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Count on us for better digital solutions in 2021 – MTN CEO
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN, Mr. Selorm Adadevoh has assured Ghanaians of the company’s commitment to improved services in the coming year in spite of the challenges presented by COVID-19 this year.
“You can count on us for all your digital solutions and I am reassuring all of you that we ‘dey’ for you,” the CEO said in a statement at the 2020 MTN Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols held at the Fantasy Dome, La, Accra.
“I would like to assure you that as we enter 2021, we have a lot planned to make the new year a much better year than 2020,” he added.
He observed that, “2020 has been a very interesting year and I’m sure some of you have endured a lot of difficulties throughout the year; same for us at MTN and for our staff but we are blessed and grateful for the blessings that the Lord has brought upon us despite all the challenges we have been through in 2020”.
He thanked MTN’s customers for all their patience, loyalty and understanding in “our time of need”. He also expressed his personal, and the company’s gratitude to board and shareholders of MTN for their support through the difficult year. “To our partners, you have done a fantastic job ensuring that we could deliver on all our services.
Also very importantly, he said, the staff of MTN deserve commendation for being amazing throughout the year, sacrificing and being at the frontline through a very difficult period,”making sure that we can continue to serve our customers.
At the Carols Night, some selected former MTN Hit Maker participants and winners, who are now making waves in the Ghanaian music arena at the weekend made MTN proud when they took turns to rock the stage at the 2020 MTN Nine Lessons and Carols Night held at the Fantasy Dome in Accra.
Back-to-back, Kuami Eugene who is Ghana’s current Artiste of the Year, Mr Drew, Kurl Songx, Lasmid, Adepa, Achiaa and Gabi Nova sang their hearts out at the event. Wielding different approaches to performance and general showmanship, the talent hunt “products” did well to hold the audience’s attention and, indeed saw them off to an enjoyable Christmas.
The MTN ViVa Voices, which is a group of singers from MTN, also dug deep into their wealth of musical artistry to put the audience into a perfect Christmas mood.
Comedian and MC for the show, Foster Romanus opened the show with a presentation of ‘Iskoki’ a song by dancehall big boy, Samini and he was on point – he sang, danced and generally entertained the audience as he laced his presentations with clean and humourous jokes that tickled the ribs of the people. He also gave out some goodies from MTN in the spirit of the Xmas season.
Top singer, Kuami Eugene led the rest of the artistes to literally open the gate for the celebration of the Christmas festivities with some effervescent performances .
It was amazing to enjoy the masterful way in which the headline artiste and all the other musicians on the bill presented some of the most popular western Christmas carols in various local languages and also sang some original Ghanaian tunes, mostly in Ga and Akan.
It was the objective of the organisers, MTN, to present a Carols Night with a truly Ghanaian flavour, and they were spot on.
The current Ghana Music Awards best artiste, Kuami Eugene, sporting a red pair of trousers and a long sleeve white, rocked the show h-a-r-r-r-d as he danced from one point of the stage to another, singing his own compositions and presenting songs from other popular artistes, much to the enjoyment and admiration of the audience at the event venue and the many around the world, who watched the show live on MTN’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
The other artistes on the line-up, Drew, Kurl Songx, Achiaa, Adepa, Gabi Nova, and Lasmid also injected some verve into the show as they employed their individual vocal prowess and singing abilities to ginger up the atmosphere with some good performances.
In the estimation of many members of the audience, especially per the comments of those who watched the show online, the performance by Ebo Whyte’s Roverman Productions was as a pure class act.
The group re-enacted the birth of Jesus Christ with a Ghanaian touch, as the actors and actresses sang, danced and used trendy Ghanaian catchphrases that easily excited the audience.
Quite understandably, members of the audience at the venue were relatively few due to COVID-19 restrictions, for which reason one could not feel the charged atmosphere that usually characterises such powerful shows. Nonetheless, the various comments by the patrons online indicated that the event was an exhilarating one for the patrons.
MTN’s in-house choir, the Viva Voices were on stage to give the night the traditional Carols Service touch that comes with choir performances. Clad in yellow and blue identical apparel, the group sang various songs, but the one that hit the audience was “Hallelujah,” which they delivered with passion and style.
