News
NPP Chairman, 2 others arrested for stealing metals for bridge maintenance granted bail
The Akyem Swedru Circuit Court presided by His Honour William Twumasi Appiah has granted bail to the Oda NPP Constituency Chairman and two other accomplices accused of stealing metals meant for the maintenance of a bridge between Akyem Oda and Abenase.
This was after the Chairman, Awudu Issaka and his accomplices, Ibrahim Issifu and Baba Adams pleaded not guilty when they appeared before the Court.
The metals are valued at GHC40,000, according officials of the Ghana Highway Authority.
The prosecutor, Inspector George Oteng revealed that sometime in July, 2019, Ibrahim Issifu and Baba Adams while riding in car with registration number GW 934-13 were stopped by the Police at a barrier between Oda and Oda Nkwanta.
According to him, the suspects carried some heavy metals on the Kia car they were driving.
He said when the Police questioned Ibrahim Issifu about the metals, he claimed ownership but told the officers that he bought them from a Ghana Highway Authority staff.
He explained that the suspects called Awudu Issaka, who spoke to the Police to allow them passage.
The NPP Chairman, the prosecutor said intervened. But the two were later arrested and arraigned.
The Court, in its first sitting issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Chairman Awudu Issaka for failing to appear before it but the warrant was cancelled after his lawyer, Richard Ofen had told the Court his client was ill.
He was, however, present in Court today to face to face prosecution.
The Court adjourned sitting to May, 18.
Speaking to the media after proceedings, Awudu Issaka explained that he only intervened because he knew them as an NPP polling station executive and a decent businessman in the constituency.
One of the accomplices, Ibrahim Issifu also explained that “I only called Chairman Awudu to help him pass the Police barrier but I have been wrongly accused.”
Source: www.myjoyonline.com
The Ghana Water Justice Network (GWJN), a civil society organization, has called on the government to make water affordable and accessible to Ghanaians in the country.
The organization said making water affordable, particularly for low-income and vulnerable households, included an end to water disconnections due to inability to pay.
This was in a communiqué issued at the launch of the GWJN in Accra on the theme “Water for People, Not for Profit.”
The launch of the event was to mobilize citizens and advocate sustainable long-term solutions to Ghana’s escalating water crisis.
The statement said such disconnections violated the human right to water and disproportionately affected women and children.
“We advocate for inclusive, humane service delivery that prioritizes dignity and access to all citizens,” the statement said.
The statement urged the government to address significant investment shortfalls by fully honouring budget commitments, especially by extending services to underserved communities.
The statement urged authorities to actively include women as leaders and decision-makers in water management at all levels and address the disproportionate impacts of water scarcity on women and girls.
It also called for the establishment and enforcement of water protection zones and the integration of catchment protection plans into spatial planning schemes.
“To combat the menace of galamsey, we urge the government to seize assets and prosecute financiers and equipment owners, support community-based river guards, and deploy satellite and drone surveillance systems to combat illegal mining,” it said.
The communiqué also called on the authorities to introduce a national borehole drilling permit system, create a central groundwater database, and promote shared community borehole systems.
The statement said for countless communities across the country, access to affordable and reliable water remained out of reach.
In rural areas, peri-urban settlements, and low-income urban neighbourhoods, daily realities are marked by long queues, inconsistent supply, and rising costs.
It said at the heart of this crisis were women and children, who bear the heaviest burden when water systems fail.
This situation, the statement said, leaves far too many people behind and threatened to derail progress toward the Sustainable Development Goal six—universal and equitable access to safe and affordable water for all by 2030. -GNA
Police have retrieved all buried body parts of Joyce Akua Ampomaa, a 40-year-old trader allegedly murdered at Awutu Bentum in the Central Region.
The remains have been deposited at the Police Hospital Mortuary for preservation and autopsy, while investigations continue, Commissioner of Police Lydia Yaako Donkor, Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), said at a press briefing in Accra.
She stated that the suspect, a 25-year-old fetish priest, was arrested by the Homicide Unit of the CID after the mutilated body of the deceased was discovered in a bush on the outskirts of Awutu Bentum on March 10, 2026.
Police said the Asafoatse of Awutu Bentum reported the discovery to the Jei Krodua Police Station after the body was found with the head and both legs severed.
Investigations revealed that she had previously sought herbal treatment from the suspect in 2025 and returned on March 4, 2026, for spiritual assistance.
The suspect allegedly lured her into a bush, attacked her with a cutlass, killed her, dismembered the body, and concealed the remains.
During interrogation, the suspect allegedly admitted to the offence and disclosed that he buried the head at Mafi Avedo in the Volta Region and the legs at his residence at Awutu Bentum.
He was arraigned before the Adabraka District Court on March 13, 2026, and remanded into custody.
The court granted an exhumation order, enabling Police to retrieve the buried body parts.
On March 17, 2026, the suspect led investigators to Mafi Avedo, where the deceased’s head was exhumed.
On March 18, 2026, he led Police to Awutu Bentum for a reconstruction of the incident and to locations where the legs and destroyed mobile phones were retrieved.
At the crime scene, located on a cassava farm, the suspect allegedly identified the spot of the attack, the deposition of the body, and a pit where bloodstained items were buried.
Pathologists later exhumed the legs at his residence opposite the Chief’s Palace.
Police noted that community members had demolished the suspect’s residence and shrine, affecting retrieval of the suspected murder weapon and other exhibits.
COP Donkor commended officers for their professionalism and expressed appreciation to international partners, including INTERPOL, the Australian Federal Police, and authorities in Togo, for their collaboration. –GNA
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