News
Democracy Hub: Ama Governor, eight other protesters granted GH₵70k bail each
Ama Governor and eight other Democracy Hub protesters have been granted bail, each set at GH₵70, 000 with two sureties.
As part of the bail conditions, the accused must report to the police once a week and deposit their Ghana cards at the court registry.
This decision follows an appeal against an earlier ruling by the circuit court, which denied bail to the nine individuals.
They are part of a group of 53 people charged with unlawful assembly, unlawful damage, assaulting a public officer, and offensive conduct conducive to breaching the peace.
These charges stem from their alleged involvement in disturbances during a protest against illegal mining (galamsey).
Despite opposition from the state, the court granted the bail application submitted by the defense lawyers. The other eight individuals granted bail include Emmanuel Gyan, Emmanuel Kwabena Addo, Ziblim Yakubu, Oheneba Prempeh, Philip Owusu Kobina, Desmond Akisbik, Von Coffie, and Sadik Yakubu.
Their release comes after protests demanding the release of the detained protesters erupted in Ghana and the UK. In Ghana, activists staged a three-day protest chanting slogans and holding placards that read “Free the Protesters” and “Justice for Democracy.”
The demonstrators emphasised the importance of the right to peaceful assembly and urged the government to respect citizens’ voices.
Simultaneously, supporters gathered outside the Ghana High Commission in the UK expressing solidarity with the protesters in Ghana and calling for the immediate release of all individuals arrested during the demonstrations.
Many attendees waved Ghanaian flags and carried signs bearing messages of support, drawing attention to the ongoing struggle for democratic rights in Ghana.
Source: Citinewsroom.com
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) will undertake a nationwide Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination exercise in schools from October to December 2026 to protect eligible girls against cervical cancer and other HPV related diseases.
The exercise, organised in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and its partners through the School Health Education Programme (SHEP), will be conducted in two rounds.
The first round is scheduled for October 19 to 23, 2026, while the second will take place from November 30 to December 4, 2026.
In a press release dated October 19, the GHS explained that health workers would visit schools across the country to vaccinate eligible girls aged 9 to 14 who have not yet received the HPV vaccine.
The exercise forms part of efforts to raise awareness about the routine HPV vaccine, increase vaccination uptake and strengthen the country’s routine immunisation programme.
The GHS has called on school authorities, parents, guardians, teachers and community leaders to cooperate with health teams to ensure the successful implementation of the exercise.
The Service reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the health and well-being of Ghanaians, particularly children, through vaccination and other public health interventions.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has held high-level discussions with organisers of the 2026 Global South Academic Forum in Shanghai, seeking to draw lessons from China’s acclaimed rural revitalisation and poverty reduction drive.
The meeting, led by the Forum Chair, Professor Lu Xinyu, explored practical areas of cooperation and knowledge exchange between Ghana and China, with focus on community-driven development, fisheries and aquaculture, local governance, sports initiatives, and infrastructure development.
According to officials, the engagement is part of a broader effort by the Ghanaian government to study tested development models that can be adapted to the local context to promote inclusive growth, empower local communities, and improve livelihoods across the country.
China’s success in lifting over 800 million people out of poverty through targeted rural policies, investment in agriculture and local infrastructure has become a global reference point for developing nations.
The Vice President’s team says insights from the Forum will help inform policy direction, particularly in strengthening decentralised governance, boosting the fisheries and aquaculture sector, and investing in community-level infrastructure and youth sports development.
Professor Opoku-Agyemang is expected to continue engagements with academic and development institutions while in China.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
