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Gyili pupils study on bare floor
Over 200 pupils at the Gyili D/A Primary School in the Takpo Area Council of the Nadowli-Kaleo District in the Upper West Region sit or sprawl on the bare floor to take lessons during school hours because the school does not have enough furniture.
Investigation by The Spectator Newspaper revealed that the kindergarten block has a total of 58 school children in two separate classrooms, but has only six dual desks and three broken ones.
The primary block which is made up of six classrooms and accommodating 153 pupils cannot boast of more than 15 functional dual desks.
In some of the classrooms, a dual desk which is originally designed to take two pupils had four or five pupils occupying it making it difficult for them to write.
In an interview, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) Chairman, Mr Abraham Suglo who drew this paper’s attention to the plight of the school, described the situation as worrying and said it affected school attendance as some parents were unwilling to send their wards to a school where pupils had to lie on their tummies for lessons.
“Money is difficult to come by these days and when you are able to raise a little, you are forced to use it on soap because each time your child returns from school, they look very dirty”, he decried and said the PTA was appealing to donors and benevolent persons to assist the pupils with furniture to facilitate teaching and learning.
“The PTA is putting resources together to fix some of the broken furniture but we are calling on individuals and organisations to support us provide desks for our children”, he added.
The Vice Chairman of the PTA, Mr Eric A-iriba also expressed that aside the issue of desks, the school block also needed refurbishing to make it more suitable for academic work.
He called on government and the district assembly to help renovate the school block, provide furniture and also post more teachers to the school as some of the classes did not have teachers.
When contacted, the District Director of Education, Mr Christopher Kutina said the inadequate supply of furniture in schools was a national issue that needed the attention of every well-meaning Ghanaian not only the government.
He said the directorate was working around the clock to secure support for such schools and said parents who could support should do so for the sake of their wards.
“We know there are some affluent ones in the communities and within the schools’ PTA who can assist and that is why we are reconstituting the schools’ management committees (SMCs) and get them sensitised to the fact that they need to support the development of their wards’ schools with their personal resources if they could”, he added.
From Lydia Darlington Fordjour, Gyili
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Prof Alidu Seidu files nomination for Tamale Central seat
The newly elected parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Tamale Central, Prof Alidu Seidu, has submitted his nomination forms to the Electoral Commission.
As of 10:00 a.m. today, he was the only person who had filed to contest the seat.
Nomination of candidates will close at the end of the day.
Associate Professor and Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana Legon, Prof. Alidu Seidu won the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in the Tamale Central constituency with a landslide victory.
The elections, supervised by the party’s Elections and IT Directorate in the Northern Region, saw Prof. Seidu poll 840 votes out of the total valid ballots cast.
His closest contender, Lawyer Hanan Gundadow Abdul-Rahaman, secured 536 votes.
The other aspirants could not make significant gains, with Dr. Seidu Fiter obtaining 44 votes, Aliu Abdul-Hamid 23 votes, and the rest recording fewer than 10 votes each.
In all, 1,500 ballots were cast, with 6 ballots rejected and 7 spoilt ballots recorded.
The results were signed and declared by Dr. Arnold Mashud Abukari, NDC Northern Regional Director of Elections and IT.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) held parliamentary primaries in Tamale Central to choose a candidate for the upcoming by-election following the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed. Dr. Mohammed, who also served as Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, tragically died in a military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District on August 6, 2025, alongside seven others.
His passing left the Tamale Central seat vacant, as required by Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
The Electoral Commission has scheduled the by-election for September 30, 2025. While the NDC moved quickly to open nominations and vet aspirants, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) announced it would not contest the seat, citing the need to respect the somber circumstances and promote national unity.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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Ghana to locally refine its gold starting October 2025 – Sammy Gyamfi
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board, Sammy Gyamfi, has announced that plans are far advanced for the establishment of a state-owned gold refinery in the country.
Speaking at the 2025 Minerals and Mining Convention, Mr Gyamfi said the refinery will process locally mined gold into bullion instead of exporting it in its raw state.
According to him, it is unacceptable that Ghana, despite being a leading gold producer in Africa, continues to export raw gold known as dore.
He explained that the Gold Board, working with the Bank of Ghana and local refineries, will from October 2025 begin refining gold locally.
He also disclosed that an ultramodern assay laboratory will be built to ensure international standards in testing gold quality.
Mr Gyamfi noted that the refinery will be wholly state-owned and will help Ghana move away from raw mineral exports to value addition.
This, he said, will boost foreign exchange earnings, create jobs, and position Ghana as a hub for gold refining and jewellery production in Africa.
The CEO stressed that the project forms part of government’s strategy to ensure the country benefits fully from its natural resources and to transform the mining sector into a driver of economic growth.
By: Jacob Aggrey