The Nine Lessons were read by Theophilus Nuer, MTN Bright Scholarship beneficiary, Dr. Elsie Effah Kauffman, hostess of the National Science and Mathematics Quiz, Jeremiah Nartey, Media Manager, MTN and Madam Olivia Quartey, Deputy Director General in charge of Managerial Operations at the National Communications Authority (NCA).
The rest were comedian, General Ntatie, Samson Lardi Ayenini, broadcaster, lawyer and the current Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Journalist of the Year, Dr. Tony Aubyn, Executive Member of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Ebenezer Terkpeh, Vice President, Local Staff Association, MTN and Nathan Lee-Winans, MTN Distributor.
Acts that have appeared at previous MTN Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols events include Kwaw Kese, Samini, Okyeame Kwame, MzVee , Nacee, Cecilia Marfo, Daughters of Glorious Jesus, Patapaa and Feli Nuna.
Madam Sandra Seyram Kpedor, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Anloga in the Volta Region, has emphasised the importance of parental involvement in children’s education, stating that education is free, but parents need to do more to support their children.
She said parents, teachers, and students must be involved in addressing the challenges facing the district’s education sector, particularly the poor Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results.
Madam Kpedor outlined some key roles parents should play to promote their children’s education, including providing a conducive learning environment, monitoring their children’s progress, and supporting teachers.
The DCE highlighted some challenges the district faced such as inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of teachers, which have also contributed to the poor BECE results and called on well-to-do parent to help solve the situation through and other supports.
To address the issues, she also announced that plans have been taken to utilise the district’s common fund to implement educational projects, such as constructing school blocks and teachers’ bungalows at Sodzi community, and 2-unit classroom blocks each at Akplorwutorkor and Tegbi-Afedome respectively, among others.
Madam Kpedor also noted that her office had earlier notified the Ministry of Education to deploy more teachers to the area to improve teaching and learning, and encouraged students to work hard and strive for excellence, and work beyond their limit to succeed.
“To my wonderful and beautiful girls, you have to know it clear that women and girls have equal opportunities to compete with men for greater achievements,” she indicated.
The DCE cited her own achievement as a testament to the fact that women can excel in leadership positions, alongside Vice President Nana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, and stressed that girls were no longer limited to domestic roles but can pursue their dreams and become leaders.
Additionally, she mentioned that a meeting was held earlier with assembly members, and other stakeholders to address the district’s educational challenges and improve academic performance.
She promised that the district’s education oversight committee and stakeholders would work together to address the challenges and improve the district’s BECE results and called for parental involvement and support to boost the district’s education sector for children to chase their dreams to become future leaders for the success of the district and the nation.
She urged parents not to leave everything to the government but rather help in the provision of some necessary materials such as textbooks, exercise books, pens, pencils, food, and guidance to children for the successes of young learners. –GNA
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The spokesperson for Dr. Bawumia, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has criticised the implementation of the NDC government’s No Fee Stress policy, arguing that the programme has failed to deliver on its core promise.
According to him on Starr fm, the policy, which was introduced to ensure stress free payment of fees for level 100 tertiary students, has rather turned into what he described as post stress support.
He explained that students are required to pay their fees first before applying for reimbursement, a situation he believes defeats the purpose of the policy.
He questioned claims by government officials that the policy has been successful and that citizens are happy.
In his view, such claims do not reflect the lived realities of many Ghanaians. He stressed that while some people may appear satisfied, many others continue to struggle.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye pointed to the situation of trained teachers and nurses who have been picketing for nearly six months, demanding employment.
He noted that government responses suggesting it cannot accommodate all of them contradict claims of economic stability.
He further argued that economic indicators such as a stable currency mean little to people who are unable to secure jobs or access promised support.
He observed that telling an unemployed teacher or a struggling student that the cedi has strengthened does not address their immediate challenges.
On the issue of tertiary education, he maintained that no level 100 student benefited from stress free fees in 2025, despite the policy being announced.
He added that in 2026, students have already reported to school without receiving the promised support.
He insisted that asking students to pay fees first and seek reimbursement later amounts to support after hardship, not stress free education.
According to him, this approach goes against what was promised during the policy announcement.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye questioned why a government that presents the economy as strong is unable to fulfil what he described as simple and clear promises.
He added that there is a fundamental problem with the way the economy is being managed and indicated that he is prepared to explain his position further.
By: Jacob Aggrey
