to address with speed that the matter deserves to give these young once a second chance.

Read More

Will I ever remember?

By: Bismarck Nii Ogbamey Tetteh
I took my girlfriend to my grandfather’s house on Valentine’s Day four years ago. I wanted to surprise her so much that I had everything plan out well.
The House had been empty since my grandparents died but I made sure that the house was always in good shape. I loved music a lot as a boy as a result, my grandfather thought me to play the piano. On his sick bed he kept telling me “Alex, I want you to take good care of yourself and my grand piano when am gone. Make sure you keep it clean and practice always.”
Esi, my girlfriend loved Kwabena Kwabena’s songs so much that she would stop whatever she was doing to listen anytime his songs were being played. I wanted to propose to her that night so a week before, I got on of Kwabena Kwabena’s albums and started listening and learned how to play them on the piano.
That night when we got to my grandfather’s house, we had a candle light dinner and then watched my favorite movie ‘I walk to remember’. Esi then decide to do the dishes and went to the kitchen. “This is a perfect time for the surprise.” I told myself and walk to the grand piano. I placed the lyrics of the song I was about play on the piano and starting playing the prelude.
Esi upon hearing the song dashed into the study where I was, the look in her eyes was so romantic when I started singing. In the middle of the song, I stopped and asked her to marry me. To my surprise tears started to run down her cheeks, she hugged me and answered “ Yes”.
On our way to a boutique two years after, to select her wedding gown, we had an accident. I woke up two days later in a hospital. The doctor came in to see how I was doing and asked for my name. “My name, I don’t remember anything” I answered. The doctor explained that I was involved in an accident and as a result hit my head hard on the ground. He told me I was suffering from amnesia and hopes I will recover.
The doctor later introduced me to some people as my parents and asked me to go home with them. My parents told me all they could on our way home and mentioned the wedding, I felt like a formatted hard drive.
A few days later my wife to be was introduced to me, she was beautiful. I asked her not to worry because everything will go on as planned. We got married but at my wedding reception something strange happened. I requested for a live band and when the band started playing, I had a strange feeling to go play the piano. I asked the band to stop playing and when they did I walked to the pianist and told him I wanted to play something to for my wife.
After touching the keys, it came to me; I remembered sitting behind a piano hence I started playing, my wife after so time came sobbing. She told me the song I was playing was the one I play the night I proposed to her. “The Kwabena Kwabena tune I loved so much. Do you remember anything dear?” she asked and to her disappointment, I told her no.
We have been married for the past twelve years, we have two kids and my piano skills are back but I still don’t remember anything about my life before the accident.
“Will I ever remember” a question I keep asking myself.

