Odi News Network

At the center of the kissing controversy, the Anglican priest has been relieved of his duties at the St Monica’s College of Education in Asante Mampong. This formed part of the conclusions at a crunch meeting convened by school authorities in Asante Mampong over a kissing incident that went viral on Monday. In the amateur footage, the priest, Father Balthazar Obeng, is seen kissing three female students before a cheering congregation. However, the third lady seemed unwilling but eventually gave in to the deed. Tuesday’s decision comes amid calls from the public and civil society organizations for the Chaplain’s head. The Anglican Church of Ghana has already expressed its dissatisfaction about the matter and has initiated internal investigations. An August 17 statement indicated that “the said Priest will be dealt with in accordance with the norms and values of the Anglican Communion where morality is extremely revered in the Church.” An education think tank, Africa Education Watch, has

  Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, says the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) does not have the majority power in Parliament. According to him, aside from the fact that the people during the 2020 elections voted for an equal number of seats for both NPP and the opposition NDC, most of the NPP MPs are in the Executive arm of government and sometimes fail to attend parliamentary sittings. He explained that because these MPs have been tasked to take care of matters at their respective ministries, they can sometimes vote on some matters. “The 137-137, it was the people who decided. There was no system or formula put in place; the people just voted. One of the persons who made them the majority, they didn’t want him, so he stood as independent and beat the government candidate.” “He is now the second deputy speaker, so actually, there is no majority. But, if not because of my impartiality, anytime they want to vote, I step aside, and one of them will come and sit down, and they are 13

  Ghana’s First Lady,  Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, through The Rebecca Foundation, has introduced the “Market Crèches” project under its ‘Terema Initiative’ that seeks to support women to improve their economic status and general well-being. Through Terema, the Foundation is putting up crèches in a number of markets in various parts of the country to cater for toddlers and pre-schoolers of traders, while they concentrate on their businesses.   Currently, four of the crèches are under construction at the Dome and Adenta markets in Accra,  Koforid ua Zongo Market in the Eastern Region; and the Apremdo Market in the Western Region. It is expected that each crèche will have auxiliary facilities including washrooms, changing rooms, a health post and canteen and will be accommodating 100-150 children.   The Rebecca Foundation believes that building these creches will serve as safe, accessible, and affordable childcare centres, which will give women and families the choice and opportunity to work

  The Venezuelan Special Envoy Alex Nain Saab Moran who is fighting against his extradition to the United States of America has written to Cape Verde Constitutional Court to express in his own words the inhumanity and indignity, the ill will and ill-treatment which he has been subjected to for more than a year. After 428 days of his arrest on the Island of Sal, Alex Saab has since been denied the opportunity to appear before the Court to express himself in his own voice. Despite his status as a Special Envoy, Mr. A. Saab believes that many procedural irregularities occurred because the local police, the Prosecutor General and Interpol were more interested in meeting the needs of the United States than worrying about his legal rights and how Cape Verde has been thrust into the middle of an ongoing political battle between his home country, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and the United States. Mr. A. Saab in the letter said he’s not naïve enough to believe that politi

  The Russian Foreign Ministry says it is illegal, actions to extradite Special Envoy of the Government of Venezuela to the United States Alex Nain Saab Moran. This is contained in a statement released by the Ministry and signed by the Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry N.T. Lakhonin. The Russian  Foreign Ministry expressed worry over t he practice of seizing citizens of other countries, including the Russian Federation, in third countries on fabricated charges by  the  U.S. law enforcement agencies, as according to the Ministry, has become the infamous "business card" of the United States.   The Russian Foreign Ministry believes  Washington seems to have decided to "go to a new level", setting a harmful precedent for the extradition of an authorized person with diplomatic   status. The  Venezuelan Special Envoy A lex Nain   Saab Moran was detained in June 2020, despite his diplomatic passport,  at the request for

  Professor Ransford Gyampo of the University of Ghana has said that the Electoral Commission (EC) erred in directing the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to submit their proposed electoral reforms to the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC). Professor Gyampo said IPAC is not the right forum for a political party to present its proposals to. “EC must receive it first then if it can send it to IPAC. It is not the right directive to the political party,” he said on Good Evening Ghana on Thursday, August 12. He added “IPAC is not a legally binding body, has no law backing. It is not the right directive to the NDC. It is a misdirection.” The Electoral Commission has directed the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to submit all their electoral proposals to the IPAC. The EC said they do not deal with individual political parties, rather it is the IPAC that does that. “We don’t deal with individual parties, and IPAC is designed to promote multi-party views,

  A 38-year-old woman whose name was given as Dzifa Doris has been killed in a fatal motor accident at Krobom-Obretema near Suhum on the Accra-Kumasi highway , akobenonline.com can report. Reports say the driver, Michael Kotei, 36 years, lost control of his  Honda accord  with  trade plate number DV 2115C-2021 with three persons on board from Accra  heading  towards Kumasi. The vehicle  veered from the road and knocked down the  38yrs  old woman  who was standing by  the roadside waiting to board a commercial vehicle  and divided the victim into two . The vehicle finally landed in a nearby Bush  and the driver together with occupants in the vehicle sustained injuries and was rushed to the Suhum Government Hospital . The body of the deceased has been  deposited at the same Hospital  for preservation and Autopsy. Source: akobenonline.com

