Hot!
Close ‘Ataya’, Pito joints to contain COVID-19
With the surge in coronavirus (COVID-19) infections in the country, the Upper West Regional Health Promotion Officer, Mr John Maakpe has called on residents to suspend the act of converging at joints to share drinks such as pito and a local tea called “ataya”.
The officer noted with concern the blatant disregard for the safety protocols at the joints which were made up of mostly males of the same age or interest groups, who normally drank together and talked for long hours before retiring to their respective homes for the night.
“These are people coming from different areas although you meet every day but you are not sure where they had been before the meeting. These are critical times where we need to do away with things that are not very crucial and save our lives,” he said.
Mr Maakpe who stated this in an interview with “The Spectator” at Wa said it was time to break the pito and ataya camps for now and reconvene after the disease was brought under control.
Ataya is a Senegalese term for the Chinese Gunpowder green tea leaves boiled for 20 minutes and is believed to make men more potent whilst pito is a local drink brewed from millet; both of which are enjoyed by natives of the region depending on their religious inclination.
The practice has been that males numbering about five, converge at a point, sometimes in camps to drink the ‘ataya’ which is mostly boiled and served in small silver cups owned by the group or camp for that purpose amidst long conversations or discussions.
The pito on the other hand, is mostly prepared for sale and customers buy and enjoy in calabashes belonging to the pito vendor.
Mr Maakpe raised concern about the use or sharing of cup or calabashes which had been used by another person to serve someone else without proper washing as well as the removal of the nose mask before drinking in continuous conversation and sitting close to one other in a circle.
“Social distancing does not work at such joints, the pito is sometimes better because it is not every time people gather at the place but the ataya seems to be a daily routine for some people and they do not wear nose masks because of the drinking but talk endlessly”, he said, and advised lovers of pito to buy the drink in gallons and take home.
Speaking about other areas of concern, Mr Maakpe said some traders at the market who were at a higher risk of contracting the virus had also refused to wear their nose masks in spite of the intensive education the regional health directorate had given them.
“Sometimes when they see you coming, they put on the masks but take them off after you are gone and this is quite uncalled for,” he stressed.
He reminded Christians and their Muslim counterpart to observe social distancing in the churches and at mosques,
“Even though we are there to worship, we can still take the virus home if we are not careful, so we have to observe the protocols as the scripture says “obedience is better than sacrifice,” he added.
From: Lydia Darlington Fordjour, Wa
Hot!
Prof Alidu Seidu files nomination for Tamale Central seat
The newly elected parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Tamale Central, Prof Alidu Seidu, has submitted his nomination forms to the Electoral Commission.
As of 10:00 a.m. today, he was the only person who had filed to contest the seat.
Nomination of candidates will close at the end of the day.
Associate Professor and Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana Legon, Prof. Alidu Seidu won the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in the Tamale Central constituency with a landslide victory.
The elections, supervised by the party’s Elections and IT Directorate in the Northern Region, saw Prof. Seidu poll 840 votes out of the total valid ballots cast.
His closest contender, Lawyer Hanan Gundadow Abdul-Rahaman, secured 536 votes.
The other aspirants could not make significant gains, with Dr. Seidu Fiter obtaining 44 votes, Aliu Abdul-Hamid 23 votes, and the rest recording fewer than 10 votes each.
In all, 1,500 ballots were cast, with 6 ballots rejected and 7 spoilt ballots recorded.
The results were signed and declared by Dr. Arnold Mashud Abukari, NDC Northern Regional Director of Elections and IT.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) held parliamentary primaries in Tamale Central to choose a candidate for the upcoming by-election following the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed. Dr. Mohammed, who also served as Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, tragically died in a military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District on August 6, 2025, alongside seven others.
His passing left the Tamale Central seat vacant, as required by Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
The Electoral Commission has scheduled the by-election for September 30, 2025. While the NDC moved quickly to open nominations and vet aspirants, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) announced it would not contest the seat, citing the need to respect the somber circumstances and promote national unity.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Hot!
Ghana to locally refine its gold starting October 2025 – Sammy Gyamfi
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board, Sammy Gyamfi, has announced that plans are far advanced for the establishment of a state-owned gold refinery in the country.
Speaking at the 2025 Minerals and Mining Convention, Mr Gyamfi said the refinery will process locally mined gold into bullion instead of exporting it in its raw state.
According to him, it is unacceptable that Ghana, despite being a leading gold producer in Africa, continues to export raw gold known as dore.
He explained that the Gold Board, working with the Bank of Ghana and local refineries, will from October 2025 begin refining gold locally.
He also disclosed that an ultramodern assay laboratory will be built to ensure international standards in testing gold quality.
Mr Gyamfi noted that the refinery will be wholly state-owned and will help Ghana move away from raw mineral exports to value addition.
This, he said, will boost foreign exchange earnings, create jobs, and position Ghana as a hub for gold refining and jewellery production in Africa.
The CEO stressed that the project forms part of government’s strategy to ensure the country benefits fully from its natural resources and to transform the mining sector into a driver of economic growth.
By: Jacob Aggrey
