Odi News Network

  All lower courts in Ghana will from Monday, July 19 begin settling cases through alternative dispute resolution (ADR). This is expected to end on Friday, July 23 for this legal year. In a statement issued on Friday, July 16 by the Judicial Service, a total of 131 courts will participate in the nationwide exercise. This year’s ADR Week will be marked under the theme: ‘Making Our Courts User-friendly Through the Use of ADR’. The focus of the Week is to reduce the backlog of cases at the 131 lower courts – 33 circuit courts and 98 district courts. Court of Appeal judge Justice Irene-Charity Larbi will address a press conference at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region on Monday, according to the statement, to mark the official opening of the Week. “The Bar, disputants, the media, and the public are therefore encouraged to participate fully and cooperate with the Judicial Service to make this Legal Year Term’s ADR Week a success.” The aim of the annual ADR programs is to ensure that ac...

  The Food and Agriculture Ministry through its Veterinary Services Directorate has confirmed the outbreak of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza disease, otherwise known as Bird flu in some parts of the country. These are the Greater Accra, Central, and Volta Regions. The outbreak of the disease follows the detection of similar cases in neighboring countries since January 2021.  The Ministry in a press statement said “Through effective surveillance and disease control management, the Veterinary Services Directorate has prevented the extension of the disease into Ghana until now.”  Cases of the Bird Flu disease were previously recorded in 2007, 2015, 2016 and 2018, with a significant economic impact on affected poultry farmers.  It said, “The zoonotic nature of the disease calls for public alert and vigilance to mitigate the possible impact on the poultry industry and public health in general.”   Accordingly, the Ministry announces the following measures ...

  Catastrophic  flooding in  western Europe has killed more than 120 people, with hundreds more missing, authorities said Friday, as large-scale rescue efforts continue amidst rising water, landslides, and power outages. Shocking images of the devastation in Germany and Belgium showed entire villages underwater, with cars wedged in between collapsed buildings and debris. The Netherlands and Luxembourg have also been affected by extreme rainfall. In Germany, at least 105 people have been killed across two western states. In the hard-hit district of Ahrweiler, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, authorities told CNN that 1,300 people remained unaccounted for. "There is no end in sight just yet," Ulrich Sopart, a police spokesman in the city of Koblenz, told CNN. He said that authorities are hopeful that they will be able to revise down the number of missing people as the rescue operation continues and phone lines are restored. ''Our hopes are that some people might ha...

Dr. Nana Adarkwa Bediako II   The Gyaasehene of the Apinto Divisional Council, Dr. Nana Adarkwa Bediako II, has denied being kidnapped as widely reported on Thursday. On Friday, the Western Regional Police PRO, DSP Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, told the media that the chief told them he went into hiding but was not kidnapped. According to her, the chief denied the kidnapping allegation when he reported to the Tarkwa Police Command to give a vivid account of his disappearance from Wednesday to Thursday evening. “Nana said he wasn’t kidnapped and honestly, doesn’t know who sent out the message of his kidnap,” she said. Dr. Nana Adarkwa Bediako III, the Gyaasehene of Tarkwa, went missing on July 14, after a suspect who threatened him was granted bail the day before. Police and National Security officers launched a nationwide search for him. But on Thursday night, his family said the chief had been located. DSP Adiku also stated that Dr. Nana Adarkwa Bediako II told them that he went to the ...

  After 12 days of public sitting, the three-member committee that investigated the Ejura disturbances has wrapped up its work. The committee set up by the president follows the killing of two people and the injuring of four others by soldiers during a protest against the killing of a social activist, Ibrahim Muhammed. The deceased, also known as Macho Kaaka, died on Monday, June 28, 2021, after he was attacked by a mob while returning home on his motorbike at Ejura. It is unclear for now the motive for his murder but some have linked it to his social activism role. Chairman of the committee, Justice George Kingsley Koomson told the media the committee was thorough in its work. “In all 22 witnesses appeared before us but three of them because of security reasons provided evidence in camera, also 117 videos, 555 pictures, and three documents were received by the committee as evidence and now we will sit, write our report together with recommendations and present it to the interior m...

Singapore on Wednesday unveiled one of the world’s biggest floating solar power farms, covering an area the size of 45 football pitches, as part of the city-state’s push to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The project is the country’s most ambitious yet, comprising 122,000 panels on Tengeh Reservoir that will produce enough electricity to run its five water treatment plants. Singapore is among the biggest per capita carbon dioxide emitters in Asia and its land scarcity makes boosting renewable energy sources a challenge. The prosperous financial hub has turned to set up plants off its coasts and in reservoirs and aims to quadruple solar energy production by 2025. The new farm can produce up to 60 megawatts of electricity and will lead to carbon emissions reductions equivalent to removing 7,000 cars from roads, according to Sembcorp Industries and the national water agency PUB. Sembcorp built the project, which covers about 45 hectares (110 acres), with backing from the agency. “Solar ener...

  An informant is complaining that despite assisting the Sekondi police with a tip-off, leading to the arrest of a notorious suspect, who has been on the police wanted list for some time now, they have refused to reward him with the GH¢50,000 after the job was done. Complaining bitterly to Paa Kwesi Simpson on the  Omanbapa  morning show on  Connect FM,  the obviously peeved man said the police have neglected him after he gave them the tip-off, as a good citizen, to arrest a notorious suspect last Tuesday. According to the informant, whose name is withheld, he got information from the Sekondi police to assist them to arrest a suspect, whose phone was with him for repairs, He said aside from the tip-off, he personally arrested the suspect at about 9:000pm and sent him to the police. “Though the police promised to offer me GH¢50,000 if l am able to assist them in the arrest of the notorious suspect and l single-handedly apprehended the suspect and handed him over ...