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Security for traveling clubs now!
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We have heard horrifying stories about armed robbers in Ghana attack passengers in the middle of their journeys.
It is not one, two or three. It happens a couple of times in a year with passengers left injured, maimed, brutalised and traumatised.
Sadly, now, the robbers have extended their dreadful operations to footballers – charging them down on the road after football matches.
We have had a number of such incidents of late, and it is now increasingly becoming tormenting!
The latest one on our hand is the attack on Tamale-based FC Savannah Ladies when they were traveling for a Women’s Premier League Matchweek 14 game against Dreamz Ladies FC at the Bantama Astro pitch on Saturday.
According to reports, the robbers collected all the monies of the players and thumped them with canes on top. The torture left the team physiotherapist with injury to the knee and had to be rushed to hospital. Heartily, no tragedy – as regards death, was recorded.
Only last month (March 21), Ghana Premier League (GPL) side AshantiGold SC went through similar terror on their way back to Kumasi after their game against Hearts of Oak in the GPL on Sunday evening. After the game, the team opted to travel in the night back home to Obuasi in the Ashanti Region. Some officials of Hearts, we were told, impressed on the AshGold team to spend the night in Accra and leave the following day. It fell on deaf ears.
According to a report on the Twitter page of the club, the team’s bus was attacked at Assin Endwa as armed robbers shot at the bus. Fortunately, gunshots to the front bulletproof glass could not go through as the driver of the bus managed to drive the team and all onboard to safety.
Last year, too, Ghana Women’s Premier League side Pearl Pia Ladies narrowly escaped a robbery attack after their team bus was shot at in the late hours of Monday, December 21.
The incident was said to have occurred at Yapei, a small town in the Central Gonja District, a district in the Savannah Region of northern Ghana.
The Pearl Pia Ladies were heading to Tamale after a league match against Ampem Darkoa Ladies. The three assailants tried stopping the team bus but the driver upon sensing danger sprinted on top gear.
Disappointed, they fired several gun shots at the bus, but no injuries or deaths were recorded from the atrocious blitz.
Whilst we call on the relevant authorities to beef up security on our highways to steer clear of such incidents, we also think it is incumbent on clubs to carry or engage their own security – especially when they are traveling in the night.
Alternatively, the clubs are hereby advised to avoid night travels altogether. However, if they think they must embark on the trip in the night at all cost, then it would be prudent they engage the security services or seek security advice before making trips.
However, it would also not be out of place if the clubs liaise with the Ghana FA and the Ghana Police Service (GPS) in finding ways of providing consummate security support to teams when they travel across the country.
For now, we can only thank heavens that there have not been any serious casualties in the various scary situations that we have recorded over the years.
However, let us act now before it is too late. We might not be fortunate tomorrow when those muggers strike again.
PlainTalk With John Vigah
African leaders have been urged to strengthen political commitment and domestic investment to end preventable maternal deaths and AIDS by 2030.
The call comes as African health ministers and policymakers meet in Accra to deliberate on health financing, health security and universal health coverage across the continent.
Mr Edouard Bizimana, Burundi’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Development Cooperation, made the call on Tuesday at the opening of the African Union’s (AU) 25th Extraordinary Summit on Health in Accra.
He said Africa needed increased domestic investment to build resilient health systems as it continued to grapple with infectious diseases and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Mr Bizimana, who is also Chairperson of the AU Executive Council, said although Africa accounted for nearly 17 per cent of the world’s population, it bore 24 per cent of the global disease burden while having less than three per cent of the global health workforce and only one per cent of global health expenditure.
“Despite maternal mortality declining by nearly 40 per cent since 2000, Africa still accounts for about 70 per cent of maternal deaths globally, while almost two-thirds of people living with HIV reside on the continent,” he said.
Mr Bizimana said the growing burden of NCDs was placing additional pressure on already stretched health systems.
“These figures are not merely statistics. They represent painful human realities, preventable losses and unacceptable inequalities, they remind us that health is not an expense it is a strategic investment and a prerequisite for our sovereignty and development. “he said.
Mr Bizimana said recent global health emergencies had exposed Africa’s vulnerability and underscored the need to expand local production of medicines and vaccines, strengthen the health workforce and improve emergency preparedness.
“Our citizens expect resilient health systems where every mother can give birth safely, every child has access to essential healthcare and every African enjoys quality health services regardless of where they live,” he said.
The two-day summit, being held ahead of the 20th Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, has brought together health ministers, policymakers and health stakeholders to identify solutions to Africa’s health financing and security challenges.
Madam Florence Samizi, Tanzania’s Deputy Health Minister, called for stronger collaboration among AU Member States to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage.
The summit is being held on the theme: “Advancing Justice, Equality and Universal Health Coverage: Ending AIDS, Tuberculosis, Improving Maternal Health, Addressing Endemic Non-Communicable and Neglected Tropical Diseases in Africa.”
The meeting is expected to adopt the Accra Declaration, a roadmap to strengthen Africa’s health systems and advance health sovereignty by 2030. -GNA
Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana’s Department of Political Science, Dr. Joshua Jebuntie Zaato says the imprisonment of the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, will have little meaning unless it leads to a broader crackdown on illegal mining.
In a post on his Facebook page on the July 21, 2026, Dr. Zaato said the judgment should mark the beginning of efforts to completely eradicate galamsey and hold all those involved accountable, regardless of their political affiliation.
He said the country must work towards restoring polluted rivers, protecting forests and ensuring that people implicated in illegal mining activities are prosecuted.
According to him, those the President has publicly acknowledged to be involved in galamsey should face prosecution.
He called for the prosecution of district chief executives (DCEs), members of Parliament (MPs) and senior political party officials who have been accused of engaging in or supporting illegal mining.
Dr. Zaato further urged the government to take decisive action to end the destruction of the country’s forests caused by galamsey.
He maintained that the imprisonment of Chairman Wontumi would only have a lasting impact if it results in a comprehensive and impartial fight against illegal mining across the country.
By: Jacob Aggrey