  UN human rights experts urged Ghana’s Government to reject a proposed ‘family values’ bill, saying it seeks to establish a system of State-sponsored discrimination and violence against the LGBTI community. The bill’s first reading took place on August 2, 2021, and its consideration is expected to resume in October 2021.   “The draft legislation argues that any person who deviates from an arbitrary standard of sexual orientation or gender identity is immediate to be considered dangerous, sick or anti-social,” said the experts. “Such laws are a textbook example of discrimination.  “The proposed law promotes deeply harmful practices that amount to ill-treatment and are conducive to torture, such as so-called ‘conversion therapy’ and other heinous violations like unnecessary medical procedures on intersex children, and so-called corrective rape for women,” they added.  The independent experts, appointed by the Human Rights Council, presented an analysis of the draft bill to the Ghanaian

The Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo Markin, has confirmed that the United Arab Emirates-based agent, in the botched attempt to procure Sputnik V vaccines, has refunded the sum of $2.47 million to the government. Sheikh Al Maktoum was due to supply about 300,000 Sputnik V vaccines in an agreement signed with the government, but his outfit delivered only 20,000. The Parliamentary ad-hoc committee set up to investigate the controversial Sputnik V vaccine deal ordered the Finance Minister to retrieve the $2.47 million, representing the difference in the amount paid and quantity of vaccines supplied. In a letter addressed to the Chief Director of the Ministry of Health, Sheikh Al Maktoum states that the requested amount of $2.47 million has already been refunded to the designated bank account as communicated by you. The communication had the SWIFT and the payment advice attached   The nine-member ad-hoc Parliamentary Committee was set up to probe the controversial Spu

“ T he Supreme Court of Cape Verde has declared that Alex Saab ,   a special envoy for the South American country, Venezuela  is free. It has now been said on several occasions that because he is under house arrest then he is not ‘in prison,” said Dr. Jose Manuel Pinto Monteiro in Praia today. Dr. Monteiro went on to say. “My colleagues, along with many rational-thinking Cape Verdeans, have been puzzled by this description for some time. Whilst Alex Saab is no longer in a 2x2 metres cell in solitary confinement, the public and global community of civilized nations must be made aware that his current “freedom” means he lives in a house watched by 50 heavily armed guards who all have keys to the house, who are all able to enter his house at any time day or night, all of whom like to engage and disengage their machine guns whenever they pass by Mr. Saab as a reminder of the true extent of his “freedom” and Mr. Saab cannot lock any of his private area doors including the bathroom. Importan

A fter more than a year of detention, the defence team of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Nain Saab Moran,  Deputy Permanent Representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the African Union and Special Envoy to the Islamic Republic of Iran  who has been imprisoned for over a year in Sal awaiting the outcome of an extradition process to the United States has filed formal complaints against the Republic's Attorney General, José Landim, at the Cape Verdean Public Prosecutor’s Office, Regional Prosecutor, Natalino Correia and Judiciary Police inspectors Domingos de Pina and Maurício Monteiro, for crimes allegedly committed against their client, allafrica.com has reported.  As reported by allafrica.com, the document that has already been lodged with the Attorney General's Office, the accusations against the four defendants relate, in general terms, to an extensive violation and disrespect for the diplomat's rights, and from them, it results, according to the lawyers, that su

  Venezuelan Diplomat Alex Saab In the absence of economic leadership and with a Prime Minister intent on focussing on doing the bidding of the United States, it is no surprise that Cape Verde’s economy contracted by 14.8 percent in 2020. Since independence, the country has never been faced with an economic, social, financial, and budgetary situation of the magnitude we are facing today, Dr. Olavo Correia, Deputy Prime Minister confirmed. The finance minister attributed the financial crisis to the COVD-19 pandemic, opposition figures insist the economic downturn has been made worse, as the Prime Minister has been busy playing geopolitics to focus on domestic matters. Prime Minister Ulisses Correia continues to look unconcerned and focus more on ensuring Venezuelan Diplomat Alex Saab, who faces extradition to the United States, remains in illegal detention in Cape Verde. The past few months have seen the actions of Ulisses Correia and his Interior Minister resulting in Cape Verde defyin

  Venezuelan Diplomat Alex Saab In its decision of June 29, 2021, delivered via email to the defense on 20 July 2021 the Constitutional Court of Cape Verde considered that “there is no international normative basis that would impose on the State of Cape Verde a duty to comply with a request for provisional measures made by the Human Rights Committee” (para 4.5.3.). The ruling was in response to a simple letter sent by Alex Saab to the Constitutional Court informing it that the United Nations Human Rights Committee had registered a complaint against Cape Verde and had sent Cape Verde a request for interim measures, including a request to suspend the extradition procedure. The Constitutional Court issued a lengthy ruling in which it attempted to justify its refusal to comply with the provisional measures ordered by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, inviting Cape Verde, among other things, to suspend Alex Saab’s extradition to the United States. Alex Saab's defense team regre

A new Covid health pass has come into effect in France amid a surge of new infections. From Wednesday, people need proof of vaccination, a negative test or recent recovery from Covid to enter most museums and cinemas. Later lawmakers will debate whether to extend its use in August for entry to cafes, restaurants, and shopping malls. It comes the day after Health Minister Olivier Véran announced 18,000 new infections in just 24 hours. This was compared to fewer than 7,000 cases a day last week, a surge of 150%, as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads throughout the country. "We have never seen this before," he told the National Assembly, saying Delta had led to far larger rises in cases than previous variants, like those first spotted in the UK or South Africa. President Emmanuel Macron announced the plans for a health pass earlier this month, as well as  compulsory vaccination for all health workers  by September. Surveys suggest there is widespread vaccine hesitancy i