Read More

Zain, EMS and RIM Introduce the Blackberry Solution in Ghana

Zain, Emitac Mobile Solution (EMS) and Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced the launch of the BlackBerry solution in Ghana. The BlackBerry solution brings together smartphones, software and services to allow easy, wireless access to email, phone, calendar, web, multimedia and other business and lifestyle applications. Zain customers in Ghana will now be able to enjoy the freedom and productivity benefits of using BlackBerry smartphones to stay connected to people and information whilst on the go.
Philip Sowah, Country Manager for Zain Ghana, said: “Successful businesses in the 21st Century will require superior technological solutions that give them edge over their competitors. Zain Ghana offers the full and current range of BlackBerry devices offering our customers the mobility, convenience and efficiency that is necessary to run their virtual office. The foundation for this is our 3.5G network – the fastest and widest in Ghana – and dedicated customer care and account management for our business customers.’
Babar Khan, CEO of EMS, RIM’s strategic channel partner in the region, said: “we are delighted to partner with Zain to bring many benefits of the BlackBerry solution to its customers. We will be supporting Zain in its everyday mission by bringing the latest products and services to the market.”
Mark Guibert, Vice President, Corporate Marketing, RIM added: “it is with great pleasure that RIM has worked with EMS and Zain to introduce the Black Berry solution in Ghana. BlackBerry smartphones are popular with people around the world who want well – balanced mobile phones that deliver advanced features, refined usability and stylish designs.”
At launch, Zain Ghana will offer the BlackBerry Storm, BlackBerry Curve 8900, BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 smartphones.
The BlackBerry Storm smartphone is the world’s first “clickable” touch-screen smartphone. It features the award-winning SurePress touch screen, which depresses ever so slightly when the screen is presses to dramatically enhance the touch interface for both typing and navigation. The BlackBerry Storm smartphone delivers the renowned usability and performance of the blackberry solution with powerful communications and rich multimedia features.
The BlackBerry Bold is a communications and multimedia powerhouse. It is the first BlackBerry smartphone to support tri-band HSDPA high- speed networks around the world and comes with integrated GPS and Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g). It features a lustrous black exterior; satin chrome finished frame and stylish leatherette back plate as well as a stunning display, sophisticated user interface and newly designed full- QWERTY keyboard.
The BlackBerry Curve 8900 packs a wide range of advanced communications and multimedia capabilities and it is the thinnest and lightest full-QWERRTY BlackBerry smartphone available. In addition to being an exceptional phone that offers access to email, messaging, organizer, web browser and multimedia applications, the new BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone features built – in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), GPS for location- based applications, Bluetooth 2.0, a next generation processor (512MHz) and a dazzling hi-resolution display.
The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 smartphone packs the power of the BlackBerry platform into a sleek flip design, providing a wide range of features that BlackBerry smartphone users have come to love – including phone, email messaging, organizer, browser and multimedia applications. It flips open to a large, vibrant internal display for Internet browsing, picture and video recording, as well as stereo Bluetooth support and an easily accessible micros SD/SDHC memory card slot for up to 16GB of additional storage per card , the BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone opens up a rich multimedia experience for users.
Zain Ghana is offering both BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Internet Service to customers.
BlackBerry Enterprise Server designed specifically for organizations that manage their own email servers. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server software tightly integrates with IBM Lotus Domino Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise and works with existing enterprise systems to enable secure, push- based wireless access to email and other corporate data.
BlackBerry Internet Service is designed for smaller businesses and individuals. It allows users to access up to ten supported corporate and personal email accounts (including most, popular ISP email accounts) from their BlackBerry smartphone.

Read More

Founder’s day declared

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri &Bismarck Tetteh
The 28th day of February has been declared as founder’s day by the President of the Ghana Institute of Surveyors Kwadwo Osei Asante.
This was during the launch of the founder’s day of the Ghana Institute of Surveyors at the Kofi Annan ICT Centre in Accra.
The founder’s day, he noted was to pay proper and fitting glowing tribute to the pioneers, the founding fathers and mothers through whose toil and sweat brought them where they are today. “We further salute those who watered the seed over the years sown by these Pioneers until fruition.” He stated and guaranteed that their efforts will not be in vain.
Kwadwo Osei Asante stressed that instead of celebrating the day with their founding members, due to historical references in their constitution, the founder’s day was launched as a yearly celebration.
He added that the greatest challenge the institute faces is their financial base and therefore on behalf of the Governing Council invited suggestions and inputs from all on how best to improve upon their finances and concluded that the institute that boast of many wealthy members are beset with poor finances.

Read More

Police Explain motorbike check.

By: Bismarck Nii Ogbamey Tetteh
The police have explained the recent announcement to check the use of motor bikes.
The Police Administration, on Monday issued a press release to correct the misconception surrounding the instituted security measures to check the use of motor bikes to commit crime, especially armed robbery.
The police Administration in the release noted that the point is to conduct thorough security checks on motor-bike being used after 8:00pm and not a ban. The release further explained that a lot of emphasis will be placed on places like Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi Tarkoradi, Cape Coast and not Tamale, Bolga and Wa where street robbery with motor bikes is not prominent.
The police in the release stated that they had enough evidence to prove that motor bikes are used to facilitate armed robbery activities especially at night. Decent people in society were charged not to be worried about the measures being taken by the Police because they are aimed at ensuring their safety and well being.
The police stated in the release that the name of the rider, his or her license, registration document of the motor bike, whether the number tallies with the documents of the motor bike and a search on the motor bike are some of the routine information and checks the police will demand when encountered and noted that the exercise is not limited only to motor bikes but all kinds of vehicles.
“The war on armed robbery continues, and the police call for the support of the general public and media in particular in this regard.”

