News
Two timber firms depleting the Tindibu Forest Reserve at Tsyome-Sabadu
The two licensed timber firms (name withheld) operating in the Tindibu Forest Reserve at Tsyome-Sabadu in the North Dayi District of the Volta Region are not felling only the Teak trees they were licensed to cut, but other trees as well.
This was disclosed to The Spectator at Tsyome-Sabadu a fortnight ago by the assemblyman, Mr Amedor Senyo Dzamposu.
According to him, they were also felling other trees which were not stipulated by their licences.
For instance, Mr Dzamposu said, the merchants were also vigorously harvesting Wawa, Rosewood and Odum trees with impunity although their licences permitted them to cut only teak trees in the reserve.
He said that it was high time the merchants committed resources and zeal to a re-afforestation plan in the reserve to save it from turning it into a desert.
“The rate at which they cut the trees in the reserve without replacing them is, indeed, scary,” Mr Dzamposu complained.
He said in additon, the two timber firms have not paid the agreed royalties to the seven families who own the land, since 2011.
He recalled that in 2011, the merchants harvested 1,500 teak trees in the reserve, saying the increase to more than 4000 last year was great cause for concern.
The assemblyman said that it was only proper for the merchants to pay the royalties due the land owners for goodwill to prevail between them and the community.
He revealed that last year the merchants harvested more than 4,000 teak trees from the forest and paid a paltry GHS 3,100 to the traditional authorities in social responsibility.
The impoverished land owners are now crying for their due from the forest in which the Indian merchants enrich themselves in superlative terms on daily basis, said Mr Dzamposu.
He renewed his call on the government to intervene in the matter as and help to form fire volunteer and afforestation brigades to protect the forest, in which illegal timber racketeers were now carrying out their despicable activities at night and rapidly depleting the vegetative cover.
From Alberto Mario Noretti, Tsyome-Sabadu
The Speaker of the Algerian Parliament, Mr. Azouz Nasri, has arrived in Accra to take part in the Next Steps High-Level Consultative Conference on the implementation of the landmark United Nations Resolution on the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans.
He was received at the Jubilee Lounge, Kotoka International Airport, by Ghana’s First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Bernard Ahiafor.
The 3-day conference runs from June 17–19, 2026 in Accra. It will bring together parliamentary leaders, diplomats, civil society, and other key stakeholders to reflect on the implications of the UN Resolution for Africans and people of African descent worldwide.
Organisers say the meeting is aimed at advancing a coordinated global framework to strengthen advocacy around the Resolution and provide practical guidance for its implementation across member states.
The Resolution is described as a historic step toward acknowledging the transatlantic slave trade and addressing its lasting impact, with this conference marking one of the first high-level efforts to move it from declaration to action.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
Aspiring National Chairman for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Awentami Paul Afoko, has stated that the party has a unique opportunity to annex power in the 2028 elections.
According to him, the one person who has been on Ghana’s ballot paper for several elections will not be on the ballot paper in the 2028 elections, paving the way for the NPP to properly market its flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who is already a formidable force to reckon with and will go ahead to win the polls.
He argued that voters already know him, he’s battle-tested and ready to win.
He reiterated that the NPP will have a well-marketed candidate in the 2028 election and just as the party did in 2016 when it annexed power from a sitting government, the same can be done.
The Former NPP National Chairman, however, noted that this can be possible if the NPP unites as a unit and approach the elections with all the seriousness it deserves to ensure that its quest for victory does not become a mirage.
Mr Awentami Paul Afoko made this known when he met with Regional Executives, Patrons and Elders of the party in the Volta, Oti and Eastern Regions yesterday.
“For the first time we have a unique opportunity. At the time I put the New Plan for Power in place, we knew that the sitting president could go again and if he won another term, we would sit in opposition for twelve years.
We had to put a plan in place to make sure we come to power and we came to power. This time around, he will not be on the ballot paper and this offers us a unique opportunity, but without unity we will not get there,” he stated.
“As for unity, it is not negotiable. You can’t sit here and look at the lady sitting next to you and say I don’t like her so we can’t work together. We are working together for power, and if we let emotions get in the way, we lose” he said.
“Those of you who are old enough to remember Muhammad Ali the boxer, he is in the ring with you, he’s talking and calling you names then you get emotional and he takes advantage. Emotions won’t give us power. I didn’t get anything so I won’t support; no, let that go because it is in the past,” he noted.
Afoko, who is pushing his 3R Agenda of Reunite, Rebuild, and Recapture power, said the party must adopt a clear message to win back the confidence of Ghanaians and believes, with Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, whom he described as the right candidate will guarantee the NPP victory in the 2028 polls.
“For years I chose to work quietly behind the scenes, supporting the NPP in private,” Afoko said.
“But recent developments have compelled me to step forward. We need to get our party back into winning ways, and that starts with unity of purpose,” Afoko reiterated.
He framed the upcoming period as a test of whether NPP politics would mature or remain stuck in cycles of blame, but was optimistic that everyone who loves the party would come on board to realize the goal of making Dr Mahamudu Bawumia the next President of Ghana.
By: Jacob Aggrey
