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Agotime-Afefame youth desert town

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A first-time visitor to the border town of Agotime-Afegame in the Volta Region is struck by the empty houses in the town.
The reason is that majority of the young adults in the area have ‘fled’ the town to other parts of the country in search of comfort and jobs.

• A woman abandons her bags of charcoal due to the absence of market 
• A deserted house at Agotime-Afegame
For years, the people of Agotime-Afegame had made their fortune from cross-border trade with neighbouring Togo and also by selling their bountiful harvests of vegetable in ready markets at Ho, Kpetoe, Ziope and other parts of the region.
The massive storey buildings in the town which are now decaying depict lost years of wealth and glory.
In the PNDC era under Flt-Lt J.J Rawlings, Agotime-Afegame was said to be an important spot for intelligence gathering from across the border and that guaranteed security in the town.
Today, Agotime-Afegame is a pale shadow of its excellent past.
For some time now, the people of the border town have been held “hostage” in their homes.
This follows heavy rains which destroyed various portions of the 9.5kilometre untarred road from Agotime-Beh, along the Ho-Aflao road, to the town.
A journey on the road by car which under normal circumstances takes 10 minutes can now take more than one-and-a-half hours due to the nightmarish nature of the road.
In the absence of cellular phone signals, the community which has about 1,300 inhabitants is now in a grave state of uncertainty as the people can hardly contact their relatives in other parts of the country.
The road continues to Kpordzaxo in Togo which is just metres away from Agotime-Afegame, and then to the Republic of Benin.
That international road could rightly be described as an “international ruin”.
In times of downpours the stretch becomes a river course making it totally unusable and further tightening the hostage status of the people of Agotime-Afegame.
Now, the border is still shut, depriving them of their livelihood and with the nature of what is meant to be the road leading to the town, the people cannot sell their farm produce anywhere.
When some journalists waded through the muddy waters and visited the area last month, the atmosphere was a scary one.
The sick cannot access healthcare outside the town.
Plans to bury the dead in the land of their brothers and sisters at Kpordzaxo are frustrated by the official location of Kpordzaxor in Togo.
The road from the Beh junction to the town was constructed in the early 1970s and for more than 48 years the only rehabilitation was occasional reshaping.
In the absence of potable water, the people of Agotime-Afegame rely on River Tordze which according to local residents, is so polluted that one would not even want to use to flush the toilet.
With no link road, no cellular service and no potable water in the wake of little food stocks and an uncertain future, the people of the food basket are gripped with anxiety.
The town once known for wealth has been brought to its knees.
Citizens of the Agotime-Afegame who live in other parts of the country are now avoiding the nightmare in their hometown by keeping their distance from the town.
From Alberto Mario Noretti, Agotime-Afegame
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Justin Kodua Frimpong files nomination to seek re-election as NPP General Secretary

General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Kodua Frimpong, has filed his nomination to contest the position of General Secretary again as the party begins its rebuilding efforts ahead of the 2028 general elections.
He was accompanied by party stalwarts and supporters who were in high spirits, expressing confidence that he is the right person to hold the position.
Speaking after filing his nomination, Mr Kodua Frimpong assured the rank and file of the party that he would not disappoint them.
“I can assure you that the faith the rank and file of the party have had in me, I will never disappoint them,” he said.
He also pledged to run a clean campaign devoid of personal attacks.
“I can assure you that our internal campaign will be devoid of personal attacks,” he told his fellow contestants and the rank and file of the party as he seeks to retain his position.
His tenure has seen the party through the 2024 general elections, where the NPP lost power to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) after eight years in government.
The party is currently in a rebuilding phase, with internal elections scheduled to elect new national executives to lead its reorganization towards the 2028 polls.
The General Secretary position is considered one of the most influential in the party’s administrative structure, responsible for the day-to-day running of the party secretariat and implementation of party decisions.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
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UGMC disputes Michael Blackson’s claims over late mother’s treatment

The University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) has disputed claims made on social media by comedian Michael Blackson concerning the treatment given to his late mother, saying a review found that the allegations did not accurately reflect what happened during her stay at the hospital.
In a statement issued in Accra on August 5, 2026, the management of UGMC expressed condolences to Mr. Blackson and his family over the death of his 83-year-old mother, who died at the facility on July 16, 2026.
The hospital said it had taken the concerns raised by Mr. Blackson seriously and conducted a thorough review in line with its clinical and administrative procedures.
According to the statement, the facts presented by Mr. Blackson on social media contained “numerous inaccuracies” and did not accurately reflect the medical care provided to his mother.
UGMC explained that she was referred to the facility from another hospital and received treatment there from May 27 to July 16, 2026, a period of about eight weeks.
The hospital stated that it would not release details of her diagnosis, treatment, medical records or other aspects of her care because it had a duty to protect patient confidentiality, even after death.
It said the decision was intended to respect the dignity of the deceased and the privacy of her family.
UGMC further stated that all clinical decisions at the facility are made by qualified healthcare professionals based on medical judgment, established standards of care and the best interests of the patient.
The statement added that such decisions are made in consultation with authorised family representatives where necessary and that billing and financial procedures are governed by institutional policies and are separate from clinical decision-making.
The hospital noted that it values feedback from patients and their families and considers both positive and negative comments important for improving the quality of care.
Mr. Blackson had earlier used social media to criticise the care his mother received at UGMC, prompting the hospital’s response.
By: Jacob Aggrey






