News
Explosion of two tankers, kills boy 2, at Apremdo
On Wednesday, a two-year-old boy died when two diesel tankers exploded and caught fire, near the Apollo traffic light junction at Apremdo, in the Effia–Kwesimintsim Municipality.
The deceased was burnt beyond recognition, while his auntie, Maame Abena, a MOMO agent, narrowly escaped from the fire.
The Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly (EKMA), has established that operators of the fuel tankers which exploded and caused fire at a parking space, near the Apremdo market, on Wednesday, have no permit to run such business at the premise.
It stressed that the operators have only been granted permits to erect temporal structures for businesses “and not to use the place as a parking lot or distribution point for fuel”.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Effia-Kwesimintsim, Kojo Acquah, told journalists after the fire incident that, the tanker operators have been running their operations at the blind side of the assembly, adding that “the trucks have not been given any permit”.
He has, however, indicated that EKMA would undertake a thorough investigation into the accident, assuring that, the necessary actions and sanctions would be applied against persons or groups whose negligence caused the disaster.
Sources narrated that, the child was left to sleep in one of the containers which served as MOMO joint at a parking place near the Total Filling station, at Apremdo.
The inferno, which began about 1:30 pm, sent thick dark clouds, billowing into the atmosphere and caused people at the scene to run for their dear lives.
For about four hours, the raging fire swept the entire parking area and destroyed six containers used as mechanical spare-parts shop, a drinking spot, an eatery, a MOMO joint, and an Opel taxi cab.
Reports at the scene indicated that, the fully loaded fuel tankers were parked at the parking location(yard) behind the Total Filling station, awaiting directives to discharge fuel at the pump stations before the explosion occurred.
Eye witnesses spoke about earlier efforts of crew aboard two fire tenders, who made frantic efforts to control the raging fire from spreading to other areas including the Total Filling station while an anxious milling crowd at the scene prayed it did not affect the nearby ‘Abenbenbobom market’ at Apremdo.
“I heard an explosion and the place was suddenly consumed by the fire. My brother, the inferno here is no joke,” an eyewitness recalled.
The Public Relations Officer of the Western Regional Command of the Ghana Fire Service, Divisional Officer 111, Emmanuel Kojo Bonney, said six fire tenders were deployed to the scene to control the fire, adding that “it took our team about an hour and forty-three minutes to ‘tame’ the wild fire”.
Complaining about the crowd which milled at the fire scene, he said, “In fire-fighting, every second counts so when the crowd invades the scene, we have to meander through the crowd to fight the fire…this delays our time in fighting the fire. So the police had a hectic time dispersing them.”
FROM CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, TAKORADI
News
Minister for Education leads monitoring visit to BECE Centres
As part of efforts to encourage candidates writing the 2025 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), the Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrissu has led a government delegation to the 5 Garrison Education Centre and Emmause Cluster of Schools earlier today in Accra.
The visit aimed at monitoring the conduct of the examination, interacting with candidates, and offering words of motivation.
The minister urged the students to remain focused, confident, and determined, encouraging them to do their best to make themselves and the nation proud.
Accompanying the Education minister were the Minister for Defence, Edward Omane Boamah; Deputy Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs and Member of Parliament for La Dadekotopon, Rita Naa Odoley Sowah and the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Prof. Ernest Davis.
The rest included the Chief Director of the Ministry of Education, Mrs. Maamle Andrews; and the Municipal Chief Executive for La Dadekotopon, Alfredos Nii Anyetei.
Other dignitaries present also reiterated government’s commitment to educational excellence and the holistic development of every Ghanaian child.
News
Interior Minister calls for correctional reform as Prisons Service graduates New Officers
Speaking at the Passing-Out Parade of Recruit Course 125 at Ankaful Prison Officers’ Training School in the Central Region, the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak has emphasized the need for correctional reform in Ghana, highlighting the government’s commitment to transforming the Prisons Service into a modern correctional facility that focuses on rehabilitation, reformation and reintegration.
He noted that Government remains committed to expanding vocational training, educational programmes and productive inmate enterprises that reinforce rehabilitation, reformation and reintegration.
The minister pointed out that correctional facilities must become centers of reform, not just detention.
According to him, “is not an act of charity but a strategic investment in national security and human capital. When we empower an inmate with employable skills, we reduce the opportunity for that inmate to re-offend. Rehabilitation and reformation do not occur in isolation but must be linked to purposeful activity.”
To give practical effect to this policy, Muntaka Mohamed-Mubarak announced that Government will scale up support for prison-based ventures, saying that entures such as carpentry, tailoring, agriculture, and industrial operations, including bottled water production, will be central to a sustainable, self-reliant correctional economy.
The Minister also directed all institutions under the Ministry for the Interior to prioritise the purchase of bottled water and toilet rolls produced by the Ghana Prisons Service.
This, he said, will not only reduce the financial burden on the state but also generate revenue and promote inmates’ productivity.
He reassured the leadership and personnel of the Ghana Prisons Service of the Government’s unwavering support, emphasizing that the commitment goes beyond improving logistics and infrastructure to reforming the very foundation of correctional practice in Ghana.
Muntaka Mubarak urged the new officers to serve with integrity, compassion, and professionalism, and assured them that their actions would reflect the high standards of the Service and the trust the nation has placed in them.
