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๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ -๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ
The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, has called for a break from aid dependency, urging African countries to treat healthcare as a national security and economic priority driven by domestic investment and strong health workforces.
Addressing participants at the 2026 Annual Health Summit hosted by the Ministry of Health, the Vice President underscored the importance of strengthening Ghanaโs health workforce through strategic recruitment, equitable deployment, and improved retention.
She highlighted the need for stronger cross-sector collaboration to create enabling conditions that attract and retain health workers, particularly in underserved communities, while promoting structured labour migration arrangements that safeguard Ghanaโs health system.
Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, outlined measures being implemented to strengthen the health workforce, including the recruitment of additional health professionals, expansion of specialist and post-basic training programmes, and improved deployment to underserved communities.
He noted that government is taking deliberate steps to address workforce gaps, enhance skills development, and ensure a more equitable distribution of health personnel to support quality healthcare delivery nationwide.
The Minister stated that Ghanaโs health workforce remains the backbone of the countryโs health system and emphasized the need to invest not only in numbers but also in skills, professionalism, motivation, and retention.
โPeople, not buildings, transform investments into results,โ the Minister said, emphasizing that a resilient, motivated, and well-distributed health workforce remains central to achieving Universal Health Coverage and improving health outcomes for all Ghanaians.
This yearโs summit is anchored on the theme: โBuilding a Resilient Health Workforce to Accelerate the Attainment of Universal Health Coverage.โ
The summit drew participants from development partners, heads of agencies under the Ministry of Health, the Parliamentary Health Committee, and Health professional regulatory bodies.
A 29-year-old tricycle rider, Naah Mashood, has been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment with hard labour for defiling a three-year-old girl at Tiegber in the Wa Municipality.
The Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Upper West Regional Police Command arrested the suspect on February 24, 2026, following a complaint lodged by the victim’s mother.
According to police, the convict, who had been contracted by the parents to pick the victim to and from school, lured her to an isolated location on February 23, 2026, and sexually assaulted her inside his tricycle, popularly known as ‘Camboo’.
After thorough investigations, he was arraigned before the Wa District Magistrate Court and subsequently stood trial at the Wa High Court.
On October 30, 2026, His Lordship Justice Osei-Wusu found him guilty of defilement and sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment with hard labour.
The Upper West Regional Police Command has commended the officers involved in the investigation and prosecution, as well as all persons who contributed to ensuring justice was served.
The Command urged parents and guardians to keep a close eye on their children and ensure their safety at all times, and encouraged the public to report suspected cases of child abuse and defilement to the nearest police station or DOVVSU office for prompt action.
It further assured the public of its commitment to protecting children and ensuring perpetrators of sexual offences are brought to justice.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The Ashanti Regional Police Command has announced the arrest of three suspected members of a criminal syndicate believed to be behind a series of robberies targeting bank customers in Kumasi and its environs.
On October 31, 2026, at about 11:30 pm, an IGP’s Special Team, comprising personnel from the Anti-Armed Robbery Unit of the CID Headquarters and the Accra Regional Police Intelligence Directorate (PID), acting on intelligence, embarked on an operation to apprehend the suspects.
The operation led to the arrest of two Nigerian nationals, Aboy Promise, 30, and Favour Uwalaka, 45, at a hotel at Moshie Zongo. A search of their rooms resulted in the recovery of GHยข1,600.00, assorted mobile phones, a Royal motorbike and a master key used to gain unauthorized access to victims’ vehicles to steal cash.
During interrogation, the suspects admitted their involvement in the robberies and mentioned two accomplices, Chinedu, alias Alhaji, and Kingsley, alias KC.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the syndicate monitored banking premises, identified customers who withdrew substantial sums of money and trailed them before attacking and robbing them. They also broke into unattended vehicles belonging to bank customers using a master key to steal cash kept inside.
The suspects subsequently led the police team to another hotel at Dechemso, a suburb of Kumasi, where Kingsley, alias KC, 35, also a Nigerian national, was arrested.
The remaining accomplice, Chinedu, alias Alhaji, is currently on the run. The Command is appealing to the public to volunteer credible information that could lead to his arrest. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to report to the nearest police station or contact the police through emergency numbers 191, 112 or the toll-free MTN and Telecel line 18555.
The suspects admitted to robbing a victim of GHยข15,000.00 at Asokore Mampong on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, after the victim had withdrawn money from Kwamang Rural Bank. They also admitted to similar robberies at the Atonsu branch of Fidelity Bank, the Ahodwo branch of Access Bank and other locations within Kumasi and its environs.
The three arrested suspects have since been handed over to the Ashanti Regional Police Command and are assisting with investigations.
The Command has cautioned bank customers to remain vigilant, be alert to suspicious persons around banking premises and avoid leaving cash or other valuables unattended in vehicles, while commending the public for their continued cooperation and assuring residents of its commitment to combating robbery and other criminal activities in the region.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