Read More

Vanderpuije’s Family Hijack Decongestion

By: Bismarck Nii Ogbamey Tetteh

REPORT REACHING Daily Guide indicated that brothers and cousin of the Accra Mayor, Mr. Alfred Vanderpuije have taken over the decongestion exercise.
Mr. Vanderpuije, who is currently out of the country, is alleged to have ordered his brothers and cousin to carry on with the decongestion exercise on the streets of Accra.
An eye witness told daily guide that the alleged brothers and cousin of the Mayor last Wednesday invaded the streets of Achimota polling down structures and beating innocent people in the process. He also disclosed that the brothers and cousin of the Mayor also ceased food which some people were eating in the name of decongestion.
Mr. Ben Armah, the administrator of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and Inspector Okai, the people supposed to be in charge of this exercise, had no idea of what happened in Achimota last Wednesday.
According to the eye witness, it seemed the Decongestion exercise has now become a family affair.

In another development, the police and the AMA under took a similar exercise at industrial area close to the railway lines where one Quansah, the area manager for the Ghana railways authority and Amoako Ata, who claimed he owned the land aided in the exercise.
According to an eye witness, Mr. Peter Tano, the AMA earlier this year asked the squatters to move their belongings 30 meters away from the railway line which they did.
Mr. Peter who is a mechanic added that around 11am last Wednesday the AMA task force together with a police man undertook a similar demolishing exercise resulting in the destruction of three of his clients vehicles.
He admitted that the police dispatched their squad when the life of the police man present was threatened. “When things became calm, they police told us they had no instruction to carry out such an exercise.” He continued to say that the squatters pay 120 GHC to Amoako Ata each year.
According to Ramatu Iddrisu whose finger was hit with a hammer noted that she lost her bag which contained 75 GHC whiles fleeing after, hearing a gun shot from the police. She concluded that she would be happy if such exercises were done the right way in this country.

Read More

THE PROPHECY

By: Bismarck Nii Ogbamey Tetteh
WHEN Komieteh turned twenty, he went to see a fortune teller so he would know what his future would be like.
“All is well, your future will be great, blessed with children and riches.” the fortune teller predicted. She however added that there was going to be a complication. Komieteh was going to loose his first child when the child turns twenty and his death would be remembered by his family.
Mr. Komieteh was initially worried but after five years, when things started to look good, he forgot about it. He got married to Sally and after some months, she was pregnant, when they went to see the doctor, he confirmed that it was boy. When the baby was born, the couple named it Bruce.
In his youthful days, Bruce was very helpful and industrious. Not only would he do the chores for his lazy brother John, but he could fix electronic gadgets, small toys and even sometimes his father’s television set when it got broken.
When Bruce turned twenty, he had an accident whiles trying to save Jane, a five year old girl who stayed across the road from being rundown by a car. When Mr. Komieteh, heard about it, what the fortune teller had told him about his son immediately struck him. Naturally, the thought of losing his intelligent first boy frightened him.
In that accident, Bruce suffered a serious fracture in his leg and was hospitalized for three months. And even after he was completely healed, Komieteh could not leave him all alone at home so he took three months break from work.
The three months was up and he had to go back to work. Bruce had then recovered fully but he had to stay indoors because his dad begged him to. After two days of staying at home all alone he asked his dad to help him get rid of the loneliness.He allowed Komieteh to baby sit for Aunty Sarah, Komieteh’s sister. Jane had three children.
One Tuesday afternoon when Bruce thought he had put the three kids to bed, he also decided to have a short nap. Whiles he was sleeping, Kweku, one of the kids lighted a candle and it accidentally fell on one of the mattress in their room. Bruce who was in the next room woke up when he heard the kids screaming, rushed into their room only to see that the most of the things in the room were on fire. He called the fire service department and tried to get the kids out.
While waiting for the fire fighters, he went into the fire and succeeded in getting two of the children to safety but the third one was trapped under the bed. With all bravery, Bruce managed to get into the inferno and saved the life of the last child. Unfortunately on his way out, the door frame fell on him.
When the fire service people got to the house, that particular room was on fire and the kids were standing outside. They put out the fire but Bruce was died. Incidentally, he died out of suffocation, and not from any burns.
On the day of his burial, Komieteh told the people present that his son died saving three children. What the fortune teller told him some years ago had come to pass.

Moral Lesson: “Heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences”.

Read More