Editorial
An obvious, lurking danger
A worker cutting a fallen tree to allow traffic to flow
Dear Editor,
Please permit me space in your popular newspaper to bring to the attention of authorities, especially the Department of Parks and Gardens (DPG) as well as the Advertising Association of Ghana (AAG) on last week’s storm that hit part of Accra.
At the Cantonment area, a huge tree fell and caused massive destruction to property.
Gladly, there was no life lost and it enjoyed massive media coverage as personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) moved in to cut the huge branches that destroyed vehicles and motorbikes.
There were other places that witnessed similar incident that had little impact but instead of ignoring them, it would be appropriate for the above mentioned authorities to put in place mechanism to avoid such dangers as the rains set in.
At the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) area, there were a few broken trees as a result of the storm.
A few advertising boards were also sited scattered around.
These are signs of what could befall us when it rains heavily accompanied with storm.
Driving around town, one can see a number of these huge trees that also look dry; they are the ones that pose the threat. It is time the DPG take a second look at them.
They should either consider pruning or cut them entirely and plant new ones to replace them. Personally, that would guarantee the safety of unfortunate ones that are caught outside by the rains so that rushing to take shelter do not turn disastrous.
Mike Prempeh,
Accra
Some women choose not to have children, while others want children but are unable to do so because of uncontrollable circumstances.
Due to social expectations, childless women endure anxiety, loneliness, isolation, and even low self-esteem.
Their problems are made worse by the fact that they are labelled as barren. Owing to their current circumstances, individuals turn to a variety of treatments, including assisted reproductive care, in the hopes that eventually their desires would be fulfilled.
Thankfully, some have been successful and have had multipla children, while others have given up and resorted to adoption as a last choice.
However, there is good news for childless women whose circumstances are beyond their control: the nation’s first intrauterine insemination (IUI) quadruplets have been delivered, offering them hope.
IUI is a common fertility treatment where healthy sperm are collected, ‘washed’ and concentrated in a laboratory, and then directly inserted into a woman’s uterus around ovulation using a thin catheter to help sperm reach the egg for fertilisation, often used for unexplained infertility, cervical issues, or mild male factor infertility, and is less invasive than IVF.
This breakthrough occurred at the Walking Egg Medical and Fertility Centre at Pokuase in Accra, where a 30-year-old surrogate mother delivered a set of quadruplets, a rare surrogacy success that has brought renewed attention to assisted reproductive care in Ghana.
According to our reporter who witnessed the delivery, the babies-two boys and two girls- were delivered through a caesarean section in the early hours of Tuesday at 36 weeks and weighed an average of 2.5 kilogrammes each, a weight doctors say was healthy for a multiple pregnancy.
The Spectator is filled with joy and applauds the Medical Director of the Centre, Dr Nana Yaw Osei, for this great feat which will give hope to women and bring joy to many families.
Describing the moment of delivery, he added, “I was in tears in the theatre. It reminded me why I chose this profession.”
Hear him, “Unlike IVF which could result in multiple babies, this is “possibly the first IUI leading to quadruplets in Ghana.”
He explained that IUI is not planned to result in multiple births adding that “this outcome was left entirely to nature.”
Again, he revealed that “With IUI, you introduce prepared sperm into the uterus and have no control over how many eggs fertilized.”
The revelation is reassuring therefore we encourage couples to plan surrogacy arrangement as in this case the intended mother had lost her uterus during surgery to remove fibroids, making it medically impossible for her to carry a pregnancy.
Dr Osei again indicated that surrogacy, though still widely misunderstood, is recognised under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 2020 (Act 1027).
Although there have been concerns commonly associated with multiple pregnancies, Dr Osei noted that the surrogate experienced no major complications, and the delivery was smooth.
The good news is that “Paediatric assessments conducted after birth confirmed that all four babies are healthy.”
We therefore urge couples to consider surrogacy which is restoring hope to women who have lost the ability to carry a child.
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Dear Editor,
I want to use your respected platform to commend the police administration for the swoops that resulted in the arrest of members of some gangs that operates in Accra and other parts of the country.
These are notorious criminals that are always hell-bent to make life difficult for people.
We may be new in 2026 but it looks like these criminals are not ready to change. In less than two weeks into the New Year, the police has already busted several gang members with dangerous weapons in their possession.
It started in Accra with the arrest of 16 suspected individuals who were involved in various criminal cases including daylight robbers, phone snatching, residential robberies, impersonation and many others.
Following that was the seizure of suspected substances believed to be Indian Hemp in the North Tongu District of the Volta region.
Again, the Greater Accra and Eastern Regional Commands also collaborated well to smash a highway robbery syndicate with seven of the members arrested.
The last I can recount for the first month of the year was the interception of 1,613 parcels of suspected narcotics drugs by the Tema Police Command.
All of these goes to speak about the good work the police is doing to make life comfortable and violence –free for Ghanaians.
Without this commitment from the force, a lot of these activities would not have happen. They did all of these at the peril of their lives.
It is my hope that those arrested would be prosecuted and be made to face the full rigors of the law.
Nana Yaw Amankwaa,
Ofankor
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