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Odawna Market Fire: Over 3,000 affected traders to receive support from NBSSI – President Akufo-Addo
The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, November 18, 2020 visited Odawna market which was ravaged by fire destroying hundreds of stalls.
The fire which destroyed several properties stared around 1am on Wednesday dawn.
In a post on his facebook page, he wrote “On Wednesday, 18th November 2020, I visited the Odawna Market, where hundreds of stalls were destroyed by a fire outbreak, in the early hours of this morning.”
According to the President, through the National Board for Small Scale Industries, (NBSSI),traders who were affected by the fire would be supported within two weeks.
“Through the NBSSI,support is going to be provided to the over 3,000 persons affected by the fire, within two (2) weeks,” the post added.
He further indicated that Government will undertake the re-wiring of all markets in Greater Accra to forestall such tragic occurrences in the future.
By: Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
