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Stay chaste and free from sexual abuse – Gender activis

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To ensure that young girls stayed chaste and free from sexual abuse, the Upper West Regional Director of the Depart­ment of Gender, Mrs Charity Banye has asked them to take responsi­bility of their bodies and not allow themselves to be sexually abused by men.

“You are not a refuse dump, no one has the right to abuse you at this young age in the name of relation­ship or under the guise of sponsoring your education so you need to take responsibility of your body,” she advised.

Mrs Banye gave this advice during an inter-generational colloquium organised by Curious Minds. It was supported by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) – United Nations Children’s Fund Social and Behaviour Change (GBC-UNICEF SBC) Project.

The meeting which brought togeth­er pupils from basic schools across the Wa Municipality focused on “Building a better Ghana: eliminat­ing harmful practices for sustainable development” and sought to create a platform for dialogue on ending harmful practices such as child mar­riage and teenage pregnancy.

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The Director stated that men who had carnal knowledge of girls be­cause they were providing for them did not have good intentions for such girls and were only taking advantage of their vulnerability to abuse them.

“Sadly, most of the teenage preg­nancy cases we have been recording recently involve boys impregnating their classmates and teachers having affair with their own pupils so we have to speak out if we are put un­der such circumstances,” she said.

According to the director, when the boys impregnate the girls they are unable to take care of them so they leave them to their fate to become a burden on their parents.

Mrs Banye appealed to the boys to protect the girls and not sleep with them and also encouraged the youngsters to focus on their educa­tion instead of engaging in un­healthy relationships and pre-mari­tal affairs.

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For his part, the Project Manager, Mr Kingsley Obeng Kyere called for deliberate allocation of resources to promote the rights and well-be­ing of children in Ghana.

He explained that the resources should be used to support efforts aimed at protecting children from harmful practices such as early marriage, parental negligence of duty and other harmful societal practices that prevent children from discovering and reaching their full potentials in life.

Mr Kyerej, who is also a journalist said that the sustainable develop­ment goals and other such inter­national declarations considered the well-being of children hence it had enshrined specific clauses to promote the rights of children.

He appealed to stakeholders in child welfare issues to work togeth­er to protect the rights of children.

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 From Lydia Darlington Fordjour, Wa

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James Agalga thanks Ghanaians for confidence after election as Majority Leader

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Majority Leader of Parliament, James Agalga, has expressed gratitude to Ghanaians for the confidence reposed in him following his elevation to the position.

Mr Agalga thanked Ghanaians who had sent him congratulatory messages and expressed appreciation to President John Dramani Mahama, the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), members of the Majority Caucus and the people of Builsa North.

In a statement posted on his socials, he also extended his gratitude to Ghanaians across the country for their support and confidence.

He pledged to work with other stakeholders to advance the government’s Reset Agenda and support the passage of legislation that would improve the lives of Ghanaians.

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“We remain committed to working together to drive the government’s RESET Agenda and to champion legislation that delivers real benefits to every Ghanaian,” he said.

Mr Agalga called for continued cooperation as he begins his new role as Majority Leader.

By: Jacob Aggrey

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Minority’s concerns over GoldBod’s GH¢22 billion loss not political – Afenyo-Markin

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Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has maintained that the Minority’s concerns over the reported GH¢22 billion loss linked to the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) are not politically motivated.

He made the remarks at a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, where he defended the Minority’s position on the financial implications of GoldBod’s domestic gold purchasing operations.

Mr Afenyo-Markin stated that the Minority was raising the concerns because Ghanaians deserved clear information about how public funds were used in the gold purchasing programme.

He explained that the figures being cited by the Minority were contained in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) report on Ghana and were therefore not figures manufactured by the opposition.

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According to him, the IMF identified losses of about US$1.7 billion, equivalent to approximately GH¢22 billion, from the domestic gold purchasing programme in 2025.

He said the IMF attributed the losses to service and assay fees, discounts on gold sold to off-takers and exchange-rate differences between the rates used to purchase gold and the reference rate used by the Bank of Ghana for accounting purposes.

Mr Afenyo-Markin argued that the losses should be subjected to public scrutiny because GoldBod played a central role in buying, aggregating, assaying and exporting the gold, while the Bank of Ghana provided the financing.

He questioned why GoldBod should receive fees from the transactions while the associated losses were reflected on the books of the Bank of Ghana.

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The Minority Leader stressed that the location of a loss in an institution’s accounts did not change its economic impact on the country.

He therefore called for answers on the prices paid for gold, how the prices were determined, the selection of off-takers, discounts applied to gold sales and the fees earned by GoldBod.

Mr Afenyo-Markin questioned the risk-sharing arrangement between GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana, arguing that the institution carrying out the commercial activity should not be able to benefit from transaction fees while another institution bears most of the financial risk.

He said the Minority was not seeking to trade insults with GoldBod officials but was focused on holding institutions accountable for the management of public resources.

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He urged the government and GoldBod to address the concerns raised by the IMF and provide Ghanaians with clear explanations about the reported losses.

Mr Afenyo-Markin maintained that the Minority would continue to scrutinise the programme because the financial consequences ultimately affected Ghanaian taxpayers.

By: Jacob Aggrey

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