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Temper justice with mercy …European Town squatters appeal to STMA
● Inset: Mr Ansah in an interview with journalist
The occupants of illegal structures along the rail line at European Town, Sekondi, in the Western Region, have pleaded with city authorities to “temper justice with mercy” and give them time to prepare and leave the pleace.
Last week, Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA), in media notice announced it would demolish the illegal structures dotted along the rail line, near the train station, but, there was ‘no show.’
A source explained to The Spectator that, in accordance with the Assembly’s Bye laws, they should have given the occupants two weeks before commencing the exercise, adding” we’ll be back next week.”
The worried occupants, however, complained about the timing and appealed to the authorities to sympathise with them and extend the period for the exercise.
“We are ready to leave but the timing is too short, we know we need development, however, they should give us up to Christmas or January, by which time we would have got a place to relocate. That’s our plea,” Johannes Ansah, an opinion leader told The Spectator.
He said, a chief at the Sekondi Palace was trying to help them find a place to relocate and so needed more time to put their belongings in order before leaving the area.
STMA, Mr Ansah said, should bear with the occupants who, he noted, were ‘going through hell especially in this economic recession.”
“It’s not easy at all to cope with this unfortunate situation we find ourselves. People are trying to make ends meet and then you come and say clear-off like that, we are self-employed and decent people and it’s not easy to rent a house,” he added.
Mr Ansah claimed that STMA collected temporary business operating permit from businesses in the area and also they paid bills to utility companies.
The opinion leader said that prior to the notice for demolition, ECG had removed about 500 meters from the area thereby grounding the fridges used by fishermen and fishmongers to store fish for sale.
European Town, he argued, hosted Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), home of Paa Grant, Western Naval Command, and attracted fishermen from Kpone, Accra and Winneba areas including barbers, hair dressers, and, therefore, “was a huge commercial hub of Sekondi.”
The fishermen, for example, he complained, had no money to rent rooms in Sekondi for their work, so they needed the temporary structures to lay their heads.
He spoke about the smoking of Indian hemp and other criminal activities such as prostitution, and said the security agencies should deal with such matters.
One woman also accused the indigenes of encouraging the illicit trade in the area.
“The Ashawoo is done by Ghanaians: the foreigners couldn’t have been here without involvement of Ghanaians. We have lived here for almost 30 years and some of us have contracted loans for fishing business, how do we pay the monies back?” distraught woman, Essaba complained.
She told The Spectator she paid GHc600 a year to rent a structure.
FROM CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, SEKONDI
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Prof Alidu Seidu files nomination for Tamale Central seat
The newly elected parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Tamale Central, Prof Alidu Seidu, has submitted his nomination forms to the Electoral Commission.
As of 10:00 a.m. today, he was the only person who had filed to contest the seat.
Nomination of candidates will close at the end of the day.
Associate Professor and Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana Legon, Prof. Alidu Seidu won the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in the Tamale Central constituency with a landslide victory.
The elections, supervised by the party’s Elections and IT Directorate in the Northern Region, saw Prof. Seidu poll 840 votes out of the total valid ballots cast.
His closest contender, Lawyer Hanan Gundadow Abdul-Rahaman, secured 536 votes.
The other aspirants could not make significant gains, with Dr. Seidu Fiter obtaining 44 votes, Aliu Abdul-Hamid 23 votes, and the rest recording fewer than 10 votes each.
In all, 1,500 ballots were cast, with 6 ballots rejected and 7 spoilt ballots recorded.
The results were signed and declared by Dr. Arnold Mashud Abukari, NDC Northern Regional Director of Elections and IT.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) held parliamentary primaries in Tamale Central to choose a candidate for the upcoming by-election following the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed. Dr. Mohammed, who also served as Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, tragically died in a military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District on August 6, 2025, alongside seven others.
His passing left the Tamale Central seat vacant, as required by Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
The Electoral Commission has scheduled the by-election for September 30, 2025. While the NDC moved quickly to open nominations and vet aspirants, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) announced it would not contest the seat, citing the need to respect the somber circumstances and promote national unity.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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Ghana to locally refine its gold starting October 2025 – Sammy Gyamfi
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board, Sammy Gyamfi, has announced that plans are far advanced for the establishment of a state-owned gold refinery in the country.
Speaking at the 2025 Minerals and Mining Convention, Mr Gyamfi said the refinery will process locally mined gold into bullion instead of exporting it in its raw state.
According to him, it is unacceptable that Ghana, despite being a leading gold producer in Africa, continues to export raw gold known as dore.
He explained that the Gold Board, working with the Bank of Ghana and local refineries, will from October 2025 begin refining gold locally.
He also disclosed that an ultramodern assay laboratory will be built to ensure international standards in testing gold quality.
Mr Gyamfi noted that the refinery will be wholly state-owned and will help Ghana move away from raw mineral exports to value addition.
This, he said, will boost foreign exchange earnings, create jobs, and position Ghana as a hub for gold refining and jewellery production in Africa.
The CEO stressed that the project forms part of government’s strategy to ensure the country benefits fully from its natural resources and to transform the mining sector into a driver of economic growth.
By: Jacob Aggrey
