News
Scavenging for survival …children, adults invade Tamale landfill site
Some adults and children in the Northern Regional Capital, Tamale, have found another means of making a living without joining the bandwagon of migrating to Southern Ghana in search of non-existing job.
A lot of northers are in the towns and cities of Ghana engaged in menial jobs and conditions under which they live are not dignifying, to say the least.
Women as well as children in school uniform, on a daily basis, make their way to the one of the city’s landfill sites to ‘dig for goodies’ after waste collection trucks have offloaded heaps of garbage.
According to some residents, the practice has been in existence over the years and is a source of livelihood for those who engage in it.
Sheriff and Majeed, both aged nine, are among the many children, captured by our Photographer Mr. Geoffery Buta, as they ‘invade’ the dumping ground before, during, or after school hours.
With sharp metal bars and sacks, the children head for the refuse site and spend several hours on the heaps of garbage for anything they find useable. Other children between eight and 15 years compete’ with adults as soon as the refuse trucks pull up.
Sheriff said that on one lucky day, he found a wrist watch which he later sold at seven cedis (GHC 7.00). Madam Fuazie Iddrisu one of the adult scavengers, admitted that they earned some living from the landfill site by selling some of the ‘valuables’ they found.
Mr. Fataw Abubakar, a scrap dealer at the landfill site said, the number of scavengers in the area had doubled as the population in the city increased.
“On Mondays, the refuse dump looks like a ‘market day’ where you see hundreds of scavengers especially women and children of all ages rummaging the garbage”, he said.
He said many of the scavengers had lived almost all their lives near the landfill site, and that some children started following their parents to the site as early as age five.
Explaining the risk the children especially were exposed to at the site, Mr. Abubakar, recounted a sad encounter when a child was run over and killed by a refuse truck that had come to offload refuse.
A waste management official, who pleaded anonymity, noted that the authorities in charge of the site had tried and failed on many occasions to stop the children especially from coming to the dumping ground.
“Many of them complain it is their livelihood, so they should be allowed to continue,” he said but noted that the completion of a solid waste management project would help control the activities of the adult and child scavengers.
By Geoferry Buta
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has opened applications for members interested in contesting as its parliamentary candidates in the 2028 general elections.
In a statement issued on Thursday, October 29, 2026, the party said interested members must declare their intention to contest between Sunday, November 1, and Tuesday, November 10, 2026.
According to the statement signed by the party’s Communications Director, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, prospective candidates must complete an online form within the specified period.
The party said a non-refundable application fee of GH¢5,000 would be charged to each prospective candidate.
It added that all applicants would undergo vetting and screening to determine their eligibility to contest on the party’s ticket.
The NPP announced plans to organise capacity-building workshops for prospective candidates in December 2026. The workshops will be held across the Northern, Middle and Southern zones, with details of the venues to be announced later.
The party stressed that the guidelines would apply to all prospective candidates, including sitting NPP Members of Parliament who wish to contest again.
It further warned aspirants against starting campaign activities following the opening of the application process.
According to the statement, the existing directive prohibiting campaign activities remains in force until the party gives official clearance.
It cautioned that anyone who violates the directive would face appropriate sanctions under the party’s constitution and regulations.
The NPP said the process was designed to promote fairness, transparency and equal opportunities for all aspirants as it prepares to select candidates for all 276 constituencies ahead of the 2028 elections.
It urged prospective candidates to follow the guidelines and conduct themselves with discipline and respect for one another throughout the process.
The party said its broader objective was to strengthen unity within its ranks and rebuild public confidence ahead of the 2028 general elections.
By: Jacob Aggrey
News
eputy Foreign Minister accompanies Veep to Shanghai to champion Global South reform, industrial drive
Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, James Gyakye Quayson, accompanied Vice-President Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang on a successful working visit to Shanghai, China, from 15th to 19th October 2026, at the invitation of the East China Normal University (ECNU).
The highlight of the visit was the 2026 Global South Academic Forum held on 17th October, which brought together over 200 scholars, policymakers, political party leaders and media professionals from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, under the theme “Global South Political Parties: Governance and Modernisation.”
In her keynote address, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang asserted that political independence is only truly the beginning, stating that “winning political power and governing effectively are related but not the same responsibility.” She called for stronger South-South cooperation, multilateralism and reform of the global financial architecture to end debt traps, ensure fair risk assessments and promote climate policies that respect different national circumstances.
On 18th October, she addressed a business forum with Chinese investors, linking Ghana’s 24-Hour Economy policy to industrialization. Warning that training youth without factories creates unemployment, she appealed for factories to be established in Ghana to serve the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) market, with priority on value addition in cocoa processing, shea butter, cashew, coconut and timber.
On October 19, Ghana’s Ambassador to China, Kojo Bonsu, hosted a dinner at the Shangri-La for the Vice-President, attended by members of the Ghanaian community and business leaders, who praised the thorough preparation by the Ghana Embassy staff for the visit.
Throughout the trip, Mr. Quayson coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to align the engagements with Ghana’s jobs and transformation agenda.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
