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No mental health facility in the Upper West Region
● Mr Illyasu Baba
Absence of mental health facility in the Upper West Region has been identified as one of the major challenges preventing persons with mental health conditions from accessing treatment in the region.
Mental health patients are said to be loitering the streets of major towns in the region after they have been sent away from home for causing one ruckus or the other as a result of not getting the needed care and attention and no alternative places to reside.
This was made known by a Mental Health Advocate and Worker, Mr Illyasu Baba Yussif at Wa in an interview with The Spectator newspaper on the state of mental health in the region.
Mr Illyasu is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Bahass Foundation, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the needs of mental health persons in the Upper West.
His foundation mobilises persons with mental health issues on the streets, give them warm bath, clean shave, after which they are offered new clothes every month to wear.
He lamented that due to absence of a permanent mental health hospital, families of persons with the condition were torn between keeping them at home to create problems or sending them onto the streets.
“If there is a dedicated facility in the region which admits the patients and get them treated, I think some of them would have got better because sometimes it is just about having access to regular medication but this opportunity is absent in the region”, he said.
He stated that due to poverty, some people could not afford to take their relations with mental health conditions to other parts of the country where facilities were available to get catered for.
He was hoping to put up a permanent home for mental health patients but said he would need support from benevolent bodies to do so in order to be able to accommodate the patients and feed them constantly.
“Some people are left to roam the streets because they eventually become nuisance at home and to others, especially in instances where the family resides in rented apartments so they are forced to put them out on the street for the peace of everyone else”, Mr Yussif said.
He said the streets presented harsh conditions to these patients leading to deterioration of their health.
“But they know what I do and they are mostly around my office for food and other assistance, I think most of them have mild cases and would get better with just a little bit of care”, he said.
He used the opportunity to ask for support from benvolent individuals and organisations for his intended purpose and advised the youth to stay away from illicit drugs which could lead to mental problems.
When contacted, the Regional Mental Health Coordinator, Mr Sylvester Basagnia confirmed that the region did not have a mental health hospital but had a unit that was in charge of mental health and epileptic cases at the Municipal Hospital.
He said they could only detain the patients but not admit them for long so acquiring a permanent facility for such persons would be an added advantage for persons with mental health conditions and their families.
From Lydia Darlington Fordjour, Wa
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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
