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$65m GARID fund was misapplied – Ato Forson
The Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson, has alleged that $65 million of the $200 million allocated for the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Project (GARID) was misused.
Despite the Minority’s strong opposition, Parliament approved an additional $150 million loan facility from the World Bank for the GARID project on Friday, May 17, 2024.
In an interview with Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Citi TV, Dr. Forson stated that the funds earmarked for COVID-19 expenditure were misappropriated.
The Minority Leader criticised the Ministry of Works and Housing for failing to provide a detailed account of the expenditure to Parliament.
“Someone somewhere is trying to distort the facts, but there’s the need for us to correct the records. And let Ghanaians be aware of what exactly the situation is. So far, they have drawn down almost $180 million out of the $200 million loan. Unfortunately, even though they had drawn down almost $180 million, the amount has been misappropriated or misapplied,” he said.
The minority leader said, “For example, $65 million of the GARID loan that was supposed to be used for the purposes of killing the floods was misapplied for the purposes of COVID-19 expenditure.”
“Yet, we don’t have the breakdown of the COVID-19 expenditure. We were told that unlike a typical World Bank facility, where a project implementation unit would have been established, and payments made directly to the contractors, in this case, the amount was paid into the Ministry of Works and Housing’s account, and the Ministry has failed to account to Parliament how much money that they have spent from that account,” he noted.
He recalled how some individuals sent to the Odaw River reported no work done at the site after they were informed that $32 million was used for dredging.
“Only $32 million was the only amount they could account for, which for us, was concerning. Another $43m was supposedly used to dredge the Odaw River. When our guys went to the site, it was obvious that nothing of the sort had been done. And some of the contractors our guys spoke to at the site said they were asked to be at the site just last week. Even though they have paid for mobilisation years ago,” he said.
He noted “We had serious concerns until we got the government or Ministry to account for what they have used the money for, there was no way we were going to approve additional loan.”
Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ho West, and the Minority Leader have called for a forensic audit of the World Bank’s country office and the GARID project.
They argued that the project should have been implemented in phases rather than its current compounded manner.
On Monday, May 20, the Ministry issued a statement stating that it has responsibly managed the $200 million allocated for its operations.
The Ministry disclosed that as of March 2024, $127.12 million had been utilised, with $65 million allocated to support COVID-19 related expenses under the Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC), a component agreed upon with the World Bank and included in the Project Appraisal Document.
Source : Citinewsroom.com
President John Dramani Mahama has commissioned four career diplomats as ambassador-designates to represent Ghana in four countries.
The commissioning ceremony took place on Friday, October 16, 2026.
The new envoys are Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo, Ambassador-Designate to Angola; His Excellency Louis Kwame Obeng, Ambassador-Designate to Qatar; Her Excellency Evelyn Korantemaa Ofosu-Amable, Ambassador-Designate to Israel; and His Excellency Jedidiah Reuben Adogla, Permanent Representative-Designate to Switzerland.
President Mahama charged them to advance Ghana’s national interests through strategic partnerships, economic diplomacy, investment mobilization, and expanded access to international markets.
He said Ghana’s diplomatic engagements must deliver tangible economic benefits, create jobs, and strengthen the country’s standing on the international stage.
The four envoys are career diplomats with over 27 years of experience.
On behalf of her colleagues, Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo thanked the President for the confidence reposed in them and pledged their commitment to emulate his leadership and deliver on the mandate given to them.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The professor who spends his days exploring the intricacies of African languages found himself at the centre of a different kind of lesson on Friday, October 2, 2026. 
This time, there were no lecture notes, academic arguments or university classrooms. Instead, there was the weight of tradition, the rhythm of a community celebration and the solemnity of an oath at a royal palace.
Professor Ọbádélé Kambon, a full Professor of African Linguistics at the University of Ghana, was enstooled as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene of Akuapem Mampong in the Eastern Region in a ceremony that brought academia and traditional authority together.
For the professor, the occasion was more than a new title. It was a moment that connected his academic interests in African languages and indigenous knowledge with the living traditions of an Akan community.
The day’s events unfolded through a series of customary observances. Kambon was first taken to the compounds of the Ɔkyeamehene and Gyasehene, where the preparations for his installation continued.
Then came the application of hyire, the white kaolin powder associated with traditional rites.
With the customary proceedings underway, the new chief was lifted onto the shoulders of celebrants and carried along the main thoroughfare of Akuapem Mampong.
The procession transformed the streets into a public stage for a ceremony rooted in the community’s traditional institutions.
There was something striking about the image, a university professor, accustomed to the measured language of academic discourse, being carried through the town in a display of traditional recognition.
Yet the celebration was not complete with the procession.
A ram was sacrificed at the Mamponghene’s compound before Kambon was taken to the palace, to swear the oath associated with his new offices.
The ceremony brought him formally into his roles as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene.
Beyond the colourful proceedings, the titles themselves carry layers of historical meaning.
Kambon in his research explores the historical connections between Apagya and Akan political and military organisation.
Accounts cited in his work linked Apagya to an asafo, or military company, while historical writing traces an Apagya stool in Asante to the reign of Opoku Ware I in the eighteenth century.
These historical associations offer a glimpse into the institutions that have shaped Akan society over generations, although they do not automatically define the precise responsibilities of the office in Akuapem Mampong.
Kambon’s own professional life reflects a similar interest in preserving and examining African knowledge.
His work encompasses Akan language structure, naming practices across the Black world, proverbs and indigenous intellectual traditions.
Through Abibitumi, the platform he founded, he also promotes language learning, scholarship and cultural engagement.
But tradition was only one part of the story that day.
When the formal ceremony gave way to a reception, the occasion expanded into a celebration of three milestones: Kambon’s enstoolment, his promotion to full professor and his daughter Ama’s admission to the University of Ghana.
The gathering therefore carried a personal significance that went beyond the honours bestowed on one man. 
It celebrated professional advancement, the continuation of family aspirations and a connection to cultural heritage.
For a father, seeing a daughter gain admission to the same university where he holds a distinguished academic position offered another reason to celebrate.
For the professor, the moment placed family achievement alongside his own professional and traditional milestones.
Kambon had already established a place in the traditional life of Akuapem Mampɔn through an earlier installation as Banmuhene Kyidɔmhene, recorded in 2017.
His latest enstoolment adds another chapter to that relationship.
In Akuapem Mampɔn, the day brought together the university, the palace and the family table in one celebration. And for Kambon, the journey from the lecture room to the traditional procession showed how scholarship, cultural responsibility and family achievement could converge in a single memorable occasion.
By Enoch Ntiamoah Siaw
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